Crypt::Digest(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Crypt::Digest(3)

Crypt::Digest - Generic interface to hash/digest functions

### Functional interface:
use Crypt::Digest qw( digest_data digest_data_hex digest_data_b64 digest_data_b64u
                      digest_file digest_file_hex digest_file_b64 digest_file_b64u );
my $data = 'data string';
my $filename = 'filename.dat';
open my $filehandle, '<:raw', $filename or die "cannot open $filename: $!";
# calculate digest from string/buffer
my $digest_raw  = digest_data('SHA256', $data);
my $digest_hex  = digest_data_hex('SHA256', $data);
my $digest_b64  = digest_data_b64('SHA256', $data);
my $digest_b64u = digest_data_b64u('SHA256', $data);
# calculate digest from file
my $file_digest_raw  = digest_file('SHA256', $filename);
my $file_digest_hex  = digest_file_hex('SHA256', $filename);
my $file_digest_b64  = digest_file_b64('SHA256', $filename);
my $file_digest_b64u = digest_file_b64u('SHA256', $filename);
# calculate digest from filehandle
my $fh_digest_raw  = digest_file('SHA256', $filehandle);
### OO interface:
use Crypt::Digest;
my $d = Crypt::Digest->new('SHA1');
$d->add('any data');
$d->addfile('filename.dat');
$d->addfile($filehandle);
my $result_raw  = $d->digest;     # raw bytes
my $result_hex  = $d->hexdigest;  # hexadecimal form
my $result_b64  = $d->b64digest;  # Base64 form
my $result_b64u = $d->b64udigest; # Base64 URL-safe form

Provides an interface to various hash/digest algorithms.

All functions and methods return raw bytes unless the method name explicitly ends in "_hex", "_b64", or "_b64u". Invalid algorithm names croak.

Nothing is exported by default.

You can export selected functions:

use Crypt::Digest qw( digest_data digest_data_hex digest_data_b64 digest_data_b64u
                      digest_file digest_file_hex digest_file_b64 digest_file_b64u );

Or all of them at once:

use Crypt::Digest ':all';

All functions take the algorithm name as the first argument. Supported values are:

'CHAES', 'MD2', 'MD4', 'MD5', 'RIPEMD128', 'RIPEMD160',
'RIPEMD256', 'RIPEMD320', 'SHA1', 'SHA224', 'SHA256',
'SHA384', 'SHA512', 'SHA512_224', 'SHA512_256', 'Tiger192', 'Whirlpool',
'SHA3_224', 'SHA3_256', 'SHA3_384', 'SHA3_512',
'Keccak224', 'Keccak256', 'Keccak384', 'Keccak512',
'BLAKE2b_160', 'BLAKE2b_256', 'BLAKE2b_384', 'BLAKE2b_512',
'BLAKE2s_128', 'BLAKE2s_160', 'BLAKE2s_224', 'BLAKE2s_256'
(or any <NAME> for which there is a Crypt::Digest::<NAME> module)

Joins all arguments into a single string and returns the digest for the selected algorithm encoded as a binary string.

Data arguments are converted to byte strings using Perl's usual scalar stringification. Defined scalars, including numbers and string-overloaded objects, are accepted. "undef" is treated as an empty string and may emit Perl's usual "uninitialized value" warning. The same rules apply to "digest_data_hex", "digest_data_b64", and "digest_data_b64u".

my $digest_raw = digest_data('SHA256', 'data string');
#or
my $digest_raw = digest_data('SHA256', 'any data', 'more data', 'even more data');

Joins all arguments into a single string and returns the digest for the selected algorithm encoded as a hexadecimal string.

my $digest_hex = digest_data_hex('SHA256', 'data string');
#or
my $digest_hex = digest_data_hex('SHA256', 'any data', 'more data', 'even more data');

Joins all arguments into a single string and returns the digest for the selected algorithm encoded as a Base64 string, with trailing '=' padding.

my $digest_b64 = digest_data_b64('SHA256', 'data string');
#or
my $digest_b64 = digest_data_b64('SHA256', 'any data', 'more data', 'even more data');

Joins all arguments into a single string and returns the digest for the selected algorithm encoded as a Base64 URL-safe string (see RFC 4648 section 5).

my $digest_b64url = digest_data_b64u('SHA256', 'data string');
#or
my $digest_b64url = digest_data_b64u('SHA256', 'any data', 'more data', 'even more data');

Reads a file given by a filename or filehandle and returns its digest encoded as a binary string.

my $digest_raw = digest_file('SHA256', 'filename.dat');
#or
my $filehandle = ...; # existing binary-mode filehandle
my $digest_raw = digest_file('SHA256', $filehandle);

Reads a file given by a filename or filehandle and returns its digest encoded as a hexadecimal string.

my $digest_hex = digest_file_hex('SHA256', 'filename.dat');
#or
my $filehandle = ...; # existing binary-mode filehandle
my $digest_hex = digest_file_hex('SHA256', $filehandle);

Note: The filehandle must be in binary mode before you pass it to addfile().

