digest#

Finalise the running hash and return the raw binary digest.

Completes the SHA computation on whatever bytes have been fed in so far (via add, addfile, add_bits) and returns the result as a byte string. After digest returns, the object is automatically reset, so you can feed a new message into the same object without calling reset explicitly.

The digest is returned as raw bytes — the fixed length of the chosen algorithm (20 bytes for SHA-1, 32 for SHA-256, 64 for SHA-512, and so on). If you want a printable form, use hexdigest or b64digest instead of converting yourself.

Synopsis#

my $bytes = $sha->digest;

What you get back#

A scalar holding the raw digest bytes. length equals hashsize / 8.

Examples#

my $sha = Digest::SHA->new(256);
$sha->add("abc");
my $raw = $sha->digest;
print length $raw;        # 32

my $sha = Digest::SHA->new(1);
$sha->add("hello");
my $a = $sha->digest;
$sha->add("world");       # fresh message after auto-reset
my $b = $sha->digest;

use Digest::SHA;
my $raw = Digest::SHA->new(256)->add($data)->digest;

Edge cases#

  • Called on an object with no input fed, returns the digest of the empty string.

  • The auto-reset is unconditional: do not assume the hash state is preserved after digest returns.

  • Called on a non-Digest::SHA object, returns undef.

Differences from upstream#

Fully compatible with upstream Digest::SHA 6.04.

See also#

  • hexdigest — same digest, lowercase hex string.

  • b64digest — same digest, unpadded Base64 string.

  • clone — take a snapshot before finalising if you want to keep hashing.