tmpnam man page on Ultrix

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tmpnam(3s)							    tmpnam(3s)

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

Syntax
       #include <stdio.h>

       char ∗tmpnam (s)
       char ∗s;

       char ∗tempnam (dir, pfx)
       char ∗dir, ∗pfx;

Description
       These  functions generate file names that can safely be used for a tem‐
       porary file.

       The subroutine always generates a file name using the path-name defined
       as in the <stdio.h> header file.	 If s is NULL, leaves its result in an
       internal static area and returns a pointer to that area.	 The next call
       to  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  bytes,  where	 is  a
       constant	 defined  in  <stdio.h>;  places  its result in that array and
       returns s.

       The subroutine allows the user to control the choice  of	 a  directory.
       The  argument dir points to the path-name of the directory in which the
       file is to be created.  If dir is NULL or points to a string  which  is
       not  a path-name for an appropriate directory, the path-name defined as
       in the <stdio.h> header file is used.  If that path-name is not	acces‐
       sible,  will be used as a last resort.  This entire sequence can be up-
       staged by providing an environment variable TMPDIR in the user's	 envi‐
       ronment,	 whose	value  is  a  path-name for the desired temporary-file
       directory.

       Many applications prefer their temporary files to have certain favorite
       initial	letter	sequences  in  their  names.  Use the pfx argument for
       this.  This argument may be NULL or point to a string  of  up  to  five
       characters to be used as the first few characters of the temporary-file
       name.

       The subroutine uses to get space for the	 constructed  file  name,  and
       returns	a pointer to this area.	 Thus, any pointer value returned from
       may serve as an argument to free.  For further information, see If can‐
       not  return the expected result for any reason, that is failed, or none
       of the above mentioned attempts to find an  appropriate	directory  was
       successful, a NULL pointer will be returned.  The and routines generate
       a different file name each time they are called.

       Files created using these functions and either or 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 use  to
       remove the file when its use is ended.

Restrictions
       If  called  more than 17,576 times in a single process, these functions
       will 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
       and  the	 file  names  are  chosen so as to render duplication by other
       means unlikely.

See Also
       creat(2), unlink(2), fopen(3s), malloc(3), mktemp(3), tmpfile(3s)

								    tmpnam(3s)
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