gets() function is not available in Visual studio 2015 community

Question

I have faced a compiler error(c3861) in my newly installed Visual studio community 2015 IDE:

I just want to use gets() function from stdio.h library, and i have included stdio.h file in my program, but compiler show me a compiler error like below:

error C3861: 'gets': identifier not found

What should i do to compile my program correctly withgets() function.

Maibe this is a Windows Runtime app? see this: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2029ea5f.aspx — Gusman, Aug 29 '15 at 07:24
@Gusman, Is there any way to disable CRT features. Actually I need `gets()` function for competitive programming. — maruf, Aug 29 '15 at 08:51
@Gusman, How do i know is it WinRT app or not. I have no idea about WinRT. — maruf, Aug 29 '15 at 08:57
Ok, then it should not be a WinRT app, WIndows RT apps are for the WIndows store. Is your app a console app? post some code so we can see what happens — Gusman, Aug 29 '15 at 08:58
Yes this is absolutely console based program and this program is for online judge system — maruf, Aug 29 '15 at 09:00
and my compiler also does not allow me to use `printf()` function unless I'm use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS — maruf, Aug 29 '15 at 09:03
@maruf `printf` is replaced by `printf_s` for the same reasons. — Carey Gregory, Dec 25 '15 at 21:44

Kurt Van den Branden · Answer 1 · 2016-11-06T08:23:55.787

27

Since C11, gets is replaced by gets_s. The gets() function does not perform bounds checking, therefore this function is extremely vulnerable to buffer-overflows. The recommended replacements are gets_s() or fgets()

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

edited Nov 06 '16 at 08:23

answered Jun 03 '16 at 13:20

Kurt Van den Branden

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score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 25 '15 at 21:33

if you are looking forward to learn about

buffer overflow vulnerability

you simply can use it and anther unsafe functions by the fallowing steps

from the solution explorer right click on the project and choose properties
navigate to Configuration Properties >> C/C++ >> Advanced
change Compile As value to Compile as C Code (/TC)
(optional) if you would like to disable the warning just put its warning number in disable specific warning

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 29 '15 at 10:50

The gets function was considered too dangerous (because it can easily cause a buffer overflow), so it was removed from the latest revisions of both C and C++.

You are supposed to use fgets instead. With that function you can limit input to the size of your buffer.

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 11 '20 at 00:07

1

gets and_getws are removed from the beginning of vs 2015 because these functions are obsolete. Alternative functions are gets_s and _getws_s.

edited Jul 11 '20 at 00:07

AAEM

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answered Jul 10 '20 at 05:09

Umer Farooq

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 01 '23 at 13:03

0

Yes gets() is not available now. The following worked for me:

 int main() {
    char file_name[30];
    cout << "Enter file name:";
    gets_s(file_name);
    cout << endl << "Selected file : "<< file_name;
    return 0;
}

answered Aug 01 '23 at 13:03

arslan-thelogicbreaker

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gets() function is not available in Visual studio 2015 community

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