Read a character from a stream (getc, getwc), or get a character from stdin (getchar, getwchar).
int getc( FILE *stream );
wint_t getwc( FILE *stream );
int getchar( void );
wint_t getwchar( void );
| Routine | Required Header | Compatibility |
| getc | <stdio.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| getwc | <stdio.h> or <wchar.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| getchar | <stdio.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| getwchar | <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 the character read. To indicate an read error or end-of-file condition, getc and getchar return EOF, and getwc and getwchar return WEOF. For getc and getchar, use ferror or feof to check for an error or for end of file.
Parameter
stream
Input stream
Remarks
Each of these routines reads a single character from a file at the current position and increments the associated file pointer (if defined) to point to the next character. In the case of getc and getwc, the file is associated with stream (see Choosing Between Functions and Macros). Routine-specific remarks follow.
| Routine | Remarks |
| getc | Same as fgetc, but implemented as a function and as a macro. |
| getwc | Wide-character version of getc. Reads a multibyte character or a wide character according to whether stream is opened in text mode or binary mode. |
| getchar | Same as _fgetchar, but implemented as a function and as a macro. |
| getwchar | Wide-character version of getchar. Reads a multibyte character or a wide character according to whether stream is opened in text mode or binary mode. |
Generic-Text Routine Mappings
| TCHAR.H Routine | _UNICODE & _MBCS Not Defined | _MBCS Defined | _UNICODE Defined |
| _gettc | getc | getc | getwc |
| _gettchar | getchar | getchar | getwchar |
Example
/* GETC.C: This program uses getchar to read a single line
* of input from stdin, places this input in buffer, then
* terminates the string before printing it to the screen.
*/
#include <stdio.h>
void main( void )
{
char buffer[81];
int i, ch;
printf( "Enter a line: " );
/* Read in single line from "stdin": */
for( i = 0; (i < 80) && ((ch = getchar()) != EOF)
&& (ch != '\n'); i++ )
buffer[i] = (char)ch;
/* Terminate string with null character: */
buffer[i] = '\0';
printf( "%s\n", buffer );
}
Output
Enter a line: This is a test
This is a test