NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       tempfile - create a temporary file in a safe manner

SYNOPSYS    [Toc]    [Back]

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

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       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 to place the file is searched for in the following order:

       a)     The  directory  specified by the environment variable TMPDIR, if
	      it is writable.

       b)     The directory specified by the --directory argument, if given.

       c)     The directory /tmp.

       Debian packages using tempfile in maintainer  scripts  must  depend  on
       debianutils >= 1.6.

OPTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

       -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.

       --help Print a usage message on standard output and exit succesfully.

       --version
	      Print version information on standard output and	exist  succesfully.

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

       An  exit  status of 0 means the temporary file was created succesfully.
       Any other exit status indicates an error.

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Exclusive creation is not guaranteed when creating files on NFS	partitions.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       tempnam(3)



Debian GNU/Linux		24 August 1997			   TEMPFILE(1)