mktemp(3C) Standard C Library Functions mktemp(3C)
NAME
mktemp - make a unique file name from a template
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
char *mktemp(char *template);
DESCRIPTION
The mktemp() function replaces the contents of the string pointed to by template with a unique file name, and returns template. The string
in template should look like a file name with six trailing 'X's; mktemp() will replace the 'X's with a character string that can be used to
create a unique file name. Only 26 unique file names per thread can be created for each unique template.
RETURN VALUES
The mktemp() function returns the pointer template. If a unique name cannot be created, template points to a null string.
ERRORS
No errors are defined.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Generate 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);
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(3C) function avoids this problem and is preferred over this function.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Interface Stability |Standard |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|MT-Level |Safe |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO
mkstemp(3C), tmpfile(3C), tmpnam(3C), attributes(5), standards(5)
SunOS 5.10 15 Sep 2004 mktemp(3C)
