5 File::Temp - return name and handle of a temporary file safely
11 This module is designed to be portable across operating systems
12 and it currently supports Unix, VMS, DOS, OS/2, Windows and
13 Mac OS (Classic). When
14 porting to a new OS there are generally three main issues
15 that have to be solved:
21 Can the OS unlink an open file? If it can not then the
22 C<_can_unlink_opened_file> method should be modified.
26 Are the return values from C<stat> reliable? By default all the
27 return values from C<stat> are compared when unlinking a temporary
28 file using the filename and the handle. Operating systems other than
29 unix do not always have valid entries in all fields. If C<unlink0> fails
30 then the C<stat> comparison should be modified accordingly.
34 Security. Systems that can not support a test for the sticky bit
35 on a directory can not use the MEDIUM and HIGH security tests.
36 The C<_can_do_level> method should be modified accordingly.
44 use File::Temp qw/ tempfile tempdir /;
46 $dir = tempdir( CLEANUP => 1 );
47 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile( DIR => $dir );
49 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile( $template, DIR => $dir);
50 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile( $template, SUFFIX => '.dat');
56 use File::Temp qw/ :mktemp /;
58 ($fh, $file) = mkstemp( "tmpfileXXXXX" );
59 ($fh, $file) = mkstemps( "tmpfileXXXXXX", $suffix);
61 $tmpdir = mkdtemp( $template );
63 $unopened_file = mktemp( $template );
67 use File::Temp qw/ :POSIX /;
72 ($fh, $file) = tmpnam();
76 Compatibility functions:
78 $unopened_file = File::Temp::tempnam( $dir, $pfx );
82 Objects (NOT YET IMPLEMENTED):
86 $fh = new File::Temp($template);
87 $fname = $fh->filename;
93 C<File::Temp> can be used to create and open temporary files in a safe way.
94 The tempfile() function can be used to return the name and the open
95 filehandle of a temporary file. The tempdir() function can
96 be used to create a temporary directory.
98 The security aspect of temporary file creation is emphasized such that
99 a filehandle and filename are returned together. This helps guarantee
100 that a race condition can not occur where the temporary file is
101 created by another process between checking for the existence of the
102 file and its opening. Additional security levels are provided to
103 check, for example, that the sticky bit is set on world writable
104 directories. See L<"safe_level"> for more information.
106 For compatibility with popular C library functions, Perl implementations of
107 the mkstemp() family of functions are provided. These are, mkstemp(),
108 mkstemps(), mkdtemp() and mktemp().
110 Additionally, implementations of the standard L<POSIX|POSIX>
111 tmpnam() and tmpfile() functions are provided if required.
113 Implementations of mktemp(), tmpnam(), and tempnam() are provided,
114 but should be used with caution since they return only a filename
115 that was valid when function was called, so cannot guarantee
116 that the file will not exist by the time the caller opens the filename.
120 # 5.6.0 gives us S_IWOTH, S_IWGRP, our and auto-vivifying filehandls
121 # People would like a version on 5.005 so give them what they want :-)
126 use File::Path qw/ rmtree /;
129 require VMS::Stdio if $^O eq 'VMS';
131 # Need the Symbol package if we are running older perl
132 require Symbol if $] < 5.006;
135 # use 'our' on v5.6.0
136 use vars qw($VERSION @EXPORT_OK %EXPORT_TAGS $DEBUG);
140 # We are exporting functions
142 use base qw/Exporter/;
144 # Export list - to allow fine tuning of export table
158 # Groups of functions for export
161 'POSIX' => [qw/ tmpnam tmpfile /],
162 'mktemp' => [qw/ mktemp mkstemp mkstemps mkdtemp/],
165 # add contents of these tags to @EXPORT
166 Exporter::export_tags('POSIX','mktemp');
172 # This is a list of characters that can be used in random filenames
174 my @CHARS = (qw/ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
175 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
176 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 _
179 # Maximum number of tries to make a temp file before failing
181 use constant MAX_TRIES => 10;
183 # Minimum number of X characters that should be in a template
184 use constant MINX => 4;
186 # Default template when no template supplied
188 use constant TEMPXXX => 'X' x 10;
190 # Constants for the security level
192 use constant STANDARD => 0;
193 use constant MEDIUM => 1;
194 use constant HIGH => 2;
196 # OPENFLAGS. If we defined the flag to use with Sysopen here this gives
197 # us an optimisation when many temporary files are requested
199 my $OPENFLAGS = O_CREAT | O_EXCL | O_RDWR;
201 unless ($^O eq 'MacOS') {
202 for my $oflag (qw/ FOLLOW BINARY LARGEFILE EXLOCK NOINHERIT /) {
203 my ($bit, $func) = (0, "Fcntl::O_" . $oflag);
205 $OPENFLAGS |= $bit if eval {
206 # Make sure that redefined die handlers do not cause problems
208 local $SIG{__DIE__} = sub {};
209 local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub {};
216 # On some systems the O_TEMPORARY flag can be used to tell the OS
217 # to automatically remove the file when it is closed. This is fine
218 # in most cases but not if tempfile is called with UNLINK=>0 and
219 # the filename is requested -- in the case where the filename is to
220 # be passed to another routine. This happens on windows. We overcome
221 # this by using a second open flags variable
223 my $OPENTEMPFLAGS = $OPENFLAGS;
224 unless ($^O eq 'MacOS') {
225 for my $oflag (qw/ TEMPORARY /) {
226 my ($bit, $func) = (0, "Fcntl::O_" . $oflag);
228 $OPENTEMPFLAGS |= $bit if eval {
229 # Make sure that redefined die handlers do not cause problems
231 local $SIG{__DIE__} = sub {};
232 local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub {};
239 # INTERNAL ROUTINES - not to be used outside of package
241 # Generic routine for getting a temporary filename
242 # modelled on OpenBSD _gettemp() in mktemp.c
244 # The template must contain X's that are to be replaced
245 # with the random values
249 # TEMPLATE - string containing the XXXXX's that is converted
250 # to a random filename and opened if required
252 # Optionally, a hash can also be supplied containing specific options
253 # "open" => if true open the temp file, else just return the name
255 # "mkdir"=> if true, we are creating a temp directory rather than tempfile
257 # "suffixlen" => number of characters at end of PATH to be ignored.
