gets(3) Library Functions Manual gets(3)
NAME
gets, fgets - Get a string from a stream
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc.so, libc.a)
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
char *gets(
char *string);
char *fgets(
char *string,
int n,
FILE *stream);
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:
gets(), fgets(): XPG4, XPG4-UNIX
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.
PARAMETERS
Points to a string to receive bytes. Specifies an upper bound on the number of bytes to read. Points to the FILE structure of an open
file.
DESCRIPTION
The gets() function reads bytes from the standard input stream, stdin, into the array pointed to by the string parameter. Data is read
until a newline character is read or an end-of-file condition is encountered. If reading is stopped due to a newline character, the newline
character is discarded and the string is terminated with a null byte.
The fgets() function reads bytes from the data pointed to by the stream parameter into the array pointed to by the string parameter. Data
is read until n-1 bytes have been read, until a newline character is read and transferred to string, or until an end-of-file condition is
encountered. The string is then terminated with a null byte.
NOTES
The gets() function does not check the input for a maximum size. Consequently, if more bytes are entered than will fit in the space allo-
cated for the string parameter, gets() will write beyond the end of the allocated space, producing indeterminate results. To avoid this
condition, use fgets() instead of gets().
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, the gets() and fgets() functions return string. If the stream is at end-of-file, the end-of-file indicator for
the stream is set and a null pointer is returned. If a read error occurs, the error indicator for the stream is set, a null pointer is
returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
The fgets() and gets() functions set errno to the specified value for the following conditions: The O_NONBLOCK flag is set for the underly-
ing stream and the process would be delayed by the read operation. The file descriptor underlying the stream is not a valid file descrip-
tor or is not open for reading. The read operation was interrupted by a signal which was caught and no data was transferred. The call is
attempting to read from the process's controlling terminal and either the process is ignoring or blocking the SIGTTIN signal or the process
group is orphaned. Insufficient memory is available for the operation. The device associated with stream does not exist.
RELATED INFORMATION
Functions: clearerr(3), feof(3), ferror(3), fgetws(3), fileno(3), fopen(3), fputws(3), fread(3), getc(3), getwc(3), puts(3), scanf(3)
Standards: standards(5) delim off
gets(3)