getc(3S)                                                 getc(3S)



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

     SYNOPSIS
          #include <stdio.h>

          int getc(stream)
          FILE *stream;

          int getchar()

          int fgetc(stream)
          FILE *stream;

          int getw(stream)
          FILE *stream;

     DESCRIPTION
          The getc macro returns the next character (i.e., byte) from
          the named input stream, as an integer.  It also moves the
          file pointer, if defined, ahead one character in stream.
          The getchar macro is defined as getc(stdin).

          fgetc behaves like getc, but is a function rather than a
          macro.  fgetc runs more slowly than getc, but takes less
          space per invocation and its name can be passed as an argu-
          ment to a function.

          getw returns the next word (32-bit integer on a Macintosh
          II) from the named input stream.  getw increments the asso-
          ciated file pointer, if defined, to point to the next word.
          getw assumes no special alignment in the file.

     RETURN VALUE
          These functions return the constant EOF at end-of-file or
          upon an error.  Because EOF is a valid integer, ferror(3S)
          should be used to detect getw errors.

     SEE ALSO
          fclose(3S), ferror(3S), fopen(3S), fread(3S), gets(3S),
          putc(3S), scanf(3S), ungetc(3S).

     WARNINGS
          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.






     April, 1990                                                     1

     getc(3S)                                                 getc(3S)



     BUGS
          Because it is implemented as a macro, getc treats incorrect-
          ly a stream argument with side effects.  In particular,
          getc(*f++) does not work sensibly.  fgetc should be used in-
          stead.
          Because of possible differences in word length and byte ord-
          ering, files written using putw are machine-dependent, and
          may not be read using getw on a different processor.















































     2                                                     April, 1990