NAME

       gpg-check-pattern - Check a passphrase on stdin against the patternfile

SYNOPSIS

       gpg-check-pattern [options] patternfile

DESCRIPTION

       gpg-check-pattern checks a passphrase given on stdin against a specified pattern file.

       The  pattern  file is line based with comment lines beginning on the first position with a
       #.  Empty lines and lines with only white spaces are ignored.  The  actual  pattern  lines
       may  either be verbatim string pattern and match as they are (trailing spaces are ignored)
       or extended regular expressions indicated by a / or !/ in the first column and  terminated
       by  another  / or end of line.  If a regular expression starts with !/ the match result is
       reversed. By default all comparisons are case insensitive.

       Tag lines may be used to further control  the  operation  of  this  tool.   The  currently
       defined tags are:

       [icase]
              Switch  to  case  insensitive  comparison  for  all  further patterns.  This is the
              default.

       [case] Switch to case sensitive comparison for all further patterns.

       [reject]
              Switch to reject mode.  This is the default mode.

       [accept]
              Switch to accept mode.

       In the future more tags may be introduced and thus it is advisable not to  start  a  plain
       pattern  string with an open bracket.  The tags must be given verbatim on the line with no
       spaces to the left or any non white space characters to the right.

       In reject mode the program exits on the first match with an exit code of 1 (failure).   If
       at the end of the pattern list the reject mode is still active the program exits with code
       0 (success).

       In accept mode blocks of patterns are used.  A block starts at the next pattern  after  an
       "accept" tag and ends with the last pattern before the next "accept" or "reject" tag or at
       the end of the pattern list.  If all patterns in a block match the program exits  with  an
       exit  code  of 0 (success).  If any pattern in a block do not match the next pattern block
       is evaluated.  If at the end of the pattern list the  accept  mode  is  still  active  the
       program exits with code 1 (failure).

OPTIONS

       --verbose
              Enable extra informational output.

       --check
              Run only a syntax check on the patternfile.

       --null Input is expected to be null delimited.

SEE ALSO

       gpg-agent(1),

       The  full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If GnuPG and the
       info program are properly installed at your site, the command

         info gnupg

       should give you access to the complete manual including a menu structure and an index.