Manual Pages  — FGETS

fgets, gets, gets_s – get a line from a stream

LIBRARY SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION RETURN VALUES ERRORS SEE ALSO STANDARDS SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

#include <stdio.h>

char *
fgets(char * restrict str, int size, FILE * restrict stream);

char *
gets_s(char *str, rsize_t size);

char *
gets(char *str);

The fgets() function reads at most one less than the number of characters specified by size from the given stream and stores them in the string str. Reading stops when a newline character is found, at end-of-file or error. The newline, if any, is retained. If any characters are read and there is no error, a ‘\0’ character is appended to end the string.

The gets_s() function is equivalent to fgets() with a stream of stdin, except that the newline character (if any) is not stored in the string.

The gets() function is equivalent to fgets() with an infinite size and a stream of stdin, except that the newline character (if any) is not stored in the string. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure that the input line, if any, is sufficiently short to fit in the string.

The functions fgets() and gets() conform to ISO/IEC 9899:1999 ("ISO C99"). gets_s() conforms to ISO/IEC K.3.7.4.1. gets() has been removed from ISO/IEC .

The gets() function cannot be used securely. Because of its lack of bounds checking, and the inability for the calling program to reliably determine the length of the next incoming line, the use of this function enables malicious users to arbitrarily change a running program's functionality through a buffer overflow attack. It is strongly suggested that the fgets() function be used in all cases.