Path: utzoo!ncc!lyndon
From: lyndon@ncc.UUCP (Lyndon Nerenberg)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Scratch files (was Re: I would like to have an argumen...)
Message-ID: <10124@ncc.UUCP>
Date: 12 Mar 88 04:12:23 GMT
References: <720@cresswell.quintus.UUCP> <68000011@convex>
Organization: Nexus Computing Inc.
Lines: 14
In-reply-to: hutchson@convex.UUCP's message of 9 Mar 88 21:57:00 GMT

In article <68000011@convex> hutchson@convex.UUCP writes:

   I work on unix now, and I miss temporary files.  Yes, I know about mktemp:
   it doesn't work at all well, and I wrote a better one for my own uses.  But
   there is no such thing on unix as a temporary file that steals SWIFTLY and
   silently away as soon as the job finishes executing.  This is not a feature;
   this is a severe limitation!  It is not possible to simulate temporary files
   on unix without great effort; it is a pain even to pretend to simulate it.

I don't understand what the problem is here... What is so difficult about
doing a mktemp followed by an open followed by an unlink? The file sticks
around until the final close, at which time the kernel removes it. You
can skip the close as the kernel will take care of the close (and delete)
during process termination.