Example botdetect.xml File

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 
<botdetect xmlns="https://captcha.com/schema/net" 
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
        xsi:schemaLocation="https://captcha.com/schema/net  
            https://captcha.com/schema/net/botdetect-4.4.1.xsd"> 

  <captchaStyles> 

    <captchaStyle>

      <name>yourFirstCaptchaStyle</name>

      <userInputID>yourFirstCaptchaUserInput</userInputID>

      <codeLength>3-5</codeLength>

      <codeStyle>Alpha</codeStyle>
 
      <disallowedCodeSubstrings>i,j,l,o,aa,abc,bca,cab</disallowedCodeSubstrings>

      <imageStyle>Chipped,Fingerprints,Graffiti,Bubbles</imageStyle>

      <imageWidth>200</imageWidth>

      <imageHeight>50</imageHeight>

      <imageFormat>PNG</imageFormat>

      <customDarkColor>#483d8b</customDarkColor>

      <customLightColor>#87cefa</customLightColor>

      <soundEnabled>true</soundEnabled>

      <soundStyle>Dispatch,RedAlert,Synth</soundStyle>
 
      <soundFormat>WAVPCM16BIT8KHZMONO</soundFormat>

      <soundRegenerationMode>None</soundRegenerationMode>

      <locale>en-US</locale>

      <imageTooltip>Custom Captcha image tooltip</imageTooltip>

      <soundTooltip>Custom Captcha sound icon tooltip</soundTooltip>

      <reloadTooltip>Custom Captcha reload icon tooltip</reloadTooltip>

      <helpLinkText>Custom Captcha help link text</helpLinkText>

      <helpLinkUrl>custom-captcha-help-page.html</helpLinkUrl>

      <reloadEnabled>false</reloadEnabled>

      <useSmallIcons>false</useSmallIcons>

      <useHorizontalIcons>false</useHorizontalIcons>

      <soundIconUrl>custom-sound-icon.gif</soundIconUrl>

      <reloadIconUrl></reloadIconUrl>

      <iconsDivWidth>25</iconsDivWidth>

      <helpLinkEnabled>true</helpLinkEnabled>

      <helpLinkMode>TEXT</helpLinkMode>

      <additionalCssClasses>class1 class2 class3</additionalCssClasses>

      <additionalInlineCss>border: 4px solid #fff;</additionalInlineCss>

      <addScriptInclude>true</addScriptInclude>

      <addInitScriptInclude>true</addInitScriptInclude>

      <autoUppercaseInput>true</autoUppercaseInput>

      <autoFocusInput>true</autoFocusInput>

      <autoClearInput>true</autoClearInput>
        
      <autoReloadExpiredCaptchas>true</autoReloadExpiredCaptchas>

      <autoReloadTimeout>3600</autoReloadTimeout>

      <soundStartDelay>1000</soundStartDelay>

      <remoteScriptEnabled>false</remoteScriptEnabled>

    </captchaStyle> 

  </captchaStyles> 
 
  <codeTimeout>600</codeTimeout>

  <testModeEnabled>false</testModeEnabled>

  <disabledImageStyles>Chipped,Lego,Wave</disabledImageStyles>

  <disabledSoundStyles>RedAlert,HiveMind</disabledSoundStyles>

  <soundPackagesFolder>C:\inetpub\wwwroot\host.com\bd_sounds</soundPackagesFolder>

  <warnAboutMissingSoundPackages>false</warnAboutMissingSoundPackages>

  <requestFilterRepeatedRequestsAllowed>5</requestFilterRepeatedRequestsAllowed> 

</botdetect>

The botdetect.xml Options

addInitScriptInclude

Should the JavaScript code for BotDetect client-side object creation be included in the generated Captcha container markup.

The default value is true.

Valid user add init script include setting values are booleans.

Adding the initialization script fragment should be turned off only if you will manually add the necessary <script> code to form <head> for example.

addScriptInclude

Should the BotDetect JavaScript client-side script code be included by the generated Captcha container markup.

The default value is true.

Valid user add script include setting values are booleans.

This setting will usually only be set to false if you have multiple Captcha instances on the same form and only want the first one's markup to include the required BotDetect client-side code.

