getw()

Updated: October 28, 2024

Get a word from a stream

Synopsis:

#include <stdio.h>

int getw( FILE* stream );

Arguments:

stream
The stream that you want to read a word from.

Library:

libc

Use the -l c option to qcc to link against this library. This library is usually included automatically.

Description:

The getw() function returns the next word (i.e. integer) from the named input stream. This function increments the associated file pointer, if defined, to point to the next word. The size of a word is the size of an integer, and varies from machine to machine. The getw() function assumes no special alignment in the file.

Returns:

The next word, or the constant EOF at the end-of-file or on an error; it sets the EOF or error indicator of the stream.

Note: Use feof() or ferror() to distinguish an end-of-file condition from an error.

Errors:

EOVERFLOW
The file is a regular file, and an attempt was made to read at or beyond the offset maximum associated with the corresponding stream.

Classification:

Legacy Unix

Safety:  
Cancellation point Yes
Interrupt handler No
Signal handler Yes
Thread Yes

Caveats:

Because of possible differences in word length and byte ordering, files written using putw() are implementation-dependent, and might not be read correctly using getw() on a different processor.