Introduction to C puts() Function
In any programming language, trying the output on the screen is a vital part. In c this is achieved with the help of puts function. Puts is an inbuilt function that writes a line of output to the screen. It returns the number of characters that are written to the console plus one as it prints a new line along with the output text thereby moving the cursor to the new line. Its return type is int. If the execution is successful, the non-negative value is returned. If the execution has an error, EOF is returned.
Syntax:
The syntax of the puts function is as follows
int puts(const char *str)The parameter string is the text that should be printed on the console.
Example of puts
Below the given codes and outputs explain the example in puts:
Code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
void main () {
char op1[30];
char op2[45];
strcpy(op1, "this is first line of puts example");
strcpy(op2, "this is second line of puts example");
puts(op1);
puts(op2);
}Output:
gets Function in C
The gets function is a built-in function that is used to read the characters from the console and store that in a string. It reads the characters till a new line is found or EOF is reached, whichever comes first.
Syntax:
char *gets(char *str)str is the pointer in which the character read is stored.
Code:
#include<stdio.h>
void main ()
{
char test[30];
printf("Enter your name");
gets(test);
printf("You entered %s",test);
printf("\n the above is an example of gets function");
}Output:
Example of puts and gets
Below the given codes and outputs explain the example in puts and gets:
Code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main()
{
char name[50];
printf("Enter your name ");
gets(name);
int age[50];
printf("Enter your age ");
gets(age);
char address[50];
printf("Enter your address ");
gets(address);
int pincode[50];
printf("Enter your pincode ");
gets(pincode);
printf("Entered Name is: ");
puts(name);
printf("Entered age is: ");
puts(age);
printf("Entered address is: ");
puts(address);
printf("Entered pincode is: ");
puts(pincode);
getch();
return 0;
}Output:
Functions in puts and gets
The following points explain the function sin puts and gets with examples:
1. Fgetc()
This is an inbuilt file handling function that reads a file. It reads the file single character at a time until the end of the file. The function returns a non-negative value for successful execution.
Syntax:
Int fgetc(FILE *fp)The fp is the pointer to the file location.
Code:
# include <stdio.h>
int main( )
{
FILE *testfile ;
char c ;
printf( "demo of fgetc" ) ;
testfile = fopen ( "c:\test.txt", "r" ) ;
if ( testfile == NULL )
{
printf ( "\nCould not open file test.txt" ) ;
return 1;
}
printf( "file is present and is being read" ) ;
while ( 1 )
{
c = fgetc ( testfile ) ;
if ( c == EOF )
break ;
printf ( "%c", c ) ;
}
printf("Closing the file test.txt") ;
fclose ( testfile ) ;
return 0;
}Output:
2. Fputc()
This is an inbuilt file handling function that writes text to a file. It writes one character at a time. The function returns a non-negative value for successful execution.
Syntax:
int fputc(int char, FILE *fp)Where char is the character to be written and fp is the location of the file.
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Code:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char ch;
FILE *source;
FILE *destination;
if (source = fopen("c:\source.txt", "r"))
{
ch = getc(source);
destination = fopen("c:\dest.txt", "w+")
while (ch != EOF)
{
fputc(ch, destination);
ch = getc(source);
}
fclose(source);
fclose(destination);
return 0;
}
return 1;
}Output:
3. Fgets()
This function is similar to fgetc() except that this reads a file line by line.
Syntax:
char *fgets(char *string, int n, FILE *fp)- fp is the location from which the text must be read
- *string is the location in which the read characters are stored
Code:
# include <stdio.h>
int main( )
{
FILE *sourcefile ;
char newdata[50] ;
printf( "Opening file test.txt " ) ;
sourcefile = fopen( "c:\test.c", "r" ) ;
if ( sourcefile== NULL )
{
printf( "Could not open file test.txt" ) ;
return 1;
}
printf( "Reading test.txt" ) ;
while( fgets ( newdata, 50, sourcefile ) != NULL )
printf("\nprinting the file content got using fgets()")
printf( "%s" , newdata ) ;
printf("Closing the file test.txt") ;
fclose(sourcefile) ;
return 0;
}Output:
4. Fputs()
This function is similar to fputc() except that this writes to a file line by line.
Syntax:
int fputs(const char *str, FILE *stream)- *stream file to which the string must be written
- Str is the string that is to be written
Code:
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
int main()
{
char input[50];
printf("\n user pls enter input");
scanf("%s",input);
FILE *destfile;
destfile = fopen("D:\test.txt", "w");
if(destfile == NULL)
{
printf("Error opening file\n");
exit(1);
}
printf("\n writing the received input to file");
while( gets(input) != NULL )
{
fputs(input, destfile);
}
printf("\n file is written, open and see");
fclose(destfile);
return 0;
}Output:
Difference Between
- puts() and fputs(): Puts() is used to write the text to the console, whereas fputs() is used to write the text to a file. Puts() will convert a null character in the input to a new line whereas fputs() will not handle the null character and stops execution.
- gets() and fgets(): Gets reads the input from the console or stdin whereas fgets reads the input from a file. Fgets are safe to use as in case of overflowing it will throw an error. Fgets stops when a new line is encountered. Fgets doesn’t check for out of bound exception. It also reads until the new line is encountered.
Code:
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
char author[20];
printf("Enter your favorite author\n");
fgets(author,10,stdin);
printf("My favorite author is %s.\n",author);
FILE *destfile;
destfile = fopen("D:\existing.txt", "w+");
fputs("first line to be entered", destfile);
fputs("second line to be added", destfile);
fputs("thirdine to be added", destfile);
fclose(destfile);
return(0);
}Output:
Conclusion – C puts() Function
Thus, the article covered in detail about puts functions along with its syntax and sample examples. It also covered in detail functions similar to it such as fputc() and fputs(). Also, functions like gets(), fgets() and fgetc() are discussed with appropriate examples. The differences between functions are also explained. To learn in-depth about the functions it is advisable to create sample programs and have fun working around them.
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