TEMPFILE

NAME

tempfile − create a temporary file in a safe manner

SYNOPSIS

tempfile [−d DIR] [−p STRING] [−s STRING] [−m MODE] [−n FILE] [−−directory=DIR] [−−prefix=STRING] [−−suffix=STRING] [−−mode=MODE] [−−name=FILE] [−−help] [−−version]

DESCRIPTION

tempfile creates a temporary file in a safe manner. It uses tempnam(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:

See tempnam(3) for the actual steps involved in directory selection.

OPTIONS

-d, --directory DIR

Place the file in DIR.

-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.

-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.

--version

Print version information on standard output and exit successfully.

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 partitions.

EXAMPLE

#!/bin/sh
#[...]
t=$(tempfile) || exit
trap "rm -f -- ’$t’" EXIT
#[...]
rm -f -- "$t"
trap - EXIT
exit

SEE ALSO

tempnam(3), mktemp(1)