259 # "unlink_on_close" => indicates that, if possible, the OS should remove
260 # the file as soon as it is closed. Usually indicates
261 # use of the O_TEMPORARY flag to sysopen.
262 # Usually irrelevant on unix
264 # Optionally a reference to a scalar can be passed into the function
265 # On error this will be used to store the reason for the error
266 # "ErrStr" => \$errstr
268 # "open" and "mkdir" can not both be true
269 # "unlink_on_close" is not used when "mkdir" is true.
271 # The default options are equivalent to mktemp().
274 # filehandle - open file handle (if called with doopen=1, else undef)
275 # temp name - name of the temp file or directory
278 # ($fh, $name) = _gettemp($template, "open" => 1);
280 # for the current version, failures are associated with
281 # stored in an error string and returned to give the reason whilst debugging
282 # This routine is not called by any external function
285 croak 'Usage: ($fh, $name) = _gettemp($template, OPTIONS);'
286 unless scalar(@_) >= 1;
288 # the internal error string - expect it to be overridden
289 # Need this in case the caller decides not to supply us a value
290 # need an anonymous scalar
298 "unlink_on_close" => 0,
299 "ErrStr" => \$tempErrStr,
303 my $template = shift;
304 if (ref($template)) {
305 # Use a warning here since we have not yet merged ErrStr
306 carp "File::Temp::_gettemp: template must not be a reference";
310 # Check that the number of entries on stack are even
311 if (scalar(@_) % 2 != 0) {
312 # Use a warning here since we have not yet merged ErrStr
313 carp "File::Temp::_gettemp: Must have even number of options";
317 # Read the options and merge with defaults
318 %options = (%options, @_) if @_;
320 # Make sure the error string is set to undef
321 ${$options{ErrStr}} = undef;
323 # Can not open the file and make a directory in a single call
324 if ($options{"open"} && $options{"mkdir"}) {
325 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "doopen and domkdir can not both be true\n";
329 # Find the start of the end of the Xs (position of last X)
330 # Substr starts from 0
331 my $start = length($template) - 1 - $options{"suffixlen"};
333 # Check that we have at least MINX x X (eg 'XXXX") at the end of the string
334 # (taking suffixlen into account). Any fewer is insecure.
336 # Do it using substr - no reason to use a pattern match since
337 # we know where we are looking and what we are looking for
339 if (substr($template, $start - MINX + 1, MINX) ne 'X' x MINX) {
340 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "The template must contain at least ".
341 MINX . " 'X' characters\n";
345 # Replace all the X at the end of the substring with a
346 # random character or just all the XX at the end of a full string.
347 # Do it as an if, since the suffix adjusts which section to replace
348 # and suffixlen=0 returns nothing if used in the substr directly
349 # and generate a full path from the template
351 my $path = _replace_XX($template, $options{"suffixlen"});
354 # Split the path into constituent parts - eventually we need to check
355 # whether the directory exists
356 # We need to know whether we are making a temp directory
359 my ($volume, $directories, $file);
360 my $parent; # parent directory
361 if ($options{"mkdir"}) {
362 # There is no filename at the end
363 ($volume, $directories, $file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path, 1);
365 # The parent is then $directories without the last directory
366 # Split the directory and put it back together again
367 my @dirs = File::Spec->splitdir($directories);
369 # If @dirs only has one entry (i.e. the directory template) that means
370 # we are in the current directory
372 $parent = File::Spec->curdir;
375 if ($^O eq 'VMS') { # need volume to avoid relative dir spec
376 $parent = File::Spec->catdir($volume, @dirs[0..$#dirs-1]);
377 $parent = 'sys$disk:[]' if $parent eq '';
380 # Put it back together without the last one
381 $parent = File::Spec->catdir(@dirs[0..$#dirs-1]);
383 # ...and attach the volume (no filename)
384 $parent = File::Spec->catpath($volume, $parent, '');
391 # Get rid of the last filename (use File::Basename for this?)
392 ($volume, $directories, $file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path );
394 # Join up without the file part
395 $parent = File::Spec->catpath($volume,$directories,'');
397 # If $parent is empty replace with curdir
398 $parent = File::Spec->curdir
399 unless $directories ne '';
403 # Check that the parent directories exist
404 # Do this even for the case where we are simply returning a name
405 # not a file -- no point returning a name that includes a directory
406 # that does not exist or is not writable
408 unless (-d $parent) {
409 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Parent directory ($parent) is not a directory";
413 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Parent directory ($parent) is not writable\n";
418 # Check the stickiness of the directory and chown giveaway if required
419 # If the directory is world writable the sticky bit
422 if (File::Temp->safe_level == MEDIUM) {
424 unless (_is_safe($parent,\$safeerr)) {
425 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Parent directory ($parent) is not safe ($safeerr)";
428 } elsif (File::Temp->safe_level == HIGH) {
430 unless (_is_verysafe($parent, \$safeerr)) {
431 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Parent directory ($parent) is not safe ($safeerr)";
437 # Now try MAX_TRIES time to open the file
438 for (my $i = 0; $i < MAX_TRIES; $i++) {
440 # Try to open the file if requested
441 if ($options{"open"}) {
444 # If we are running before perl5.6.0 we can not auto-vivify
446 $fh = &Symbol::gensym;
449 # Try to make sure this will be marked close-on-exec
450 # XXX: Win32 doesn't respect this, nor the proper fcntl,
451 # but may have O_NOINHERIT. This may or may not be in Fcntl.
454 # Store callers umask
460 # Attempt to open the file
461 my $open_success = undef;
462 if ( $^O eq 'VMS' and $options{"unlink_on_close"} ) {
463 # make it auto delete on close by setting FAB$V_DLT bit
464 $fh = VMS::Stdio::vmssysopen($path, $OPENFLAGS, 0600, 'fop=dlt');
467 my $flags = ( $options{"unlink_on_close"} ?
