Get a line from the stdin stream.
char *gets( char *buffer );
wchar_t *_getws( wchar_t *buffer );
| Routine | Required Header | Compatibility |
| gets | <stdio.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| _getws | <stdio.h> or <wchar.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.
Libraries
| LIBC.LIB | Single thread static library, retail version |
| LIBCMT.LIB | Multithread static library, retail version |
| MSVCRT.LIB | Import library for MSVCRT.DLL, retail version |
Return Value
Each of these functions returns its argument if successful. A NULL pointer indicates an error or end-of-file condition. Use ferror or feof to determine which one has occurred.
Parameter
buffer
Storage location for input string
Remarks
The gets function reads a line from the standard input stream stdin and stores it in buffer. The line consists of all characters up to and including the first newline character ('\n'). gets then replaces the newline character with a null character ('\0') before returning the line. In contrast, the fgets function retains the newline character. _getws is a wide-character version of gets; its argument and return value are wide-character strings.
Generic-Text Routine Mappings
| TCHAR.H Routine | _UNICODE & _MBCS Not Defined | _MBCS Defined | _UNICODE Defined |
| _getts | gets | gets | _getws |
Example
/* GETS.C */
#include <stdio.h>
void main( void )
{
char line[81];
printf( "Input a string: " );
gets( line );
printf( "The line entered was: %s\n", line );
}
Output
Input a string: Hello!
The line entered was: Hello!