fgetc, getc

int fgetc( FILE *stream );

int getc( FILE *stream );

Parameters

Return value

On success, returns the obtained character as an unsigned char converted to an int. On failure, returns EOF.

If the failure has been caused by end-of-file condition, additionally sets the eof indicator (see feof()) on stream. If the failure has been caused by some other error, sets the error indicator (see ferror()) on stream.

Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
 
int main(void)
{
    const char* fname = "/tmp/unique_name.txt"; // or tmpnam(NULL);
    int is_ok = EXIT_FAILURE;
 
    FILE* fp = fopen(fname, "w+");
    if (!fp) {
        perror("File opening failed");
        return is_ok;
    }
    fputs("Hello, world!\n", fp);
    rewind(fp);
 
    int c; // note: int, not char, required to handle EOF
    while ((c = fgetc(fp)) != EOF) // standard C I/O file reading loop
        putchar(c);
 
    if (ferror(fp))
        puts("I/O error when reading");
    else if (feof(fp)) {
        puts("End of file is reached successfully");
        is_ok = EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }
 
    fclose(fp);
    remove(fname);
    return is_ok;
}

Hello, world!
End of file is reached successfully

References

• C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018):
• 7.21.7.1 The fgetc function (p: 240-241)
• 7.21.7.5 The getc function (p: 242)
• C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):
• 7.21.7.1 The fgetc function (p: 330)
• 7.21.7.5 The getc function (p: 332)
• C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):
• 7.19.7.1 The fgetc function (p: 296)
• 7.19.7.5 The getc function (p: 297-298)
• C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):
• 4.9.7.1 The fgetc function
• 4.9.7.5 The getc function

See also