470 $open_success = sysopen($fh, $path, $flags, 0600);
472 if ( $open_success ) {
475 umask($umask) if defined $umask;
477 # Opened successfully - return file handle and name
482 umask($umask) if defined $umask;
484 # Error opening file - abort with error
485 # if the reason was anything but EEXIST
486 unless ($!{EEXIST}) {
487 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Could not create temp file $path: $!";
491 # Loop round for another try
494 } elsif ($options{"mkdir"}) {
496 # Store callers umask
502 # Open the temp directory
503 if (mkdir( $path, 0700)) {
506 umask($umask) if defined $umask;
512 umask($umask) if defined $umask;
514 # Abort with error if the reason for failure was anything
516 unless ($!{EEXIST}) {
517 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Could not create directory $path: $!";
521 # Loop round for another try
527 # Return true if the file can not be found
528 # Directory has been checked previously
530 return (undef, $path) unless -e $path;
532 # Try again until MAX_TRIES
536 # Did not successfully open the tempfile/dir
537 # so try again with a different set of random letters
538 # No point in trying to increment unless we have only
539 # 1 X say and the randomness could come up with the same
540 # file MAX_TRIES in a row.
542 # Store current attempt - in principal this implies that the
543 # 3rd time around the open attempt that the first temp file
544 # name could be generated again. Probably should store each
545 # attempt and make sure that none are repeated
547 my $original = $path;
548 my $counter = 0; # Stop infinite loop
553 # Generate new name from original template
554 $path = _replace_XX($template, $options{"suffixlen"});
558 } until ($path ne $original || $counter > $MAX_GUESS);
560 # Check for out of control looping
561 if ($counter > $MAX_GUESS) {
562 ${$options{ErrStr}} = "Tried to get a new temp name different to the previous value $MAX_GUESS times.\nSomething wrong with template?? ($template)";
568 # If we get here, we have run out of tries
569 ${ $options{ErrStr} } = "Have exceeded the maximum number of attempts ("
570 . MAX_TRIES . ") to open temp file/dir";
576 # Internal routine to return a random character from the
577 # character list. Does not do an srand() since rand()
578 # will do one automatically
580 # No arguments. Return value is the random character
582 # No longer called since _replace_XX runs a few percent faster if
583 # I inline the code. This is important if we are creating thousands of
588 $CHARS[ int( rand( $#CHARS ) ) ];
592 # Internal routine to replace the XXXX... with random characters
593 # This has to be done by _gettemp() every time it fails to
594 # open a temp file/dir
596 # Arguments: $template (the template with XXX),
597 # $ignore (number of characters at end to ignore)
599 # Returns: modified template
603 croak 'Usage: _replace_XX($template, $ignore)'
604 unless scalar(@_) == 2;
606 my ($path, $ignore) = @_;
608 # Do it as an if, since the suffix adjusts which section to replace
609 # and suffixlen=0 returns nothing if used in the substr directly
610 # Alternatively, could simply set $ignore to length($path)-1
611 # Don't want to always use substr when not required though.
614 substr($path, 0, - $ignore) =~ s/X(?=X*\z)/$CHARS[ int( rand( $#CHARS ) ) ]/ge;
616 $path =~ s/X(?=X*\z)/$CHARS[ int( rand( $#CHARS ) ) ]/ge;
622 # internal routine to check to see if the directory is safe
623 # First checks to see if the directory is not owned by the
624 # current user or root. Then checks to see if anyone else
625 # can write to the directory and if so, checks to see if
626 # it has the sticky bit set
628 # Will not work on systems that do not support sticky bit
630 #Args: directory path to check
631 # Optionally: reference to scalar to contain error message
632 # Returns true if the path is safe and false otherwise.
633 # Returns undef if can not even run stat() on the path
635 # This routine based on version written by Tom Christiansen
637 # Presumably, by the time we actually attempt to create the
638 # file or directory in this directory, it may not be safe
639 # anymore... Have to run _is_safe directly after the open.
647 my @info = stat($path);
648 unless (scalar(@info)) {
649 $$err_ref = "stat(path) returned no values";
652 return 1 if $^O eq 'VMS'; # owner delete control at file level
654 # Check to see whether owner is neither superuser (or a system uid) nor me
655 # Use the real uid from the $< variable
657 if ($info[4] > File::Temp->top_system_uid() && $info[4] != $<) {
659 Carp::cluck(sprintf "uid=$info[4] topuid=%s \$<=$< path='$path'",
660 File::Temp->top_system_uid());
662 $$err_ref = "Directory owned neither by root nor the current user"
667 # check whether group or other can write file
668 # use 066 to detect either reading or writing
669 # use 022 to check writability
670 # Do it with S_IWOTH and S_IWGRP for portability (maybe)
672 if (($info[2] & &Fcntl::S_IWGRP) || # Is group writable?
673 ($info[2] & &Fcntl::S_IWOTH) ) { # Is world writable?
674 # Must be a directory
676 $$err_ref = "Path ($path) is not a directory"
680 # Must have sticky bit set
682 $$err_ref = "Sticky bit not set on $path when dir is group|world writable"
691 # Internal routine to check whether a directory is safe
692 # for temp files. Safer than _is_safe since it checks for
693 # the possibility of chown giveaway and if that is a possibility
694 # checks each directory in the path to see if it is safe (with _is_safe)
696 # If _PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED is not set, does the full test of each
699 # Takes optional second arg as scalar ref to error reason
703 # Need POSIX - but only want to bother if really necessary due to overhead
707 print "_is_verysafe testing $path\n" if $DEBUG;
708 return 1 if $^O eq 'VMS'; # owner delete control at file level
712 # Should Get the value of _PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED if it is defined
713 # and If it is not there do the extensive test
714 my $chown_restricted;
715 $chown_restricted = &POSIX::_PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED()
716 if eval { &POSIX::_PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED(); 1};
718 # If chown_resticted is set to some value we should test it
719 if (defined $chown_restricted) {
721 # Return if the current directory is safe
722 return _is_safe($path,$err_ref) if POSIX::sysconf( $chown_restricted );
726 # To reach this point either, the _PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED symbol
727 # was not avialable or the symbol was there but chown giveaway
728 # is allowed. Either way, we now have to test the entire tree for
731 # Convert path to an absolute directory if required
732 unless (File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute($path)) {
733 $path = File::Spec->rel2abs($path);
736 # Split directory into components - assume no file
737 my ($volume, $directories, undef) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path, 1);
739 # Slightly less efficient than having a function in File::Spec
740 # to chop off the end of a directory or even a function that
741 # can handle ../ in a directory tree
742 # Sometimes splitdir() returns a blank at the end
743 # so we will probably check the bottom directory twice in some cases
744 my @dirs = File::Spec->splitdir($directories);
746 # Concatenate one less directory each time around
747 foreach my $pos (0.. $#dirs) {
748 # Get a directory name
749 my $dir = File::Spec->catpath($volume,
750 File::Spec->catdir(@dirs[0.. $#dirs - $pos]),
754 print "TESTING DIR $dir\n" if $DEBUG;
756 # Check the directory
757 return 0 unless _is_safe($dir,$err_ref);
766 # internal routine to determine whether unlink works on this
767 # platform for files that are currently open.
