How to verify the file was successfully encrypted...

[Benny Helms]

On Wed, 2006-07-12 at 13:23 -0400, Mark Hardman wrote:
> If you're using bash, can't you just script it like this...
>  
> 1.  encrypt to gpg
> 2.  decrypt to text (or whatever it was originally) with altered file
> name (filename.test_decrypt)
> 3.  do a diff between the original file and the newly decrypted file
> (versions of diff I've used work on binary files, too, but you might
> want to test this)
> 4.  if there are no differences, delete original file and test decrypt
> file, leaving only the encrypted gpg file
>  
> Would that get what you're looking for?
>  
> Take care.
> mark

Thank you for the reply, Mark.  Yes, that would definitely do the trick.
I guess I need to go to the FAQ to discover how to safely put a password
into a scripted activity since each decryption requires a password.

Check me on this, though.  Is there any error checking in gnupg when
creating a file?  Is it safe to assume that if the job completes, the
file is usable?  This method you've described will definitely work, but
it seems like a lot more CPU cycles and a lot more time involved in the
script than should be necessary.  Should I be submitting a "wish" to the
developer list?

Benny