Encoded passwords enhance security, particularly when generating maintenance scripts that contain calls to the utilities with passwords.

The format of an encoded password for the database utilities is prefix::password. It consists of a five letter prefix, followed by a separator, followed by the encoded password. For information on encoding prefixes, see Encoding prefix in Learn about Security and Auditing.

Encode clear text passwords with the genpassword utility. See Manage OpenEdge Keys and Certificates for a detailed description of genpassword.