768 # Returns true if we can, false otherwise.
770 # Currently WinNT, OS/2 and VMS can not unlink an opened file
771 # On VMS this is because the O_EXCL flag is used to open the
772 # temporary file. Currently I do not know enough about the issues
773 # on VMS to decide whether O_EXCL is a requirement.
775 sub _can_unlink_opened_file {
777 if ($^O eq 'MSWin32' || $^O eq 'os2' || $^O eq 'VMS' || $^O eq 'dos' || $^O eq 'MacOS') {
785 # internal routine to decide which security levels are allowed
786 # see safe_level() for more information on this
788 # Controls whether the supplied security level is allowed
790 # $cando = _can_do_level( $level )
797 # Always have to be able to do STANDARD
798 return 1 if $level == STANDARD;
800 # Currently, the systems that can do HIGH or MEDIUM are identical
801 if ( $^O eq 'MSWin32' || $^O eq 'os2' || $^O eq 'cygwin' || $^O eq 'dos' || $^O eq 'MacOS') {
809 # This routine sets up a deferred unlinking of a specified
810 # filename and filehandle. It is used in the following cases:
811 # - Called by unlink0 if an opened file can not be unlinked
812 # - Called by tempfile() if files are to be removed on shutdown
813 # - Called by tempdir() if directories are to be removed on shutdown
816 # _deferred_unlink( $fh, $fname, $isdir );
818 # - filehandle (so that it can be expclicitly closed if open
819 # - filename (the thing we want to remove)
820 # - isdir (flag to indicate that we are being given a directory)
821 # [and hence no filehandle]
823 # Status is not referred to since all the magic is done with an END block
826 # Will set up two lexical variables to contain all the files to be
827 # removed. One array for files, another for directories
828 # They will only exist in this block
829 # This means we only have to set up a single END block to remove all files
830 # @files_to_unlink contains an array ref with the filehandle and filename
831 my (@files_to_unlink, @dirs_to_unlink);
833 # Set up an end block to use these arrays
836 foreach my $file (@files_to_unlink) {
837 # close the filehandle without checking its state
838 # in order to make real sure that this is closed
839 # if its already closed then I dont care about the answer
840 # probably a better way to do this
841 close($file->[0]); # file handle is [0]
843 if (-f $file->[1]) { # file name is [1]
844 unlink $file->[1] or warn "Error removing ".$file->[1];
848 foreach my $dir (@dirs_to_unlink) {
850 rmtree($dir, $DEBUG, 1);
856 # This is the sub called to register a file for deferred unlinking
857 # This could simply store the input parameters and defer everything
858 # until the END block. For now we do a bit of checking at this
859 # point in order to make sure that (1) we have a file/dir to delete
860 # and (2) we have been called with the correct arguments.
861 sub _deferred_unlink {
863 croak 'Usage: _deferred_unlink($fh, $fname, $isdir)'
864 unless scalar(@_) == 3;
866 my ($fh, $fname, $isdir) = @_;
868 warn "Setting up deferred removal of $fname\n"
871 # If we have a directory, check that it is a directory
876 # Directory exists so store it
877 # first on VMS turn []foo into [.foo] for rmtree
878 $fname = VMS::Filespec::vmspath($fname) if $^O eq 'VMS';
879 push (@dirs_to_unlink, $fname);
882 carp "Request to remove directory $fname could not be completed since it does not exist!\n" if $^W;
889 # file exists so store handle and name for later removal
890 push(@files_to_unlink, [$fh, $fname]);
893 carp "Request to remove file $fname could not be completed since it is not there!\n" if $^W;
905 This section describes the recommended interface for generating
906 temporary files and directories.
912 This is the basic function to generate temporary files.
913 The behaviour of the file can be changed using various options:
915 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile();
917 Create a temporary file in the directory specified for temporary
918 files, as specified by the tmpdir() function in L<File::Spec>.
920 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile($template);
922 Create a temporary file in the current directory using the supplied
923 template. Trailing `X' characters are replaced with random letters to
924 generate the filename. At least four `X' characters must be present
927 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile($template, SUFFIX => $suffix)
929 Same as previously, except that a suffix is added to the template
930 after the `X' translation. Useful for ensuring that a temporary
931 filename has a particular extension when needed by other applications.
932 But see the WARNING at the end.
934 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile($template, DIR => $dir);
936 Translates the template as before except that a directory name
939 ($fh, $filename) = tempfile($template, UNLINK => 1);
941 Return the filename and filehandle as before except that the file is
942 automatically removed when the program exits. Default is for the file
943 to be removed if a file handle is requested and to be kept if the
944 filename is requested. In a scalar context (where no filename is
945 returned) the file is always deleted either on exit or when it is closed.
947 If the template is not specified, a template is always
948 automatically generated. This temporary file is placed in tmpdir()
949 (L<File::Spec>) unless a directory is specified explicitly with the
952 $fh = tempfile( $template, DIR => $dir );
954 If called in scalar context, only the filehandle is returned
955 and the file will automatically be deleted when closed (see
956 the description of tmpfile() elsewhere in this document).
