TMPNAM

Section: MINTLIB LIBRARY FUNCTIONS (3)
Updated: 3 March 1993
Index Return to Main Contents

NAME

tmpnam - create a name for a temporary file

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h>

char *tmpnam(char *buf);

DESCRIPTION

This function generates a file name that can safely be used for a temporary file. tmpnam always tries to generate a file name in a directory meant for temporary files; it tries to determine such a directory by checking the environment variables TEMP, TMPDIR, TMP and TEMPDIR, successively; if this search fails, the current directory is used. If buf is NULL, tmpnam leaves its result in an internal static area and returns a pointer to that area. The next call to tmpnam will destroy the contents of the area. If buf is not NULL, it is assumed to be the address of an buffer area; tmpnam places its result in that buffer and returns buf.

NOTES

The related UN*X function tempnam is currently not available in the mintlibs. This function generates a different file name each time it is called. Files created using this function and either fopen or creat are temporarily only in the sense that they reside in a directory intended for temporary use, and their file names are unique. It is the user's responsibility to use unlink to remove the file when its use is ended.