public final synchronized char readchar(){
                int ich = -1;
                char ch = '\u0000';
                try{
                        ich = input.read();
                }catch(java.io.IOException e){
                        System.out.println(e);
                }
                if(ich==-1){
                    System.out.println("FileInputAsChar.readchar:  attempt to read beyond end of file");
                    eof = true;
                    ch = '\u0000';
                }
                else{
                    ch = (char) ich;
                }
                return ch;
        }