957 This is the preferred mode of operation, as if you only
958 have a filehandle, you can never create a race condition
959 by fumbling with the filename. On systems that can not unlink
960 an open file or can not mark a file as temporary when it is opened
961 (for example, Windows NT uses the C<O_TEMPORARY> flag))
962 the file is marked for deletion when the program ends (equivalent
963 to setting UNLINK to 1). The C<UNLINK> flag is ignored if present.
965 (undef, $filename) = tempfile($template, OPEN => 0);
967 This will return the filename based on the template but
968 will not open this file. Cannot be used in conjunction with
969 UNLINK set to true. Default is to always open the file
970 to protect from possible race conditions. A warning is issued
971 if warnings are turned on. Consider using the tmpnam()
972 and mktemp() functions described elsewhere in this document
973 if opening the file is not required.
975 Options can be combined as required.
981 # Can not check for argument count since we can have any
986 "DIR" => undef, # Directory prefix
987 "SUFFIX" => '', # Template suffix
988 "UNLINK" => 0, # Do not unlink file on exit
989 "OPEN" => 1, # Open file
992 # Check to see whether we have an odd or even number of arguments
993 my $template = (scalar(@_) % 2 == 1 ? shift(@_) : undef);
995 # Read the options and merge with defaults
996 %options = (%options, @_) if @_;
998 # First decision is whether or not to open the file
999 if (! $options{"OPEN"}) {
1001 warn "tempfile(): temporary filename requested but not opened.\nPossibly unsafe, consider using tempfile() with OPEN set to true\n"
1006 if ($options{"DIR"} and $^O eq 'VMS') {
1008 # on VMS turn []foo into [.foo] for concatenation
1009 $options{"DIR"} = VMS::Filespec::vmspath($options{"DIR"});
1012 # Construct the template
1014 # Have a choice of trying to work around the mkstemp/mktemp/tmpnam etc
1015 # functions or simply constructing a template and using _gettemp()
1016 # explicitly. Go for the latter
1018 # First generate a template if not defined and prefix the directory
1019 # If no template must prefix the temp directory
1020 if (defined $template) {
1021 if ($options{"DIR"}) {
1023 $template = File::Spec->catfile($options{"DIR"}, $template);
1029 if ($options{"DIR"}) {
1031 $template = File::Spec->catfile($options{"DIR"}, TEMPXXX);
1035 $template = File::Spec->catfile(File::Spec->tmpdir, TEMPXXX);
1042 $template .= $options{"SUFFIX"};
1044 # Determine whether we should tell _gettemp to unlink the file
1045 # On unix this is irrelevant and can be worked out after the file is
1046 # opened (simply by unlinking the open filehandle). On Windows or VMS
1047 # we have to indicate temporary-ness when we open the file. In general
1048 # we only want a true temporary file if we are returning just the
1049 # filehandle - if the user wants the filename they probably do not
1050 # want the file to disappear as soon as they close it.
1051 # For this reason, tie unlink_on_close to the return context regardless
1053 my $unlink_on_close = ( wantarray ? 0 : 1);
1056 my ($fh, $path, $errstr);
1057 croak "Error in tempfile() using $template: $errstr"
1058 unless (($fh, $path) = _gettemp($template,
1059 "open" => $options{'OPEN'},
1061 "unlink_on_close" => $unlink_on_close,
1062 "suffixlen" => length($options{'SUFFIX'}),
1063 "ErrStr" => \$errstr,
1066 # Set up an exit handler that can do whatever is right for the
1067 # system. This removes files at exit when requested explicitly or when
1068 # system is asked to unlink_on_close but is unable to do so because
1069 # of OS limitations.
1070 # The latter should be achieved by using a tied filehandle.
1071 # Do not check return status since this is all done with END blocks.
1072 _deferred_unlink($fh, $path, 0) if $options{"UNLINK"};
1077 if ($options{'OPEN'}) {
1078 return ($fh, $path);
1080 return (undef, $path);
1085 # Unlink the file. It is up to unlink0 to decide what to do with
1086 # this (whether to unlink now or to defer until later)
1087 unlink0($fh, $path) or croak "Error unlinking file $path using unlink0";
1089 # Return just the filehandle.
1098 This is the recommended interface for creation of temporary directories.
1099 The behaviour of the function depends on the arguments:
1101 $tempdir = tempdir();
1103 Create a directory in tmpdir() (see L<File::Spec|File::Spec>).
1105 $tempdir = tempdir( $template );
1107 Create a directory from the supplied template. This template is
1108 similar to that described for tempfile(). `X' characters at the end
1109 of the template are replaced with random letters to construct the
1110 directory name. At least four `X' characters must be in the template.
1112 $tempdir = tempdir ( DIR => $dir );
1114 Specifies the directory to use for the temporary directory.
1115 The temporary directory name is derived from an internal template.
1117 $tempdir = tempdir ( $template, DIR => $dir );
1119 Prepend the supplied directory name to the template. The template
1120 should not include parent directory specifications itself. Any parent
1121 directory specifications are removed from the template before
1122 prepending the supplied directory.
1124 $tempdir = tempdir ( $template, TMPDIR => 1 );
1126 Using the supplied template, create the temporary directory in
1127 a standard location for temporary files. Equivalent to doing
1129 $tempdir = tempdir ( $template, DIR => File::Spec->tmpdir);
1131 but shorter. Parent directory specifications are stripped from the
1132 template itself. The C<TMPDIR> option is ignored if C<DIR> is set
1133 explicitly. Additionally, C<TMPDIR> is implied if neither a template
1134 nor a directory are supplied.
1136 $tempdir = tempdir( $template, CLEANUP => 1);
1138 Create a temporary directory using the supplied template, but
1139 attempt to remove it (and all files inside it) when the program
1140 exits. Note that an attempt will be made to remove all files from
1141 the directory even if they were not created by this module (otherwise
1142 why ask to clean it up?). The directory removal is made with
1143 the rmtree() function from the L<File::Path|File::Path> module.
1144 Of course, if the template is not specified, the temporary directory
1145 will be created in tmpdir() and will also be removed at program exit.
