TEMPFILE(1) General Commands Manual TEMPFILE(1)
NAME
tempfile - create a temporary file in a safe manner
SYNOPSIS
tempfile [-d DIR] [-p STRING] [-s STRING] [-m MODE] [-n FILE] [--direc-
tory=DIR] [--prefix=STRING] [--suffix=STRING] [--mode=MODE]
[--name=FILE] [--help] [--version]
DESCRIPTION
tempfile creates a temporary file in a safe manner. It uses mkstemps(3)
to choose the name and opens it with O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL. The
filename is printed on standard output.
The directory in which to create the file might be searched for in this
order:
a) In case the environment variable TMPDIR exists and contains the name
of an appropriate directory, that is used.
b) Otherwise, if the --directory argument is specified and appropriate,
it is used.
c) Otherwise, P_tmpdir (as defined in <stdio.h>) is used when appropri-
ate.
d) Finally an implementation-defined directory (/tmp) may be used.
OPTIONS
-d, --directory DIR
Place the file in DIR.
-m, --mode MODE
Open the file with MODE instead of 0600.
-n, --name FILE
Use FILE for the name instead of tempnam(3). The options -d, -p,
and -s are ignored if this option is given.
-p, --prefix STRING
Use up to five letters of STRING to generate the name.
-s, --suffix STRING
Generate the file with STRING as the suffix.
--help Print a usage message on standard output and exit successfully.
--version
Print version information on standard output and exit success-
fully.
RETURN VALUES
An exit status of 0 means the temporary file was created successfully.
Any other exit status indicates an error.
BUGS
Exclusive creation is not guaranteed when creating files on NFS parti-
tions. tempfile cannot make temporary directories. tempfile is depre-
cated; you should use mktemp(1) instead.
EXAMPLE
#!/bin/sh
#[...]
t=$(tempfile) || exit
trap "rm -f -- '$t'" EXIT
#[...]
rm -f -- "$t"
trap - EXIT
exit
SEE ALSO
tempnam(3), mktemp(1)
Debian 27 Jun 2012 TEMPFILE(1)
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