Help: binary_hash()

Showing help on 'binary_hash()'

Syntax: binary_hash (STR bin-string) => STR
string_hash (STR text) => STR

Returns a 32-character hexadecimal string encoding the result of applying the MD5 cryptographically secure hash function to the contents of the string `text' or the binary string `bin-string'. MD5, like other such functions, has the property that, if

string_hash(x) == string_hash(y)

then, almost certainly

equal(x, y)

This can be useful, for example, in certain networking applications: after sending a large piece of text across a connection, also send across the result of applying string_hash() to the text; if the destination site also applies string_hash() to the text and gets the same result, you can be quite confident that the large text has arrived unchanged.