Thread: gets() is an unsafe method. Alternatives?

Read the FAQ. Or just use fgets.


Quzah.

fgets is what I need. Having checked the FAQ it seems my answer is there.

Thanks.

For confirmation from the FAQ, please tell me if I am doing this correctly now:

Code:

char input[81];

fgets(input, sizeof(input), stdin);

Will doing this discard any input past 80 characters or is the if() statement in the example mandatory?

Originally Posted by ModeSix

When executing a simple program I created through tutorials I am working through I am told by my OS that using gets is unsafe.

Is there an alternative to it that will allow strings to be entered, besides scanf() which seems to only accept a predefined number of variables.

using scanf without width modifier is also "unsafe"

when reading strings with scanf always add width modifier to prevent buffer overrun

Code:

char buf[80];
scanf("%79s",buf);

%s is not the only format for reading strings
%[^\n] will read input till \n is encountered

Originally Posted by ModeSix

Thank you. Is there a way to discard any overflow?

Read the FAQ - how to flush input buffer

Originally Posted by ModeSix

Will this also work with a width modifier? ex: %80[^\n] ?

yes
Note that width should be 1 less than buffer size to have space for null terminator