.\" Copyright (c) 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
.\" Chris Torek.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"	@(#)getc.3	6.5 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH GETC 3 ""
.UC 7
.SH NAME
fgetc, getc, getchar, getw \- get a character or word from a stream
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.ft B
#include <stdio.h>

int
fgetc(FILE *stream);

int
getc(FILE *stream);

int
getchar();

int
getw(FILE *stream);
.ft R
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Fgetc
returns the next input character from the given
.IR stream ,
or the next character pushed back via
.IR ungetc .
.PP
.I Getc
acts essentially identically to
.IR fgetc ,
but is a macro that expands in-line.
.PP
.I Getchar
is identical to ``getc(stdin)''.
.PP
.I Getw
returns the next
.B int
from the named input
.IR stream .
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
These functions return the integer constant
.B EOF
at end-of-file, upon read error, or if an attempt is made to read a
write-only stream.
Callers must use 
.I feof 
and
.I ferror
to distinguish between end-of-file and error.
If an error occurs, the global variable
.I errno
is set to indicate the error.
The end-of-file condition is remembered, even on a terminal, and all
subsequent attempts to read will return
.B EOF
until the condition is cleared with
.IR clearerr .
.SH "SEE ALSO"
ferror(3), fread(3), fopen(3), putc(3), ungetc(3)
.SH BUGS
Since
.B EOF
is a valid integer value,
.I feof
and
.I ferror
must be used to check for failure after calling
.IR getw .
The size and byte order of an
.B int
varies from one machine to another, and
.I getw
is not recommended for portable applications.
.PP
Because it is implemented as a macro,
.I getc
treats a
.I stream
argument with side effects incorrectly.
In particular, ``getc(*f++);'' may not work sensibly.
.SH STANDARDS
.IR Fgetc ,
.IR getc
and
.I getchar
conform to ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'').