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Output a character or word to a stream
+ View other versions (3)


#include <stdio.h>
int fputc (int c, FILE *stream)
int putc (int c, FILE *stream)
int putc_unlocked (int c, FILE *stream)
int putchar (int c)
int putchar_unlocked (int c)
int putw (int w, FILE *stream)


The fputc function writes the character c (converted to an unsigned char) to the output stream pointed to by stream.

The putc macro acts essentially identically to fputc, but is a macro that expands in-line. It may evaluate stream more than once, so arguments given to putc should not be expressions with potential side effects.

The putchar function is identical to putc with an output stream of stdout.

The putw function writes the specified int to the named output stream.

The putc_unlocked and putchar_unlocked functions are equivalent to putc and putchar respectively, except that the caller is responsible for locking the stream with flockfile before calling them. These functions may be used to avoid the overhead of locking the stream for each character, and to avoid output being interspersed from multiple threads writing to the same stream.

Example - Output a character or word to a stream
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
  int ch;
  FILE *input;
  if (input = fopen("stuff", "rt"))
    ch = getc(input);
    while (ch != EOF)
      putc(ch, stdout);
      ch = getc(input);
  return 0;

Return Values

The functions fputc, putc, putchar, putc_unlocked and putchar_unlocked return the character written. If an error occurs, the value EOF is returned. The putw function returns 0 on success; EOF is returned if a write error occurs, or if an attempt is made to write a read-only stream.


A putw function appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.


The size and byte order of an int varies from one machine to another, and putw is not recommended for portable applications.