tmpnam - create a name for a temporary file


SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdio.h>

       char *tmpnam(char *s);


DESCRIPTION

       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 pro­
       grammers 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_tmp­
       nam)  pointed  at by s and the value s is returned in case
       of success.

       The path name that is  created,  has  a  directory  prefix
       P_tmpdir.   (Both  L_tmpnam  and  P_tmpdir  are defined in
       <stdio.h>, just like the TMP_MAX mentioned below.)


RETURN VALUE

       The tmpnam() function returns a pointer to a unique tempo­
       rary  filename,  or NULL if a unique name cannot be gener­
       ated.


ERRORS

       No errors are defined.


NOTES

       Portable applications that use threads  cannot  call  tmp­
       nam()      with      NULL      parameter     if     either
       _POSIX_THREAD_SAFE_FUNCTIONS or _POSIX_THREADS is defined.

       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 behaviour is implementation
       defined.


BUGS

       Never use this function. Use mkstemp(3) instead.


CONFORMING TO

       SVID 2, POSIX, BSD 4.3, ISO 9899


SEE ALSO

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


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