#### 14.2.2 Simple Output ¶

Once a file has been opened for writing a string can be written to the file using the `fputs` function. The following example shows how to write the string ‘`Free Software is needed for Free Science`’ to the file ‘`free.txt`’.

    filename = "free.txt";
    fid = fopen (filename, "w");
    fputs (fid, "Free Software is needed for Free Science");
    fclose (fid);

`status =` fputs `(fid, string)` ¶

  Write the string string to the file with file descriptor fid.

  The string is written to the file with no additional formatting. Use `fdisp` instead to automatically append a newline character appropriate for the local machine.

  The optional output status is 0 for success, or -1 if an error was encountered.

  See also: fdisp, fprintf, fwrite, fopen.

A function much similar to `fputs` is available for writing data to the screen. The `puts` function works just like `fputs` except it doesn’t take a file pointer as its input.

`status =` puts `(string)` ¶

  Write a string to the standard output with no formatting.

  The string is written verbatim to the standard output. Use `disp` to automatically append a newline character appropriate for the local machine.

  The optional output status is 0 for success, or -1 if an error was encountered.

  See also: fputs, disp.