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Function Details : fgetc

intfgetc(FILE * stream) ;

Return Type : int

Integer type (typically 4 bytes, -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647)
Read about return values of fgetc function .

1st Parameter Type : FILE *

Pointer to FILE structure for file operations

1st Parameter

Pointer to the file stream from which a character is to be read
The FILE pointer parameter in fgetc must:
● Be valid pointer from previous successful fopen;
● Point to a stream opened in read mode ("r", "r+", "w+", "a+");
● Not be NULL (undefined behavior);
● Not be invalidated by previous fclose;
After successful read:
● Stream position advances by one character;
● Parameter remains valid for next read;
After EOF/error:
● Stream position remains unchanged;
● Parameter remains valid but needs error checking;

Read more about parameters of fgetc in parameters section
The fgetcfunction in C language reads the next character from the specified file stream.
fgetc is a fundamental character input function that reads a single character from a stream, making it ideal for character-by-character processing of files. It's distinguished by its behavior of returning an int (not char) to properly handle both regular characters (0-255) and EOF (-1), which helps avoid potential sign extension issues. The function integrates with the stdio.h error handling system - particularly feof and ferror for checking read status, and pairs naturally with ungetc for pushing characters back into the stream. It's often used in scenarios requiring precise character-level control or when parsing formatted text files.

To Summarize the Workflow:
  1. 1.
    Takes FILE pointer as parameter
  2. 2.
    Reads single character from input stream
  3. 3.
    Returns character as unsigned char converted to int (0-255)
  4. 4.
    Returns EOF (-1) on end-of-file or error
  5. 5.
    Advances file position indicator on successful read

Yes

No

Error

EOF

fgetc(FILE *stream)

Read successful?

Convert char to unsigned char then to int (0-255)

EOF or Error?

Return EOF Set error indicator

Return EOF Set EOF indicator

Return




Read more about return type and value offgetc function in return section.
The fgetcfunction takes 1 parameter:
  • •
    FILE * `stream`: Pointer to the file stream from which a character is to be read
    The FILE pointer parameter in fgetc must:
    ● Be valid pointer from previous successful fopen;
    ● Point to a stream opened in read mode ("r", "r+", "w+", "a+");
    ● Not be NULL (undefined behavior);
    ● Not be invalidated by previous fclose;
    After successful read:
    ● Stream position advances by one character;
    ● Parameter remains valid for next read;
    After EOF/error:
    ● Stream position remains unchanged;
    ● Parameter remains valid but needs error checking;
The fgetc function return value :
  • On success returns character read converted to unsigned char then to int (0-255);
    On failure returns EOF (-1) with appropriate indicator set (error or EOF);
    Important: in both failure cases (EOF or error) fgetc() returns EOF (-1)
    The only way to distinguish between the two failure types is to check the indicators using feof() and ferror()


Success

Failure

End of file

I/O error

fgetc(FILE *stream)

Read operation

Return int (0-255)

Failure type

Return EOF (-1) Set EOF indicator When: End of file reached

Return EOF (-1) Set error indicator When: I/O error occurs


Output

This example demonstrates the basic usage of `fgetc`. It reads a file character by character and prints each character to the console.