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<pre>
<span class="headline">GETS(3P)                  POSIX Programmer's Manual                 GETS(3P)</span>
</pre>
<h2><a id="PROLOG" href="gets.3p.html#PROLOG"></a>PROLOG  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
       corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or
       the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
</pre>
<h2><a id="NAME" href="gets.3p.html#NAME"></a>NAME  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       gets — get a string from a <i>stdin</i> stream
</pre>
<h2><a id="SYNOPSIS" href="gets.3p.html#SYNOPSIS"></a>SYNOPSIS  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       #include &lt;stdio.h&gt;

       char *gets(char *<i>s</i>);
</pre>
<h2><a id="DESCRIPTION" href="gets.3p.html#DESCRIPTION"></a>DESCRIPTION  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with
       the ISO C standard. Any conflict between the requirements described
       here and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This volume of
       POSIX.1‐2008 defers to the ISO C standard.

       The <i>gets</i>() function shall read bytes from the standard input stream,
       <i>stdin</i>, into the array pointed to by <i>s</i>, until a &lt;newline&gt; is read or
       an end-of-file condition is encountered. Any &lt;newline&gt; shall be
       discarded and a null byte shall be placed immediately after the last
       byte read into the array.

       The <i>gets</i>() function may mark the last data access timestamp of the
       file associated with <i>stream</i> for update. The last data access
       timestamp shall be marked for update by the first successful
       execution of <i>fgetc</i>(), <i>fgets</i>(), <i>fread</i>(), <i>fscanf</i>(), <i>getc</i>(), <i>getchar</i>(),
       <i>getdelim</i>(), <i>getline</i>(), <i>gets</i>(), or <i>scanf</i>() using <i>stream</i> that returns
       data not supplied by a prior call to <i>ungetc</i>().
</pre>
<h2><a id="RETURN_VALUE" href="gets.3p.html#RETURN_VALUE"></a>RETURN VALUE  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       Upon successful completion, <i>gets</i>() shall return <i>s</i>.  If the end-of-
       file indicator for the stream is set, or if the stream is at end-of-
       file, the end-of-file indicator for the stream shall be set and
       <i>gets</i>() shall return a null pointer. If a read error occurs, the error
       indicator for the stream shall be set, <i>gets</i>() shall return a null
       pointer, and set <i><a href="errno.3.html">errno</a></i> to indicate the error.
</pre>
<h2><a id="ERRORS" href="gets.3p.html#ERRORS"></a>ERRORS  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       Refer to <a href="fgetc.3p.html">fgetc(3p)</a>.

       <i>The following sections are informative.</i>
</pre>
<h2><a id="EXAMPLES" href="gets.3p.html#EXAMPLES"></a>EXAMPLES  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       None.
</pre>
<h2><a id="APPLICATION_USAGE" href="gets.3p.html#APPLICATION_USAGE"></a>APPLICATION USAGE  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       Reading a line that overflows the array pointed to by <i>s</i> results in
       undefined behavior. The use of <i>fgets</i>() is recommended.

       Since the user cannot specify the length of the buffer passed to
       <i>gets</i>(), use of this function is discouraged. The length of the string
       read is unlimited. It is possible to overflow this buffer in such a
       way as to cause applications to fail, or possible system security
       violations.

       Applications should use the <i>fgets</i>() function instead of the
       obsolescent <i>gets</i>() function.
</pre>
<h2><a id="RATIONALE" href="gets.3p.html#RATIONALE"></a>RATIONALE  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       The standard developers decided to mark the <i>gets</i>() function as
       obsolescent even though it is in the ISO C standard due to the
       possibility of buffer overflow.
</pre>
<h2><a id="FUTURE_DIRECTIONS" href="gets.3p.html#FUTURE_DIRECTIONS"></a>FUTURE DIRECTIONS  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       The <i>gets</i>() function may be removed in a future version.
</pre>
<h2><a id="SEE_ALSO" href="gets.3p.html#SEE_ALSO"></a>SEE ALSO  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       <i>Section 2.5</i>, <i>Standard I/O Streams</i>, <a href="feof.3p.html">feof(3p)</a>, <a href="ferror.3p.html">ferror(3p)</a>, <a href="fgets.3p.html">fgets(3p)</a>

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <a href="../man0/stdio.h.0p.html">stdio.h(0p)</a>
</pre>
<h2><a id="COPYRIGHT" href="gets.3p.html#COPYRIGHT"></a>COPYRIGHT  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="gets.3p.html#top_of_page"><span class="top-link">top</span></a></h2><pre>
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information
       Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open
       Group Base Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the
       Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open
       Group.  (This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1
       applied.) In the event of any discrepancy between this version and
       the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and
       The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original
       Standard can be obtained online at <a href="http://www.unix.org/online.html">http://www.unix.org/online.html</a> .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the
       source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       <a href="https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html">https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html</a> .

<span class="footline">IEEE/The Open Group                 2013                            GETS(3P)</span>
</pre>

<hr class="end-man-text" />
<p>Pages that refer to this page: 
    <a href="../man0/stdio.h.0p.html">stdio.h(0p)</a>,&nbsp; 
    <a href="fgetc.3p.html">fgetc(3p)</a>,&nbsp; 
    <a href="fgets.3p.html">fgets(3p)</a>,&nbsp; 
    <a href="fread.3p.html">fread(3p)</a>,&nbsp; 
    <a href="stdin.3p.html">stdin(3p)</a>
</p>
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