    GETCHAR(III)                  4/7/73                 GETCHAR(III)

    NAME
         getchar - read character

    SYNOPSIS
         getchar( )

    DESCRIPTION
         Getchar  provides  the  simplest means of reading characters
         from the standard input for C programs.  It returns  succes-
         sive characters until end-of-file, when it returns ``\0''.

         Associated  with this routine is an external variable called
         fin, which is a structure containing a buffer  such  as  de-
         scribed under getc(III).

         Generally speaking, getchar should be used only for the sim-
         plest applications; getc is better when there  are  multiple
         input files.

    SEE ALSO
         getc(III)

    DIAGNOSTICS
         Null character returned on EOF or error.

    BUGS
         -1  should  be returned on EOF; null is a legitimate charac-
         ter.

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