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<div class="section" id="module-tempfile">
<span id="tempfile-generate-temporary-files-and-directories"></span><h1>10.6. <a class="reference internal" href="#module-tempfile" title="tempfile: Generate temporary files and directories."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile</span></code></a> — Generate temporary files and directories<a class="headerlink" href="#module-tempfile" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p id="index-0"><strong>Source code:</strong> <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/tree/2.7/Lib/tempfile.py">Lib/tempfile.py</a></p>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>This module generates temporary files and directories. It works on all
supported platforms.</p>
<p>In version 2.3 of Python, this module was overhauled for enhanced security. It
now provides three new functions, <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile" title="tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NamedTemporaryFile()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a>,
and <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkdtemp" title="tempfile.mkdtemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkdtemp()</span></code></a>, which should eliminate all remaining need to use the
insecure <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mktemp" title="tempfile.mktemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mktemp()</span></code></a> function. Temporary file names created by this module
no longer contain the process ID; instead a string of six random characters is
used.</p>
<p>Also, all the user-callable functions now take additional arguments which
allow direct control over the location and name of temporary files. It is
no longer necessary to use the global <em>tempdir</em> and <em>template</em> variables.
To maintain backward compatibility, the argument order is somewhat odd; it
is recommended to use keyword arguments for clarity.</p>
<p>The module defines the following user-callable functions:</p>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.TemporaryFile">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">TemporaryFile</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="optional">[</span><em>mode='w+b'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>bufsize=-1</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>suffix=''</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>prefix='tmp'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>dir=None</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return a file-like object that can be used as a temporary storage area.
The file is created using <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a>. It will be destroyed as soon
as it is closed (including an implicit close when the object is garbage
collected). Under Unix, the directory entry for the file is removed
immediately after the file is created. Other platforms do not support
this; your code should not rely on a temporary file created using this
function having or not having a visible name in the file system.</p>
<p>The <em>mode</em> parameter defaults to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'w+b'</span></code> so that the file created can
be read and written without being closed. Binary mode is used so that it
behaves consistently on all platforms without regard for the data that is
stored. <em>bufsize</em> defaults to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-1</span></code>, meaning that the operating system
default is used.</p>
<p>The <em>dir</em>, <em>prefix</em> and <em>suffix</em> parameters are passed to <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>The returned object is a true file object on POSIX platforms. On other
platforms, it is a file-like object whose <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">file</span></code> attribute is the
underlying true file object. This file-like object can be used in a
<a class="reference internal" href="../reference/compound_stmts.html#with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">with</span></code></a> statement, just like a normal file.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">NamedTemporaryFile</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="optional">[</span><em>mode='w+b'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>bufsize=-1</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>suffix=''</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>prefix='tmp'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>dir=None</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>delete=True</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>This function operates exactly as <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="tempfile.TemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TemporaryFile()</span></code></a> does, except that
the file is guaranteed to have a visible name in the file system (on
Unix, the directory entry is not unlinked). That name can be retrieved
from the <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name</span></code> attribute of the returned
file-like object. Whether the name can be
used to open the file a second time, while the named temporary file is
still open, varies across platforms (it can be so used on Unix; it cannot
on Windows NT or later). If <em>delete</em> is true (the default), the file is
deleted as soon as it is closed.</p>
<p>The returned object is always a file-like object whose <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">file</span></code>
attribute is the underlying true file object. This file-like object can
be used in a <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/compound_stmts.html#with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">with</span></code></a> statement, just like a normal file.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 2.3.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 2.6: </span>The <em>delete</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">SpooledTemporaryFile</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="optional">[</span><em>max_size=0</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>mode='w+b'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>bufsize=-1</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>suffix=''</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>prefix='tmp'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>dir=None</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>This function operates exactly as <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="tempfile.TemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TemporaryFile()</span></code></a> does, except that
data is spooled in memory until the file size exceeds <em>max_size</em>, or
until the file’s <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fileno()</span></code> method is called, at which point the
contents are written to disk and operation proceeds as with
<a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="tempfile.TemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TemporaryFile()</span></code></a>. Also, it’s <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">truncate</span></code> method does not
accept a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">size</span></code> argument.</p>
<p>The resulting file has one additional method, <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rollover()</span></code>, which
causes the file to roll over to an on-disk file regardless of its size.</p>
<p>The returned object is a file-like object whose <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">_file</span></code> attribute
is either a <a class="reference internal" href="stringio.html#StringIO.StringIO" title="StringIO.StringIO"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StringIO</span></code></a> object or a true file object, depending on
whether <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rollover()</span></code> has been called. This file-like object can be
used in a <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/compound_stmts.html#with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">with</span></code></a> statement, just like a normal file.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 2.6.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.mkstemp">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">mkstemp</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="optional">[</span><em>suffix=''</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>prefix='tmp'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>dir=None</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>text=False</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Creates a temporary file in the most secure manner possible. There are
no race conditions in the file’s creation, assuming that the platform
properly implements the <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.O_EXCL" title="os.O_EXCL"><code class="xref py py-const docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.O_EXCL</span></code></a> flag for <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.open" title="os.open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.open()</span></code></a>. The
file is readable and writable only by the creating user ID. If the
platform uses permission bits to indicate whether a file is executable,
the file is executable by no one. The file descriptor is not inherited
by child processes.</p>
<p>Unlike <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="tempfile.TemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TemporaryFile()</span></code></a>, the user of <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a> is responsible
for deleting the temporary file when done with it.</p>
<p>If <em>suffix</em> is specified, the file name will end with that suffix,
otherwise there will be no suffix. <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a> does not put a dot
between the file name and the suffix; if you need one, put it at the
beginning of <em>suffix</em>.</p>
<p>If <em>prefix</em> is specified, the file name will begin with that prefix;
otherwise, a default prefix is used.</p>
<p>If <em>dir</em> is specified, the file will be created in that directory;
otherwise, a default directory is used. The default directory is chosen
