GETC(3S)							      GETC(3S)



NAME
     getc, getchar, fgetc, getw	- get character	or 
     word from a stream

SYNOPSIS
     #include <stdio.h>

     int getc (FILE *stream);

     int getchar (void);

     int fgetc (FILE *stream);

     int getw (FILE *stream);

DESCRIPTION
     Fgetc and getc return the next character (if it 
     exists) from the named input stream, as an
     unsigned character converted to an integer.  It 
     also moves the file pointer, if defined, ahead 
     one character in stream. getchar is defined as 
     getc(stdin). Each of getc,getchar and fgetc
     exist as functions in the C library. Getc and 
     getchar are also available as macros in <stdio.h> (see 
     below under CAVEATS for important	details	on the
     implementation of these macros.)

     Getw returns the next word	(i.e., integer)	from 
     the named input stream. Getw increments 
     the associated file pointer, if defined, to point
     to the next integer-sized	word.  Getw 
     assumes no special alignment in the file.

SEE ALSO
     fclose(3s), ferror(3s), fopen(3s), fread(3s),
     gets(3s), putc(3s), scanf(3s), stdio(3s), 
     ugetc(3s)

DIAGNOSTICS
     These functions return the	constant EOF at
     end-of-file or upon an error. Because EOF is a 
     valid integer, it is not sufficient to detect 
     getw errors. ferror(3S) must be used as well.

WARNING
     If	the integer value returned by getc, getchar, 
     or	fgetc is stored into a character variable	
     and then compared against the integer constant 
     EOF, the comparison may never succeed, because 
     sign-extension of a character on widening to 
     integer is machine-dependent.

CAVEATS
     When using	the macro versions of getc and getchar,
     the stream argument may be evaluated more
     than once.  Thus, it must not be an expression 
     with side-effects. In particular, getc(*f++) does 
     not work sensibly. In these situations, the macro
     must either be #undef'd, or fgetc
     should be used instead.

     Because of	possible differences in	word length 
     and byte ordering, files written using putw	
     are machine-dependent, and may not be read using 
     getw on a different processor.

BUGS
     When using	the macros for getc and	getchar, 
     hidden external names may be referenced. Although
     these  names are prefixed with an underscore,
     they may  conflict with names which the ANSI C 
     Standard reserves for the user when appearing in
     a local  context. It is thus recommended that 
     users of these macros reserve all names which 
     begin with an underscore for the implementation,
     and avoid defining	such names, even in a local 
     context.