illumos: manual page: tmpnam.3c

TMPNAM(3C) Standard C Library Functions TMPNAM(3C)

NAME

tmpnam, tmpnam_r, tempnam - create a name for a temporary file

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h>

char *tmpnam(char *s);

char *tmpnam_r(char *s);

char *tempnam(const char *dir, const char *pfx);

DESCRIPTION

These functions generate file names that can be used safely for a
temporary file.

tmpnam()
The tmpnam() function always generates a file name using the path prefix
defined as P_tmpdir in the <stdio.h> header. On Solaris systems, the
default value for P_tmpdir is /var/tmp. If s is NULL, tmpnam() leaves
its result in a thread-specific data area and returns a pointer to that
area. The next call to tmpnam() by the same thread will destroy the
contents of the area. If s is not NULL, it is assumed to be the address
of an array of at least L_tmpnam bytes, where L_tmpnam is a constant
defined through inclusion of <stdio.h>. The tmpnam() function places its
result in that array and returns s.

tmpnam_r()
The tmpnam_r() function has the same functionality as tmpnam() except
that if s is a null pointer, the function returns NULL.

tempnam()
The tempnam() function allows the user to control the choice of a
directory. The argument dir points to the name of the directory in which
the file is to be created. If dir is NULL or points to a string that is
not a name for an appropriate directory, the path prefix defined as
P_tmpdir in the <stdio.h> header is used. If that directory is not
accessible, /tmp is used. If, however, the TMPDIR environment variable is
set in the user's environment, its value is used as the temporary-file
directory.

Many applications prefer that temporary files have certain initial
character sequences in their names. The pfx argument may be NULL or point
to a string of up to five characters to be used as the initial characters
of the temporary-file name.

Upon successful completion, tempnam() uses malloc(3C) to allocate space
for a string, puts the generated pathname in that space, and returns a
pointer to it. The pointer is suitable for use in a subsequent call to
free(). If tempnam() cannot return the expected result for any reason
(for example, malloc() failed), or if none of the above-mentioned
attempts to find an appropriate directory was successful, a null pointer
is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The tempnam() function will fail if:

ENOMEM
Insufficient storage space is available.

USAGE

These functions generate a different file name each time they are called.

Files created using these functions and either fopen(3C) or creat(2) are
temporary only in the sense that they reside in a directory intended for
temporary use, and their names are unique. It is the user's
responsibility to remove the file when its use is ended.

If called more than TMP_MAX (defined in <stdio.h>) times in a single
process, these functions start recycling previously used names.

Between the time a file name is created and the file is opened, it is
possible for some other process to create a file with the same name. This
can never happen if that other process is using these functions or
mktemp(3C) and the file names are chosen to render duplication by other
means unlikely.

The tmpnam() function is safe to use in multithreaded applications
because it employs thread-specific data if it is passed a NULL pointer.
However, its use is discouraged. The tempnam() function is safe in
multithreaded applications and should be used instead.

When compiling multithreaded applications, the _REENTRANT flag must be
defined on the compile line. This flag should be used only with
multithreaded applications.

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