NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUE | ERRORS | ATTRIBUTES | CONFORMING TO | NOTES | BUGS | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

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

NAME         top

       tmpnam, tmpnam_r - create a name for a temporary file

SYNOPSIS         top

       #include <stdio.h>
       char *tmpnam(char *s);
       char *tmpnam_r(char *s);
   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
       tmpnam_r()
           Since glibc 2.19:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE
           Up to and including glibc 2.19:
               _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION         top

       Note: avoid using these functions; use mkstemp(3) or tmpfile(3)
       instead.
       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 to by s and the
       value s is returned in case of success.
       The created pathname has a directory prefix P_tmpdir.  (Both L_tmpnam
       and P_tmpdir are defined in <stdio.h>, just like the TMP_MAX
       mentioned below.)
       The tmpnam_r() function performs the same task as tmpnam(), but
       returns NULL (to indicate an error) if s is NULL.

RETURN VALUE         top

       These functions return a pointer to a unique temporary filename, or
       NULL if a unique name cannot be generated.

ERRORS         top

       No errors are defined.

ATTRIBUTES         top

       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
       attributes(7).
       ┌───────────┬───────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
       │Interface  Attribute     Value                    │
       ├───────────┼───────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
       │tmpnam()   │ Thread safety │ MT-Unsafe race:tmpnam/!s │
       ├───────────┼───────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
       │tmpnam_r() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe                  │
       └───────────┴───────────────┴──────────────────────────┘

CONFORMING TO         top

       tmpnam(): SVr4, 4.3BSD, C89, C99, POSIX.1-2001.  POSIX.1-2008 marks
       tmpnam() as obsolete.
       tmpnam_r() is a nonstandard extension that is also available on a few
       other systems.

NOTES         top

       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 behavior is implementation defined.
       Although these functions generate names that are difficult to guess,
       it is nevertheless possible that between the time that the pathname
       is returned and the time that the program opens it, another program
       might create that pathname using open(2), or create it as a symbolic
       link.  This can lead to security holes.  To avoid such possibilities,
       use the open(2) O_EXCL flag to open the pathname.  Or better yet, use
       mkstemp(3) or tmpfile(3).
       Portable applications that use threads cannot call tmpnam() with a
       NULL argument if either _POSIX_THREADS or
       _POSIX_THREAD_SAFE_FUNCTIONS is defined.

BUGS         top

       Never use these functions.  Use mkstemp(3) or tmpfile(3) instead.

SEE ALSO         top

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

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of release 4.12 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
       latest version of this page, can be found at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
                                 2016-12-12                        TMPNAM(3)

Pages that refer to this page: getpid(2)mkdtemp(3)mkstemp(3)mktemp(3)tempnam(3)tmpfile(3)