Reads a file given by a filename or filehandle and returns its digest encoded as a Base64 string, with trailing '=' padding.

my $digest_b64 = digest_file_b64('SHA256', 'filename.dat');
#or
my $filehandle = ...; # existing binary-mode filehandle
my $digest_b64 = digest_file_b64('SHA256', $filehandle);

Reads a file given by a filename or filehandle and returns its digest encoded as a Base64 URL-safe string (see RFC 4648 section 5).

my $digest_b64url = digest_file_b64u('SHA256', 'filename.dat');
#or
my $filehandle = ...; # existing binary-mode filehandle
my $digest_b64url = digest_file_b64u('SHA256', $filehandle);

Unless noted otherwise, assume $d is an existing digest object created via "new", for example:

my $d = Crypt::Digest->new('SHA256');

Constructor, returns a reference to the digest object.

my $d = Crypt::Digest->new($name);
# $name could be: 'CHAES', 'MD2', 'MD4', 'MD5', 'RIPEMD128', 'RIPEMD160',
#                 'RIPEMD256', 'RIPEMD320', 'SHA1', 'SHA224', 'SHA256', 'SHA384',
#                 'SHA512', 'SHA512_224', 'SHA512_256', 'SHA3_224', 'SHA3_256',
#                 'SHA3_384', 'SHA3_512', 'Keccak224', 'Keccak256', 'Keccak384',
#                 'Keccak512', 'BLAKE2b_160', 'BLAKE2b_256', 'BLAKE2b_384',
#                 'BLAKE2b_512', 'BLAKE2s_128', 'BLAKE2s_160', 'BLAKE2s_224',
#                 'BLAKE2s_256', 'Tiger192', 'Whirlpool'
#
# or any <FUNCNAME> for which there is a Crypt::Digest::<FUNCNAME> module

Creates a copy of the digest object state and returns a reference to the copy.

$d->clone();

Resets the digest object state and returns the digest object itself.

$d->reset();

Appends all arguments to the message. Returns the digest object itself.

Each argument is converted to bytes using Perl's usual scalar stringification. Defined scalars, including numbers and string-overloaded objects, are accepted. "undef" is treated as an empty string and may emit Perl's usual "uninitialized value" warning.

$d->add('any data');
#or
$d->add('any data', 'more data', 'even more data');

Note that all the following cases are equivalent:

# case 1
$d->add('aa', 'bb', 'cc');
# case 2
$d->add('aa');
$d->add('bb');
$d->add('cc');
# case 3
$d->add('aabbcc');
# case 4
$d->add('aa')->add('bb')->add('cc');

Reads a file or filehandle and appends its content to the message. Returns the digest object itself.

$d->addfile('filename.dat');
#or
my $filehandle = ...; # existing binary-mode filehandle
$d->addfile($filehandle);

Note: The filehandle must be in binary mode before you pass it to addfile().

Returns the length of calculated digest in bytes (e.g. 32 for SHA-256).

$d->hashsize;
#or
Crypt::Digest->hashsize('SHA1');
#or
Crypt::Digest::hashsize('SHA1');

Returns the binary digest (raw bytes). The first call finalizes the digest object. Any later add(), addfile(), digest(), hexdigest(), b64digest(), or b64udigest() call will fail until you call reset().

my $result_raw = $d->digest();

Returns the digest encoded as a hexadecimal string. Like digest(), the first call finalizes the digest object.

my $result_hex = $d->hexdigest();

Returns the digest encoded as a Base64 string with trailing "=" padding. Note: This padding style might differ from other "Digest::*" modules on CPAN. Like digest(), the first call finalizes the digest object.

my $result_b64 = $d->b64digest();

Returns the digest encoded as a Base64 URL-safe string (see RFC 4648 section 5). Like digest(), the first call finalizes the digest object.

my $result_b64url = $d->b64udigest();

  • CryptX
  • Crypt::Digest tries to be compatible with the Digest interface.
  • Check subclasses like Crypt::Digest::SHA1, Crypt::Digest::MD5, ...
2026-06-18 perl v5.42.2