How do reading functions mark an end?

Hi all,
How does a reading function , eg scanf() or fgets(), mark the end of an input string(character)? with EOF , NULL ,'\0' , or '\n'?
Take a look at these these snippets, do they want to test the end of a stream? but in vc, NULL is defined as 0, and EOF is -1.......headache....

Code:

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if (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin) != NULL)

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Code:

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while ((c = fgetc(fp)) != EOF)

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Code:

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while (!feof(fp))

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so, how should i test the end of a stream?

any advice would be appreciated! thanks!

You might want to read Why it's bad to use feof() to control a loop.

Thank you , it is much better now,
Can I understand it this way?
1.EOF is a negative value returned only by a read function.
2.'\0' is set after the last character to mark the end of a string. so we use '\0' to determine
the end of a stream.
3.NULL is always recommanded to be used for pointers.
and NULL is always a return code of a function.
4. NULL isn't equal to '\0'.
is it right?

and more questions..
a pice of orginal text from "Why it's bad to use feof() to control a loop"

Code:

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most read functions will set EOF once they've read all the data, and then performed a final
read resulting in no data, only EOF

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I am a little confusing about it,

Code:

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most read functions will set EOF once they've read all the data,

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set EOF means set '/0'?

Code:

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and then performed a final read resulting in no data, only EOF

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after haveing set EOF, why they read for a final one, to verify that all data was read?

Code:

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i = 0;
while (!feof(fp))
{
  fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), fp);
  printf ("Line %4d: %s", i, buf);
  i++;
}

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Code:

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as the program goes through the loop to get the last line of data, fgets() works normally,
without setting EOF .

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as mentioned above, it should set EOF right after getting all data,why here it goes
without setting EOF?

Code:

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and we print out the data. The loop returns to the
top, and the call to feof() returns FALSE, and we start to go through the loop again. This
time, the fgets() sees and sets EOF

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why now (set EOF)?

Code:

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but thanks to our poor logic, we go on to
process the buffer anyway, without realising that its content is now undefined (most likely
untouched from the last loop).

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looking forward answers, thanks a lot:)

EOF is a constant - it means End Of File. On most systems its defined as -1.

2. No we don't use \0 to determine the end of a stream, use NULL (\0) to determine the end of a string
3. Yes.
4. NULL = 0 = 0x00 = '\0' (on most systems)

For example, to read chars until the end of a stream:

Code:

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int cc;

while((cc = fgetc(stream)) != EOF)
    putchar(cc);

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Code:

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2. No we don't use \0 to determine the end of a stream, use NULL (\0) to
determine the end of a string

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you mean that we compare the return code of a read function with NULL to determine the end of sting?
or
you mean that we should use the return code from the read function to determine the end of string?
eg..

Code:

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while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stream) != NULL)
 //fgets returns null when met end.
 //here, can we use '\0' instead of NULL, though as you said : No we don't use
 //'\0' to determine the end of a stream, use NULL (\0) to determine the end of
 //a string.......(i messed...)

........

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Code:

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int cc;
while((cc = fgetc(stream)) != EOF)
 //fgetc returns EOF when met end.
.....

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right?

Quote:

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you mean that we compare the return code of a read function with NULL to determine the end of sting?
or
you mean that we should use the return code from the read function to determine the end of string?

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No, end of a string and end of a stream are two different things.

when we use

Code:

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fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin)

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what it get from stdin is a stream or a string?
what stored in buf is a string?

Code:

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int cc;
while((cc = fgetc(stream)) != EOF)
    putchar(cc);

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here can stream be stdin? or it must be a file, or like....char buf[10]
;)

All the 'f' file functions work just as well with stdin, stdout as they do with files opened with fopen.

So it's very easy to move from
fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin)

to
fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), fp)

what about stream and string?

when we use

Code:

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fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin);

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what it get from stdin is a stream or a string?
what stored in buf is a string or a string?

;)

Yes, stdin (being of type FILE*) is a stream, and buf (being of type char[]) is an array of chars, which can be used to store a string, complete with the \0 at the end.

Quote:

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what stored in buf is a string or a string?

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Not much of a choice, is there? :)

fgets has the signature:

Code:

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char *fgets( char *str, int num, FILE *stream )

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So, buf would be a char*, a null terminated string. stdin would be the stream.

thank you very much!