Header File 

stdio.h  

Category 

Console I/O Routines 

Prototype 

char *gets(char *s); 

wchar_t *_getws(wchar_t *s); // Unicode version 

Description 

Gets a string from stdin. 

gets collects a string of characters terminated by a new line from the standard input stream stdin and puts it into s. The new line is replaced by a null character (\0) in s. 

gets allows input strings to contain certain whitespace characters (spaces, tabs). gets returns when it encounters a new line; everything up to the new line is copied into s. 

The gets function is not length-terminated. If the input string is sufficiently large, data can be overwritten and corrupted. The fgets function provides better control of input strings.

On success, gets returns the string argument s. 

On end-of-file or error, it returns NULL 

Example  

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
   char string[80];
   printf("Input a string:");
   gets(string);
   printf("The string input was: %s\n", string);
   return 0;
}

Portability