1153 # Can not check for argument count since we can have any
1158 "CLEANUP" => 0, # Remove directory on exit
1159 "DIR" => '', # Root directory
1160 "TMPDIR" => 0, # Use tempdir with template
1163 # Check to see whether we have an odd or even number of arguments
1164 my $template = (scalar(@_) % 2 == 1 ? shift(@_) : undef );
1166 # Read the options and merge with defaults
1167 %options = (%options, @_) if @_;
1169 # Modify or generate the template
1171 # Deal with the DIR and TMPDIR options
1172 if (defined $template) {
1174 # Need to strip directory path if using DIR or TMPDIR
1175 if ($options{'TMPDIR'} || $options{'DIR'}) {
1177 # Strip parent directory from the filename
1179 # There is no filename at the end
1180 $template = VMS::Filespec::vmspath($template) if $^O eq 'VMS';
1181 my ($volume, $directories, undef) = File::Spec->splitpath( $template, 1);
1183 # Last directory is then our template
1184 $template = (File::Spec->splitdir($directories))[-1];
1186 # Prepend the supplied directory or temp dir
1187 if ($options{"DIR"}) {
1189 $template = File::Spec->catdir($options{"DIR"}, $template);
1191 } elsif ($options{TMPDIR}) {
1194 $template = File::Spec->catdir(File::Spec->tmpdir, $template);
1202 if ($options{"DIR"}) {
1204 $template = File::Spec->catdir($options{"DIR"}, TEMPXXX);
1208 $template = File::Spec->catdir(File::Spec->tmpdir, TEMPXXX);
1214 # Create the directory
1217 if ($^O eq 'VMS') { # dir names can end in delimiters
1218 $template =~ m/([\.\]:>]+)$/;
1219 $suffixlen = length($1);
1221 if ( ($^O eq 'MacOS') && (substr($template, -1) eq ':') ) {
1222 # dir name has a trailing ':'
1227 croak "Error in tempdir() using $template: $errstr"
1228 unless ((undef, $tempdir) = _gettemp($template,
1231 "suffixlen" => $suffixlen,
1232 "ErrStr" => \$errstr,
1235 # Install exit handler; must be dynamic to get lexical
1236 if ( $options{'CLEANUP'} && -d $tempdir) {
1237 _deferred_unlink(undef, $tempdir, 1);
1240 # Return the dir name
1247 =head1 MKTEMP FUNCTIONS
1249 The following functions are Perl implementations of the
1250 mktemp() family of temp file generation system calls.
1256 Given a template, returns a filehandle to the temporary file and the name
1259 ($fh, $name) = mkstemp( $template );
1261 In scalar context, just the filehandle is returned.
1263 The template may be any filename with some number of X's appended
1264 to it, for example F</tmp/temp.XXXX>. The trailing X's are replaced
1265 with unique alphanumeric combinations.
1273 croak "Usage: mkstemp(template)"
1276 my $template = shift;
1278 my ($fh, $path, $errstr);
1279 croak "Error in mkstemp using $template: $errstr"
1280 unless (($fh, $path) = _gettemp($template,
1284 "ErrStr" => \$errstr,
1288 return ($fh, $path);
1298 Similar to mkstemp(), except that an extra argument can be supplied
1299 with a suffix to be appended to the template.
1301 ($fh, $name) = mkstemps( $template, $suffix );
1303 For example a template of C<testXXXXXX> and suffix of C<.dat>
1304 would generate a file similar to F<testhGji_w.dat>.
1306 Returns just the filehandle alone when called in scalar context.
1312 croak "Usage: mkstemps(template, suffix)"
1316 my $template = shift;
1319 $template .= $suffix;
1321 my ($fh, $path, $errstr);
1322 croak "Error in mkstemps using $template: $errstr"
1323 unless (($fh, $path) = _gettemp($template,
1326 "suffixlen" => length($suffix),
1327 "ErrStr" => \$errstr,
1331 return ($fh, $path);
1340 Create a directory from a template. The template must end in
1341 X's that are replaced by the routine.
1343 $tmpdir_name = mkdtemp($template);
1345 Returns the name of the temporary directory created.
1346 Returns undef on failure.
1348 Directory must be removed by the caller.
1356 croak "Usage: mkdtemp(template)"
1359 my $template = shift;
1361 if ($^O eq 'VMS') { # dir names can end in delimiters
1362 $template =~ m/([\.\]:>]+)$/;
1363 $suffixlen = length($1);
1365 if ( ($^O eq 'MacOS') && (substr($template, -1) eq ':') ) {
1366 # dir name has a trailing ':'
1369 my ($junk, $tmpdir, $errstr);
1370 croak "Error creating temp directory from template $template\: $errstr"
1371 unless (($junk, $tmpdir) = _gettemp($template,
1374 "suffixlen" => $suffixlen,
1375 "ErrStr" => \$errstr,
1384 Returns a valid temporary filename but does not guarantee
1385 that the file will not be opened by someone else.
1387 $unopened_file = mktemp($template);
1389 Template is the same as that required by mkstemp().
1395 croak "Usage: mktemp(template)"
1398 my $template = shift;
1400 my ($tmpname, $junk, $errstr);
1401 croak "Error getting name to temp file from template $template: $errstr"
1402 unless (($junk, $tmpname) = _gettemp($template,
1406 "ErrStr" => \$errstr,
1414 =head1 POSIX FUNCTIONS
1416 This section describes the re-implementation of the tmpnam()
1417 and tmpfile() functions described in L<POSIX>
1418 using the mkstemp() from this module.
1420 Unlike the L<POSIX|POSIX> implementations, the directory used
1421 for the temporary file is not specified in a system include
1422 file (C<P_tmpdir>) but simply depends on the choice of tmpdir()
1423 returned by L<File::Spec|File::Spec>. On some implementations this
1424 location can be set using the C<TMPDIR> environment variable, which
1426 If this is a problem, simply use mkstemp() and specify a template.
1432 When called in scalar context, returns the full name (including path)
1433 of a temporary file (uses mktemp()). The only check is that the file does
1434 not already exist, but there is no guarantee that that condition will
1439 When called in list context, a filehandle to the open file and
1440 a filename are returned. This is achieved by calling mkstemp()
1441 after constructing a suitable template.
