# std::getchar

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | io‎ | c

Defined in header `<cstdio>` |  |
int getchar(); |  |

Reads the next character from stdin.

Equivalent to std::getc(stdin).

### Parameters

(none)

### Return value

The obtained character on success or EOF on failure.

If the failure has been caused by end of file condition, additionally sets the eof indicator (see std::feof()) on stdin. If the failure has been caused by some other error, sets the error indicator (see std::ferror()) on stdin.

### Example

`std::getchar` with error checking. Exit program by entering ESC char.

    #include <cctype>
    #include <cstdio>
    #include <cstdlib>
    #include <iomanip>
    #include <iostream>

    int main()
    {
        for (int ch; (ch = std::getchar()) != EOF ; ) { // read/print "abc" from stdin
            if (std::isprint(ch))
                std::cout << static_cast<char>(ch) << '\n';
            if (ch == 27) // 'ESC' (escape) in ASCII
                return EXIT_SUCCESS;
        }

        // Test reason for reaching EOF.
        if (std::feof(stdin)) {  // if failure caused by end-of-file condition
            std::cout << "End of file reached\n";
        }
        else if (std::ferror(stdin)) {  // if failure caused by some other error
            std::perror("getchar()");
            std::cerr << "getchar() failed in file " << std::quoted(__FILE__)
                      << " at line # " << __LINE__ - 14 << '\n';
            std::exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

        return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }

Possible output:

    abc
    a
    b
    c
    ^[

### See also

fgetc getc | gets a character from a file stream (function)

Retrieved from "https://en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php?title=cpp/io/c/getchar&oldid=131555"