Python: Essential Reference, Third Edition

sha

The sha module implements the secure hash algorithm (SHA). SHA takes a sequence of input text and produces a 160-bit hash value. To compute the hash value, create an sha object using the new() function and feed data to it.

						new([string])

Returns a new sha object. If string is present, update(string) is called.

An instance, s, of an sha object has the following methods:

						s.update(arg)

Updates the sha object with the string arg.

						s.digest()

Returns the digest of all data passed to the object using the update() method and returns a 20-byte string that may contain nonprintable characters, including null bytes.

						s.copy()

Returns a copy of the sha object.

						s.hexdigest()

Returns the digest value as a string of hexadecimal digits.

Note

The SHA algorithm ...