1443 ($fh, $file) = tmpnam();
1445 If possible, this form should be used to prevent possible
1448 See L<File::Spec/tmpdir> for information on the choice of temporary
1449 directory for a particular operating system.
1455 # Retrieve the temporary directory name
1456 my $tmpdir = File::Spec->tmpdir;
1458 croak "Error temporary directory is not writable"
1461 # Use a ten character template and append to tmpdir
1462 my $template = File::Spec->catfile($tmpdir, TEMPXXX);
1465 return mkstemp($template);
1467 return mktemp($template);
1474 Returns the filehandle of a temporary file.
1478 The file is removed when the filehandle is closed or when the program
1479 exits. No access to the filename is provided.
1481 If the temporary file can not be created undef is returned.
1482 Currently this command will probably not work when the temporary
1483 directory is on an NFS file system.
1489 # Simply call tmpnam() in a list context
1490 my ($fh, $file) = tmpnam();
1492 # Make sure file is removed when filehandle is closed
1493 # This will fail on NFS
1503 =head1 ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS
1505 These functions are provided for backwards compatibility
1506 with common tempfile generation C library functions.
1508 They are not exported and must be addressed using the full package
1515 Return the name of a temporary file in the specified directory
1516 using a prefix. The file is guaranteed not to exist at the time
1517 the function was called, but such guarantees are good for one
1518 clock tick only. Always use the proper form of C<sysopen>
1519 with C<O_CREAT | O_EXCL> if you must open such a filename.
1521 $filename = File::Temp::tempnam( $dir, $prefix );
1523 Equivalent to running mktemp() with $dir/$prefixXXXXXXXX
1524 (using unix file convention as an example)
1526 Because this function uses mktemp(), it can suffer from race conditions.
1532 croak 'Usage tempnam($dir, $prefix)' unless scalar(@_) == 2;
1534 my ($dir, $prefix) = @_;
1536 # Add a string to the prefix
1537 $prefix .= 'XXXXXXXX';
1539 # Concatenate the directory to the file
1540 my $template = File::Spec->catfile($dir, $prefix);
1542 return mktemp($template);
1548 =head1 UTILITY FUNCTIONS
1550 Useful functions for dealing with the filehandle and filename.
1556 Given an open filehandle and the associated filename, make a safe
1557 unlink. This is achieved by first checking that the filename and
1558 filehandle initially point to the same file and that the number of
1559 links to the file is 1 (all fields returned by stat() are compared).
1560 Then the filename is unlinked and the filehandle checked once again to
1561 verify that the number of links on that file is now 0. This is the
1562 closest you can come to making sure that the filename unlinked was the
1563 same as the file whose descriptor you hold.
1565 unlink0($fh, $path) or die "Error unlinking file $path safely";
1567 Returns false on error. The filehandle is not closed since on some
1568 occasions this is not required.
1570 On some platforms, for example Windows NT, it is not possible to
1571 unlink an open file (the file must be closed first). On those
1572 platforms, the actual unlinking is deferred until the program ends and
1573 good status is returned. A check is still performed to make sure that
1574 the filehandle and filename are pointing to the same thing (but not at
1575 the time the end block is executed since the deferred removal may not
1576 have access to the filehandle).
1578 Additionally, on Windows NT not all the fields returned by stat() can
1579 be compared. For example, the C<dev> and C<rdev> fields seem to be
1580 different. Also, it seems that the size of the file returned by stat()
1581 does not always agree, with C<stat(FH)> being more accurate than
1582 C<stat(filename)>, presumably because of caching issues even when
1583 using autoflush (this is usually overcome by waiting a while after
1584 writing to the tempfile before attempting to C<unlink0> it).
1586 Finally, on NFS file systems the link count of the file handle does
1587 not always go to zero immediately after unlinking. Currently, this
1588 command is expected to fail on NFS disks.
1594 croak 'Usage: unlink0(filehandle, filename)'
1595 unless scalar(@_) == 2;
1598 my ($fh, $path) = @_;
1600 warn "Unlinking $path using unlink0\n"
1603 # Stat the filehandle
1606 if ($fh[3] > 1 && $^W) {
1607 carp "unlink0: fstat found too many links; SB=@fh" if $^W;
1611 my @path = stat $path;
1614 carp "unlink0: $path is gone already" if $^W;
1618 # this is no longer a file, but may be a directory, or worse
1620 confess "panic: $path is no longer a file: SB=@fh";
1623 # Do comparison of each member of the array
1624 # On WinNT dev and rdev seem to be different
1625 # depending on whether it is a file or a handle.
1626 # Cannot simply compare all members of the stat return
1627 # Select the ones we can use
1628 my @okstat = (0..$#fh); # Use all by default
1629 if ($^O eq 'MSWin32') {
1630 @okstat = (1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10);
1631 } elsif ($^O eq 'os2') {
1632 @okstat = (0, 2..$#fh);
1633 } elsif ($^O eq 'VMS') { # device and file ID are sufficient
1635 } elsif ($^O eq 'dos') {
1636 @okstat = (0,2..7,11..$#fh);
1639 # Now compare each entry explicitly by number
1641 print "Comparing: $_ : $fh[$_] and $path[$_]\n" if $DEBUG;
1642 # Use eq rather than == since rdev, blksize, and blocks (6, 11,
1643 # and 12) will be '' on platforms that do not support them. This
1644 # is fine since we are only comparing integers.
1645 unless ($fh[$_] eq $path[$_]) {
1646 warn "Did not match $_ element of stat\n" if $DEBUG;
1651 # attempt remove the file (does not work on some platforms)
1652 if (_can_unlink_opened_file()) {
1653 # XXX: do *not* call this on a directory; possible race
1654 # resulting in recursive removal
1655 croak "unlink0: $path has become a directory!" if -d $path;
1656 unlink($path) or return 0;
1658 # Stat the filehandle
1661 print "Link count = $fh[3] \n" if $DEBUG;
1663 # Make sure that the link count is zero
1664 # - Cygwin provides deferred unlinking, however,
1665 # on Win9x the link count remains 1
1666 # On NFS the link count may still be 1 but we cant know that
1668 return ( $fh[3] == 0 or $^O eq 'cygwin' ? 1 : 0);
1671 _deferred_unlink($fh, $path, 0);
1679 =head1 PACKAGE VARIABLES
1681 These functions control the global state of the package.
1687 Controls the lengths to which the module will go to check the safety of the
1688 temporary file or directory before proceeding.
