MKTEMP(3P) POSIX Programmer's Manual MKTEMP(3P)
PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the correspond-
ing Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
mktemp - make a unique filename (LEGACY)
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
char *mktemp(char *template);
DESCRIPTION
The mktemp() function shall replace the contents of the string pointed to by template by a unique filename and return template. The appli-
cation shall initialize template to be a filename with six trailing 'X' s; mktemp() shall replace each 'X' with a single byte character
from the portable filename character set.
RETURN VALUE
The mktemp() function shall return the pointer template. If a unique name cannot be created, template shall point to a null string.
ERRORS
No errors are defined.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
Generating a Filename
The following example replaces the contents of the "template" string with a 10-character filename beginning with the characters "file" and
returns a pointer to the "template" string that contains the new filename.
#include <stdlib.h>
...
char *template = "/tmp/fileXXXXXX";
char *ptr;
ptr = mktemp(template);
APPLICATION USAGE
Between the time a pathname is created and the file opened, it is possible for some other process to create a file with the same name. The
mkstemp() function avoids this problem and is preferred over this function.
RATIONALE
None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
This function may be withdrawn in a future version.
SEE ALSO
mkstemp(), tmpfile(), tmpnam(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdlib.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technol-
ogy -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE
and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained
online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
IEEE
/The Open Group 2003 MKTEMP(3P)