tmpnam

TMPNAM(3)                  Linux Programmer's Manual                 TMPNAM(3)



NAME
       tmpnam - create a name for a temporary file

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdio.h>

       char *tmpnam(char *s);

DESCRIPTION
       The  tmpnam()  function  returns  a pointer to a string that is a valid
       filename, and such that a file with this name did  not  exist  at  some
       point  in  time, so that naive programmers may think it a suitable name
       for a temporary file. If the argument s is NULL this name is  generated
       in an internal static buffer and may be overwritten by the next call to
       tmpnam().  If s is not NULL, the name is copied to the character  array
       (of  length  at  least  L_tmpnam)  pointed  at  by s and the value s is
       returned in case of success.

       The path name that is created, has a directory prefix P_tmpdir.   (Both
       L_tmpnam  and  P_tmpdir are defined in <stdio.h>, just like the TMP_MAX
       mentioned below.)

RETURN VALUE
       The tmpnam() function returns a pointer to a unique temporary filename,
       or NULL if a unique name cannot be generated.

ERRORS
       No errors are defined.

NOTES
       Portable  applications  that use threads cannot call tmpnam() with NULL
       parameter if either _POSIX_THREAD_SAFE_FUNCTIONS or  _POSIX_THREADS  is
       defined.

       The  tmpnam()  function  generates  a  different string each time it is
       called, up to TMP_MAX times. If it is called more than  TMP_MAX  times,
       the behaviour is implementation defined.

BUGS
       Never use this function. Use mkstemp(3) instead.

CONFORMING TO
       SVID 2, POSIX, BSD 4.3, ISO 9899

SEE ALSO
       mktemp(3), mkstemp(3), tempnam(3), tmpfile(3)



                                  1999-06-14                         TMPNAM(3)