Another possible use is when you manually add the necessary <script> include to page <head>, possibly combined with other JavaScript code and minified to reduce the number of Http requests made by the page.

additionalCssClasses

User-defined CSS classes that will be added to the BotDetect CAPTCHA container <div>.

The default value is empty.

Valid user additional Css classes setting values are strings containing desired class names in standard space-delimited CSS class format.

CSS style declarations for these custom classes must be defined in a user stylesheet added to the page.

additionalInlineCss

User-defined CSS style declarations that will be added as inline style of the BotDetect CAPTCHA container <div>.

The default value is empty.

Valid user additional Css style setting values are strings containing desired CSS style declarations in standard semicolon-delimited CSS style format.

autoClearInput

Should the Captcha user input textbox automatically be cleared on all reload icon clicks and auto-reloads of expired Captcha codes.

The default value is true.

Valid user auto clear input setting values are booleans.

Automatic input clearing is a small usability improvement: since any previous user input will be invalidated by Captcha reloading, it helps so users don't have to delete the previous input themselves.

autoFocusInput

Should the Captcha code input textbox automatically be assigned focus on all Captcha sound and Captcha reload icon clicks, allowing the users to more easily type in the code as they hear it or as the new image loads.

The default value is true.

Valid user Captcha auto focus input setting values are booleans.

Automatic input element focusing is not triggered by auto-reloading of expired Captcha challenges, since the user might be filling out another field on the form when the auto-reload starts and shouldn't be distracted.

autoReloadExpiredCaptchas

Should Captcha challenges automatically be reloaded when the Captcha code expires (controlled by the CodeTimeout property).

The default value is true.

Valid user auto reload expired Captchas setting values are booleans.

Automatic reloading of expired Captcha codes allows you to have a short Captcha code timeout (e.g. 2 minutes) to narrow the window of opportunity for Captcha reusing on other sites or human-solver-powered bots, and actual visitors can still fill out your form at their own pace and without rushing (since the Captcha image will be reloaded automatically when it is no longer valid).

autoReloadTimeout

Time period in seconds after which automatic reloading of expired Captcha challenges will cease.

The default value is 7200 seconds (2 hours).

Valid user auto reload timeout setting values are positive integers.

This timeout prevents indefinite extension of the visitor Session, when the user leaves the form open in a background browser tab over the weekend for example.

autoUppercaseInput

Should user Captcha code input be automatically uppercased on the fly.

The default value is true.

Valid user auto uppercase input setting values are booleans.

Since Captcha validation is not and should not be case-sensitive (it would hinder human visitors more than bots, and how would case differences be communicated through audio Captcha in all supported pronunciation languages?), automatically uppercasing user input is a small usability improvement that helps communicate the case-insensitivity of the Captcha challenge to users.

codeLength

Number of characters in randomly generated Captcha codes (answers to Captcha challenges).

The default value is random (4-6 characters).

Valid user Captcha code length setting values are integers larger than 0 and smaller than 16.

It is recommended to always randomize Captcha code length since it significantly increases Captcha security vs. automated analysis

codeStyle

Character types used to generate random Captcha codes.

The default value is Alphanumeric.

Valid user Captcha code style setting values are string of CodeStyle names (Alpha, Numeric, Alphanumeric)

Since entropy of the Captcha challenge depends on character set size to the power of Captcha code length, alpha codes should be slightly longer than alphanumeric ones (while numeric Captcha codes should be significantly longer) to achieve an appropriate level of Captcha security.

codeTimeout

The time period after random Captcha code generation during which Captcha challenges based on it can be solved: when it expires, even correct inputs will be considered as invalid submissions.

The default value is 1200 seconds (20 minutes).

Valid user Captcha code timeout setting values are integers larger than 30 and smaller than 7200 (i.e. between half a minute and 2 hours).

