md5 returns the hash of a string. This is used to encrypt strings and particularly encrypting the passwords of the user. This function returns the encrypted string by using RSA Data Security Inc.
Inputs
String : for which md5 to be generated
raw : Optional , TRUE : 16 chars binary format . FALSE : 32 chars hex number ( default )
The length of the password after encryption is 32 char if the raw is set to FALSE ( default )
If you are using database table to store password then the password field should be minimum 32 char length. Read sql_update command to know more about storing encrypted password in table.
md5 encryption is not so useful to store passwords and other sensitive data. This is just minimum standard of encryption only.
md5 encryption is one way only, there is no standard method to generate the source or the original string from the hash of the string. So passwords can't be retrieved and it can only be reset.
Here is a script to display the md5 output for a given string.
Maximum 16 char length allowed Use only alphanumeric characters