ID Number: Q69753
3.00
WINDOWS
docerr
Summary:
When it is necessary for an application to create a temporary file, it
is highly recommended that the GetTempFileName() function be used to
provide the name for the file. Temporary files created by this method
must be deleted by the application before the application terminates.
Windows will not automatically delete these files on application
termination.
More Information:
The "Note" on page 13 of the "Microsoft Windows User's Guide" version
3.0 manual states:
...some applications may create temporary files. These filenames
generally begin with a tilde character (~) and end with the .TMP
extension.... If you quit Windows as described in the preceding
procedure, any temporary files are automatically deleted....
To a Windows programmer, this note may seem to imply that the
GetTempFileName() API will create a file that will be automatically
deleted when Windows shuts down. This is not true; the application
must delete its temporary files.
If each application destroys all its temporary files as it shuts down,
from the end user's perspective, the files ARE automatically deleted,
because the user does not delete them with the File Manager. However,
it is each application, not Windows, that performs the delete.