Reducing the Captcha code timeout is an optional security improvement that narrows the window of opportunity for attacks based on reusing the Captcha challenge on another site controlled by the attacker, proxying it to human solvers, or similar attempts to bypass the Captcha protection. However, to meet usability criteria, users filling out the form should always be given reasonably enough time to solve the Captcha challenge. Since Captcha codes are stored in Session state by default, please note that if the configured code timeout is longer than the active Session timeout, Captcha validation will still fail if the user Session expires due to inactivity.

customDarkColor

BotDetect allows Captcha image color scheme customization though two color points: a custom dark color and a custom light color. The default values are empty (Captcha color customization is optional). Valid user Captcha custom dark / light color setting values are Html colors, so you can use both predefined color names and custom color hex values.

Since many Captcha drawing styles randomize the actual color used, the user-defined values are used as randomization starting points instead of absolute values. Furthermore, since some drawing styles use light text on a dark background, while other draw dark text on a light background, text and background colors are not set directly, but are referred to as simply the "dark" and the "light" color. This allows you to randomize the image drawing style, for example, and still keep a consistent color scheme adjusted to your website design.

customLightColor

disabledImageStyles

Application configuration setting that allows centralized temporary disabling of individual BotDetect image styles if there is ever an urgent issue that requires it.

The default value is empty (image style disabling is an optional feature meant for short-term use during exceptional situations).

Valid user disabled image styles setting values are CSV strings of ImageStyle enumeration constant names (case-insensitive, separator whitespace is ignored). BotDetect image styles used on user forms can be configured in different ways (a single static value, a randomized value, a dynamic value that adapts to visitor behavior) and can apply to all Captcha instances in an application or be specific to a particular Captcha challenge placed on a single form.

If an urgent issue is ever discovered in a BotDetect image style implementation (e.g. a bug causing it to throw errors in certain circumstances, or a weakness allowing some forms of automated analysis to bypass it, or a memory leak etc.), users should be able to deactivate the problematic ImageStyle while they're waiting for issue resolution.

This BotDetect setting acts as a centralized application configuration switch which allows such image style deactivation, without requiring users to examine and possibly modify all of their source code that might be affected. It also makes it much easier to revert the change later when the issue gets fixed.

disabledSoundStyles

Application configuration setting that allows centralized temporary disabling of individual BotDetect sound styles if there is ever an urgent issue that requires it.

The default value is empty (sound style disabling is an optional feature meant for short-term use during exceptional situations). Valid user disabled sound styles setting values are CSV strings of SoundStyle enumeration constant names (case-insensitive, separator whitespace is ignored).

BotDetect sound styles used on user forms can be configured in different ways (a single static value, a randomized value, a dynamic value that adapts to visitor behavior) and can apply to all Captcha instances in an application or be specific to a particular Captcha challenge placed on a single form. If an urgent issue is ever discovered in a BotDetect sound style implementation (e.g. a bug causing it to throw errors in certain circumstances, or a weakness allowing some forms of automated analysis to bypass it, or a memory leak etc.), users should be able to deactivate the problematic SoundStyle while they're waiting for issue resolution. This BotDetect setting acts as a centralized application configuration switch which allows such sound style deactivation, without requiring users to examine and possibly modify all of their source code that might be affected. It also makes it much easier to revert the change later when the issue gets fixed.

disallowedCodeSubstrings

Strings that should never occur in randomly generated Captcha codes. Can be both single characters (allows Captcha character set customization) and sequences of two or more characters (useful for swear words filtering, avoiding particular hard-to-read sequences etc.).

The default value is empty (Captcha code filtering is optional). Valid user disallowed Captcha code substring setting values are lists of arbitrary strings, in CSV format. Whitespace is ignored, and disallowed substrings are not case-sensitive (because Captcha codes are case-insensitive as well).

The character set used for Captcha code generation is automatically chosen based on Captcha locale. Since each character needs to have its pronunciation recorded and available to BotDetect code, expanding that default character set to include new characters is not supported (it would break Captcha sound functionality). However, if a particular character is found hard to read, it can easily be excluded from randomly generated Captcha codes. Furthermore, offensive or otherwise undesirable words and character sequences can be banned.

Since Captcha codes are generally short, it doesn't make sense to use an actual dictionary of words, but simple short sequences that cover multiple disallowed values. E.g. to prevent the random generator from using both 'man', 'manners' and 'mannequin' in Captcha codes, it's enough to ban the 'man' sequence.

helpLinkEnabled

Will Captcha markup include a link to a Captcha help page providing Captcha instructions and explanations for form users.

