tmpfile

Creates a temporary file.

FILE *tmpfile( void );

Routine Required Header Compatibility
tmpfile <stdio.h> ANSI, Win 95, Win NT

For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Libraries

LIBC.LIB Single thread static library, retail version
LIBCMT.LIB Multithread static library, retail version
MSVCRT.LIB Import library for MSVCRT.DLL, retail version

Return Value

If successful, tmpfile returns a stream pointer. Otherwise, it returns a NULL pointer.

Remarks

The tmpfile function creates a temporary file and returns a pointer to that stream. If the file cannot be opened, tmpfile returns a NULL pointer. This temporary file is automatically deleted when the file is closed, when the program terminates normally, or when _rmtmp is called, assuming that the current working directory does not change. The temporary file is opened in w+b (binary read/write) mode.

Example

/* TMPFILE.C: This program uses tmpfile to create a
 * temporary file, then deletes this file with _rmtmp.
 */

#include <stdio.h>

void main( void )
{
   FILE *stream;
   char tempstring[] = "String to be written";
   int  i;

   /* Create temporary files. */
   for( i = 1; i <= 3; i++ )
   {
      if( (stream = tmpfile()) == NULL )
         perror( "Could not open new temporary file\n" );
      else
         printf( "Temporary file %d was created\n", i );
   }

   /* Remove temporary files. */
   printf( "%d temporary files deleted\n", _rmtmp() );
}

Output

Temporary file 1 was created
Temporary file 2 was created
Temporary file 3 was created
3 temporary files deleted

Stream I/O Routines

See Also   _rmtmp, _tempnam