from a platform-dependent list, but the user of the application can
control the directory location by setting the <em>TMPDIR</em>, <em>TEMP</em> or <em>TMP</em>
environment variables. There is thus no guarantee that the generated
filename will have any nice properties, such as not requiring quoting
when passed to external commands via <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.popen()</span></code>.</p>
<p>If <em>text</em> is specified, it indicates whether to open the file in binary
mode (the default) or text mode. On some platforms, this makes no
difference.</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a> returns a tuple containing an OS-level handle to an open
file (as would be returned by <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.open" title="os.open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.open()</span></code></a>) and the absolute pathname
of that file, in that order.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 2.3.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.mkdtemp">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">mkdtemp</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="optional">[</span><em>suffix=''</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>prefix='tmp'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>dir=None</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.mkdtemp" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Creates a temporary directory in the most secure manner possible. There
are no race conditions in the directory’s creation. The directory is
readable, writable, and searchable only by the creating user ID.</p>
<p>The user of <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkdtemp" title="tempfile.mkdtemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkdtemp()</span></code></a> is responsible for deleting the temporary
directory and its contents when done with it.</p>
<p>The <em>prefix</em>, <em>suffix</em>, and <em>dir</em> arguments are the same as for
<a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkdtemp" title="tempfile.mkdtemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkdtemp()</span></code></a> returns the absolute pathname of the new directory.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 2.3.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.mktemp">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">mktemp</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="optional">[</span><em>suffix=''</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>prefix='tmp'</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>dir=None</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.mktemp" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><div class="deprecated">
<p><span class="versionmodified deprecated">Deprecated since version 2.3: </span>Use <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a> instead.</p>
</div>
<p>Return an absolute pathname of a file that did not exist at the time the
call is made. The <em>prefix</em>, <em>suffix</em>, and <em>dir</em> arguments are the same
as for <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="tempfile.mkstemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mkstemp()</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p>Use of this function may introduce a security hole in your program. By
the time you get around to doing anything with the file name it returns,
someone else may have beaten you to the punch. <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mktemp" title="tempfile.mktemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mktemp()</span></code></a> usage can
be replaced easily with <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile" title="tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NamedTemporaryFile()</span></code></a>, passing it the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">delete=False</span></code> parameter:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">f</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">NamedTemporaryFile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">delete</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">f</span>
<span class="go"><open file '<fdopen>', mode 'w+b' at 0x384698></span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">name</span>
<span class="go">'/var/folders/5q/5qTPn6xq2RaWqk+1Ytw3-U+++TI/-Tmp-/tmpG7V1Y0'</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"Hello World!</span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s2">"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">close</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">unlink</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">exists</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">False</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<p>The module uses a global variable that tell it how to construct a
temporary name. They are initialized at the first call to any of the
functions above. The caller may change them, but this is discouraged; use
the appropriate function arguments, instead.</p>
<dl class="data">
<dt id="tempfile.tempdir">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">tempdir</code><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.tempdir" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>When set to a value other than <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, this variable defines the
default value for the <em>dir</em> argument to all the functions defined in this
module.</p>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempdir</span></code> is unset or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> at any call to any of the above
functions, Python searches a standard list of directories and sets
<em>tempdir</em> to the first one which the calling user can create files in.
The list is:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>The directory named by the <span class="target" id="index-1"></span><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TMPDIR</span></code> environment variable.</p></li>
<li><p>The directory named by the <span class="target" id="index-2"></span><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TEMP</span></code> environment variable.</p></li>
<li><p>The directory named by the <span class="target" id="index-3"></span><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TMP</span></code> environment variable.</p></li>
<li><p>A platform-specific location:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>On RiscOS, the directory named by the <span class="target" id="index-4"></span><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Wimp$ScrapDir</span></code> environment
variable.</p></li>
<li><p>On Windows, the directories <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">C:\TEMP</span></code>, <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">C:\TMP</span></code>,
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">\TEMP</span></code>, and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">\TMP</span></code>, in that order.</p></li>
<li><p>On all other platforms, the directories <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/tmp</span></code>, <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/var/tmp</span></code>, and
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/usr/tmp</span></code>, in that order.</p></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>As a last resort, the current working directory.</p></li>
</ol>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.gettempdir">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">gettempdir</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.gettempdir" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the directory currently selected to create temporary files in. If
<a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.tempdir" title="tempfile.tempdir"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempdir</span></code></a> is not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, this simply returns its contents; otherwise,
the search described above is performed, and the result returned.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 2.3.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="data">
<dt id="tempfile.template">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">template</code><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.template" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><div class="deprecated">
<p><span class="versionmodified deprecated">Deprecated since version 2.0: </span>Use <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.gettempprefix" title="tempfile.gettempprefix"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gettempprefix()</span></code></a> instead.</p>
</div>
<p>When set to a value other than <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, this variable defines the prefix of the
final component of the filenames returned by <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.mktemp" title="tempfile.mktemp"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mktemp()</span></code></a>. A string of six
random letters and digits is appended to the prefix to make the filename unique.
The default prefix is <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tmp</span></code>.</p>
<p>Older versions of this module used to require that <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">template</span></code> be set to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> after a call to <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.fork" title="os.fork"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.fork()</span></code></a>; this has not been necessary since
version 1.5.2.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="tempfile.gettempprefix">
<code class="descclassname">tempfile.</code><code class="descname">gettempprefix</code><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.gettempprefix" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the filename prefix used to create temporary files. This does not
contain the directory component. Using this function is preferred over reading
the <em>template</em> variable directly.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 1.5.2.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
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