The default value is true.

Valid user help link enabled setting values are booleans.

This setting is only supported in paid versions of BotDetect.

helpLinkMode

How will the Captcha help link be displayed.

The default value is TEXT.

Valid user Captcha help link mode setting values are name of HelpLinkMode enumeration members ("IMAGE" or "TEXT").

When using the Image help link mode, Captcha image is wrapped in a link, and clicking it opens the help page in a new browser tab. This mode takes less space, but can lead to accidental clicks (particularly by mobile visitors).

When using the Text help link mode, Captcha image height is automatically reduced by 10 px and a text link to the Captcha help page is inserted below it. If this makes the Captcha images less readable, you can compensate by increasing the Captcha image height.

helpLinkText

Text or tooltip of the Captcha help link, depending on help link mode.

The default value depends on the width of the Captcha image.

Valid user Captcha help link setting values are strings at least 4 characters long.

helpLinkUrl

Url of the localized Captcha help page the help link points to.

The default value depends on Captcha locale.

Valid user Captcha help link url setting values are absolute or relative Urls.

This setting is only supported in paid versions of BotDetect.

iconsDivWidth

Custom width of the Captcha icons div element.

The default value depends on Captcha image height, since BotDetect will automatically determine default icon size and position to match it.

Valid user Captcha icons div width setting values are positive integers.

If your custom Captcha icons are not of the same size as the default BotDetect ones (22x22 px), the UseHorizontalIcons setting won't be able to control the icon layout correctly. You can control whether your custom icons will be displayed one beneath the other or one beside the other by setting an appropriate icons div width: setting it to at least twice the icon width + 8px of padding will result in horizontal icon layout, while smaller values will result in vertical icon layout.

imageFormat

Image format in which Captcha images will be generated and sent to the client.

The default value is JPEG.

Valid user Captcha image format setting values are name of ImageFormat enumeration constant (JPEG, PNG, GIF).

Please note that some Captcha image styles will result in low-quality (pixelated) images when the image format is set to Gif, due to randomized color schemes and use of color gradients. When switching image formats, please take care to check the impact on Captcha image readability.

imageHeight

imageStyle

The BotDetect drawing algorithm used to render Captcha codes in image Captcha challenges.

The default value is random (an image style is chosen from all available values for each Captcha image generated).

Valid user Captcha image style setting values are CSV strings of names of ImageStyle enumeration members (case-insensitive, separator whitespace is ignored).

Please note that some image styles are restricted to paid versions of BotDetect, and will be ignored in free version implementations.

It's best to randomize the Captcha image style, since randomly choosing a style for each Captcha image generated provides the highest level of Captcha security against automated OCR analysis.

imageTooltip

The alternative text of the Captcha image Html element.

The default value is Retype the CAPTCHA code from the image.

Valid user Captcha image tooltip setting values are arbitrary strings.

imageWidth

Size of Captcha image challenges generated.

The default value is 250 x 50 pixels.

Valid user Captcha image size setting values are integers: widths can be between 20 and 500 pixels and heights between 20 and 200 pixels.

To keep Captcha images reasonably readable, their width:height ratio should be approximately the same as the average Captcha code length.

locale

Captcha locale string, determining the exact character set used for random Captcha code generation and the pronunciation language used for sound Captcha generation.

The default value is en-US.

Valid user Captcha locale setting values are composed of ISO language codes (for example en, ru, cmn, ...), charset codes (for example ja-Hira uses Japanese Hiragana characters, while ja-Kana uses Japanese Katakana characters) and country codes (for example en-US and en-GB differ in the pronunciation used).

Check the BotDetect localization page to find the list of currently supported locales, and download the pronunciation resources required for Captcha sounds.

If you use a right-to-left locale setting like Arabic or Hebrew, you should also set the appropriate text direction on the textbox element used for Captcha code retyping (dir="rtl").

name

Name of captcha style, which is used as a Captcha identifier.

Valid user Captcha style name allowed setting values are an alphanumeric strings.

reloadEnabled

Is Captcha reloading (changing the Captcha code because the current one is too hard to read) enabled.

