NAME

mkstemp, mkstemps, mkostemp, mkostemps, mkdtemp - make a unique file name from a template and open the file

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdlib.h>
int mkstemp(char *template);

int mkostemp(char *template, int flags);

int mkstemps(char *template, int slen);

int mkostemps(char *template, int slen, int flags);

char *mkdtemp(char *template);

DESCRIPTION

The mkstemp() function replaces the contents of the string pointed to by template by a unique file name, and returns a file descriptor for the file open for reading and writing. The function thus prevents any possible race condition between testing whether the file exists and opening it for use. The string in template should look like a file name with six trailing 'X's; mkstemp() replaces each 'X' with a character from the portable file name character set. The characters are chosen such that the resulting name does not duplicate the name of an existing file.

The mkstemps() function behaves the same as mkstemp(), except it permits a suffix to exist in the template. The template should be of the form /tmp/tmpXXXXXXsuffix. The slen parameter specifies the length of the suffix string.

The mkostemp() and mkostemps are like their mkstemp() and mkstemps() counterparts except that the flags argument is present and used to supplement (as a bitwise inclusive-OR) flags to internal open() calls. (e.g. O_SYNC, O_APPEND, and O_CLOEXEC).

The mkdtemp() function makes the same replacement to the template as in mktemp(3C) and creates the template directory using mkdir(2), passing a mode argument of 0700.

RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, mkstemp() returns an open file descriptor. Otherwise −1 is returned if no suitable file could be created.

ERRORS

The mkstemp(), mkstemps(), and mkdtemp() functions can set errno to the same values as lstat(2).

The mkstemp() and mkstemps() functions can set errno to the same values as open(2).

The mkdtemp() function can set errno to the same values as mkdir(2).

USAGE

It is possible to run out of letters.

The mkstemp() function does not check to determine whether the file name part of template exceeds the maximum allowable file name length.

The tmpfile(3C) function is preferred over this function.

The mkstemp() function is frequently used to create a temporary file that will be removed by the application before the application terminates.

The mkstemp() function has a transitional interface for 64-bit file offsets. See lf64(7).

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
Interface Stability	See below.

The mkstemp() function is Standard. The mkstemps() and mkdtemp() functions are Stable.