1695 Do the basic security measures to ensure the directory exists and
1696 is writable, that the umask() is fixed before opening of the file,
1697 that temporary files are opened only if they do not already exist, and
1698 that possible race conditions are avoided. Finally the L<unlink0|"unlink0">
1699 function is used to remove files safely.
1703 In addition to the STANDARD security, the output directory is checked
1704 to make sure that it is owned either by root or the user running the
1705 program. If the directory is writable by group or by other, it is then
1706 checked to make sure that the sticky bit is set.
1708 Will not work on platforms that do not support the C<-k> test
1713 In addition to the MEDIUM security checks, also check for the
1714 possibility of ``chown() giveaway'' using the L<POSIX|POSIX>
1715 sysconf() function. If this is a possibility, each directory in the
1716 path is checked in turn for safeness, recursively walking back to the
1719 For platforms that do not support the L<POSIX|POSIX>
1720 C<_PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED> symbol (for example, Windows NT) it is
1721 assumed that ``chown() giveaway'' is possible and the recursive test
1726 The level can be changed as follows:
1728 File::Temp->safe_level( File::Temp::HIGH );
1730 The level constants are not exported by the module.
1732 Currently, you must be running at least perl v5.6.0 in order to
1733 run with MEDIUM or HIGH security. This is simply because the
1734 safety tests use functions from L<Fcntl|Fcntl> that are not
1735 available in older versions of perl. The problem is that the version
1736 number for Fcntl is the same in perl 5.6.0 and in 5.005_03 even though
1737 they are different versions.
1739 On systems that do not support the HIGH or MEDIUM safety levels
1740 (for example Win NT or OS/2) any attempt to change the level will
1741 be ignored. The decision to ignore rather than raise an exception
1742 allows portable programs to be written with high security in mind
1743 for the systems that can support this without those programs failing
1744 on systems where the extra tests are irrelevant.
1746 If you really need to see whether the change has been accepted
1747 simply examine the return value of C<safe_level>.
1749 $newlevel = File::Temp->safe_level( File::Temp::HIGH );
1750 die "Could not change to high security"
1751 if $newlevel != File::Temp::HIGH;
1756 # protect from using the variable itself
1757 my $LEVEL = STANDARD;
1762 if (($level != STANDARD) && ($level != MEDIUM) && ($level != HIGH)) {
1763 carp "safe_level: Specified level ($level) not STANDARD, MEDIUM or HIGH - ignoring\n" if $^W;
1765 # Dont allow this on perl 5.005 or earlier
1766 if ($] < 5.006 && $level != STANDARD) {
1767 # Cant do MEDIUM or HIGH checks
1768 croak "Currently requires perl 5.006 or newer to do the safe checks";
1770 # Check that we are allowed to change level
1771 # Silently ignore if we can not.
1772 $LEVEL = $level if _can_do_level($level);
1781 This is the highest UID on the current system that refers to a root
1782 UID. This is used to make sure that the temporary directory is
1783 owned by a system UID (C<root>, C<bin>, C<sys> etc) rather than
1786 This is required since on many unix systems C</tmp> is not owned
1789 Default is to assume that any UID less than or equal to 10 is a root
1792 File::Temp->top_system_uid(10);
1793 my $topid = File::Temp->top_system_uid;
1795 This value can be adjusted to reduce security checking if required.
1796 The value is only relevant when C<safe_level> is set to MEDIUM or higher.
1803 my $TopSystemUID = 10;
1804 sub top_system_uid {
1808 croak "top_system_uid: UIDs should be numeric"
1809 unless $newuid =~ /^\d+$/s;
1810 $TopSystemUID = $newuid;
1812 return $TopSystemUID;
1818 For maximum security, endeavour always to avoid ever looking at,
1819 touching, or even imputing the existence of the filename. You do not
1820 know that that filename is connected to the same file as the handle
1821 you have, and attempts to check this can only trigger more race
1822 conditions. It's far more secure to use the filehandle alone and
1823 dispense with the filename altogether.
1825 If you need to pass the handle to something that expects a filename
1826 then, on a unix system, use C<"/dev/fd/" . fileno($fh)> for arbitrary
1827 programs, or more generally C<< "+<=&" . fileno($fh) >> for Perl
1828 programs. You will have to clear the close-on-exec bit on that file
1829 descriptor before passing it to another process.
1831 use Fcntl qw/F_SETFD F_GETFD/;
1832 fcntl($tmpfh, F_SETFD, 0)
1833 or die "Can't clear close-on-exec flag on temp fh: $!\n";
1835 =head2 Temporary files and NFS
1837 Some problems are associated with using temporary files that reside
1838 on NFS file systems and it is recommended that a local filesystem
1839 is used whenever possible. Some of the security tests will most probably
1840 fail when the temp file is not local. Additionally, be aware that
1841 the performance of I/O operations over NFS will not be as good as for
1846 Originally began life in May 1999 as an XS interface to the system
1847 mkstemp() function. In March 2000, the OpenBSD mkstemp() code was
1848 translated to Perl for total control of the code's
1849 security checking, to ensure the presence of the function regardless of
1850 operating system and to help with portability.
1854 L<POSIX/tmpnam>, L<POSIX/tmpfile>, L<File::Spec>, L<File::Path>
1856 See L<IO::File> and L<File::MkTemp> for different implementations of
1857 temporary file handling.
1861 Tim Jenness E<lt>tjenness@cpan.orgE<gt>
1863 Copyright (C) 1999-2003 Tim Jenness and the UK Particle Physics and
1864 Astronomy Research Council. All Rights Reserved. This program is free
1865 software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
1866 terms as Perl itself.
1868 Original Perl implementation loosely based on the OpenBSD C code for
1869 mkstemp(). Thanks to Tom Christiansen for suggesting that this module
1870 should be written and providing ideas for code improvements and
1871 security enhancements.