The default value is true.

Valid user Captcha reload enabled setting values are booleans.

Requesting a new Captcha challenge on the current form requires client-side scripting, so the reload icon is only shown in browsers that have JavaScript enabled. When JavaScript is disabled or unsupported, the visitor can still get a different Captcha challenge by reloading the form.

reloadIconUrl

Url of the optional custom Captcha reload icon that will be used instead of the default one.

The default value is 'botdetectcaptcha?get=reload-icon'.

Valid user Captcha reload icon setting values are absolute or relative Urls.

When specifying a custom Captcha reload icon, you should make sure its filename includes "icon", and also provide a disabled variation of the icon that will be shown while the browser is waiting to fetch a new Captcha challenge from the server (to prevent the user from clicking the icon multiple times). The disabled reload icon variant should be the same size and have a filename based on the active one ("icon" replaced with "disabled-icon").

reloadTooltip

Tooltip of the Captcha reload icon.

The default value is "Change the CAPTCHA code".

Valid user Captcha reload tooltip setting values are arbitrary strings.

remoteScriptEnabled

Should BotDetect also add a remote JavaScript include (remote.captcha.com/include.js) loaded from the captcha.com server (which is currently used only for stats, but is planned to develop into additional Captcha functionality).

The default value is true.

Valid user remote script enabled setting values are booleans.

This setting is only supported in paid versions of BotDetct.

requestFilterRepeatedRequestsAllowed

How many repeated Captcha HttpServlet requests using the exact same query string will be allowed in a short time period.

The default value is 15.

Valid user Captcha request filter repeated requests allowed setting values are positive integers between 1 and 100.

You will typically only increase this value if the Captcha request filter is for some reason causing issues with legitimate user behavior in your application.

soundEnabled

Is Captcha sound enabled.

The default value is true.

Valid user Captcha sound enabled setting values are booleans.

Captcha sound can be disabled entirely (for example if you are using the free version of BotDetect, which only supports demo sound that is not actually accessible to human visitors) by setting this property to false.

soundFormat

Audio format in which Captcha sounds will be generated and sent to the client.

The default value is WAVPCM16BIT8KHZMONO

Valid user Captcha sound format setting values are name of the SoundFormat enumeration constant (WAVPCM16BIT8KHZMONO, WAVPCM8BIT8KHZMONO).

Using 8 bit sound instead of default 16 bits per example lowers the WAV file download size, but reduces sound quality.

soundIconUrl

Url of the optional custom Captcha sound icon that will be used instead of the default one.

The default value is 'botdetectcaptcha?get=sound-icon'.

Valid user Captcha sound icon setting values are absolute or relative Urls.

When specifying a custom Captcha sound icon, you should make sure its filename includes "icon", and also provide a disabled variation of the icon that will be shown during sound playback (to prevent the user from clicking the icon multiple times). The disabled sound icon variant should be the same size and have a filename based on the active one ("icon" replaced with "disabled-icon").

soundPackagesFolder

Application configuration setting controlling the file system location of BotDetect sound resources required for Captcha audio.

The default value is the Bin\BotDetectSounds subfolder in your ASP.NET application folder.

Valid user Captcha sound packages folder setting values are absolute file system paths (starting with a drive identifier e,g, "C:\"), network paths (starting with "\"), or relative paths based on the application root folder (starting with "~\")) You should also always ensure that the web server worker process running your ASP.NET application has permissions to read from the custom folder path.

soundRegenerationMode

How will multiple consecutive requests for audio Captcha with the same Captcha code ("sound regeneration") be handled by BotDetect - a tradeoff of security, usability, and storage requirements.

The default value is LIMITED.

Valid user Captcha sound regeneration mode setting values are name of SoundRegenerationMode enumeration constant (None, LIMITED, UNLIMITED) BotDetect defaults to limited sound regeneration as the most reasonable overall trade-off. At user discretion, higher security and usability can be achieved by disabling sound regeneration at the cost of significant amounts of server-side storage space. Unlimited sound regeneration is not recommended due to low security, but is left as an option for backwards-compatibility.

soundStartDelay

Starting delay (in milliseconds) of Captcha audio JavaScript playback.

