MKTEMP

Section: C Library Functions (3)
Updated: May 14, 1986
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NAME

mktemp - make a unique file name

SYNOPSIS

char *mktemp(template)
char *template;

mkstemp(template)
char *template;

DESCRIPTION

Mktemp creates a unique file name, typically in a temporary filesystem, by replacing template with a unique file name, and returns the address of the template. The template should contain a file name with six trailing X's, which are replaced with the current process id and a unique letter. Mkstemp makes the same replacement to the template but returns a file descriptor for the template file open for reading and writing. Mkstemp avoids the race between testing whether the file exists and opening it for use.

DIAGNOSTICS

Mkstemp returns an open file descriptor upon success. It returns -1 if no suitable file could be created.