The default value is 0 (no delay).

Valid user Captcha sound start delay setting values are positive integers. An initial delay before browser sound playback can be useful for improving usability of the Captcha audio for blind people using JAWS or similar screen readers. Such assistive technology will read the label associated with the Captcha code textbox and start sound playback simultaneously when the sound icon is activated (since Captcha sound playing automatically focuses the Captcha code textbox by default).

Setting this delay to e.g. 2000 (2 seconds) will give the user time to hear both the pronounced label and the Captcha sound clearly.

soundStyle

The BotDetect audio generation algorithm used to pronounce Captcha codes in sound Captcha challenges.

The default value is random (a sound style is chosen from all available values for each Captcha sound generated).

Valid user Captcha sound style setting values are CSV strings of SoundStyle enumeration constant names (case-insensitive, separator whitespace is ignored).

Please note that some sound styles are restricted to paid versions of BotDetect, and will be ignored in free version implementations.

It's best to randomize the Captcha sound style, since randomly choosing a style for each Captcha sound generated provides the highest level of Captcha security against automated audio analysis and voice recognition.

soundTooltip

Tooltip of the Captcha sound icon.

The default value is "Speak the CAPTCHA code".

Valid user Captcha sound tooltip setting values are arbitrary strings.

testModeEnabled

Application configuration switch to use if you want to run automated tests that need to be able to submit a Captcha-protected form in QA environments.

The default value is false.

Valid user Captcha test mode setting values are booleans. When test mode is enabled, it makes the Captcha challenge trivially solvable (always using "TEST" as the solution instead of a random sequence of characters). Be careful NEVER to enable this on production websites by mistake, since it will allow bots to trivially bypass the Captcha, but will still provide an obstacle for human users. Because of the serious security implications if the Captcha test mode setting is misapplied, it can only be enabled globally for the whole application (individual forms and Captcha object instances can't change it), and will display a warning in generated Captcha container markup.

This setting is only supported in paid versions of BotDetect.

useHorizontalIcons

BotDetect displays the Captcha sound and reload icon one below the other by default, and switches to displaying them one beside the other when Captcha images are small enough. This setting allows you to control which BotDetect icon layout will be used.

The default value is true when the Captcha image height is <40px, and false otherwise.

Valid user use horizontal Captcha icons setting values are booleans: setting this value to true will force BotDetect to use a horizontal icon layout, while false will disable automatic switching to horizontal icons depending on image height.

This setting only applies to default BotDetect icons, and should not be used in combination with user-defined icons.

useSmallIcons

Default BotDetect Captcha icons are 22x22 pixels large, but there is also a smaller set of 17x17 px icons used when the default ones are too large.

This settings allows you to control which icon set will be used. The default value is true when the Captcha image height is < 50px, and false otherwise.

Valid user use small Captcha icons setting values are booleans: setting this value to true will force BotDetect to use small built-in icons, while false will disable automatic switching to small icons depending on image height.

This setting only applies to default BotDetect icons, and should not be used in combination with user-defined icons

userInputID

User input textbox client-side identifier, used for all client-side user input processing, e.g. automatic user input lowercasing and focusing.

The default value is "CaptchaCode".

Valid user input ID setting values are path strings, which is value of id attribute of captcha code input textbox.

warnAboutMissingSoundPackages

Application configuration setting that controls whether BotDetect disables (greys-out and prevents clicks on) the Captcha sound icon and displays a warning tooltip when the sound package file containing character pronunciations for the currently set Captcha locale can not be found.

The default value is true (display a warning when the required .bdsp file cannot be found).

Valid user warn about missing sound packages setting values are booleans. Warnings about missing sound packages help during development and deployment, so you don't mistakenly forget to download and copy the needed files.

However, this warning is not meant for (and should never be seen by) site visitors. So if you didn't copy a particular sound package because you intentionally don't want to support audio Captcha sounds in that language, you can disable the warning (and the sound icon for such locales).

Please Note

This document is not up to date. We are working on fixing it. Your Simple API integration efforts should start with one of the following four step-by-step integration guides: Angular Captcha, AngularJS Captcha, jQuery Captcha, React Captcha.