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<section id="module-tempfile">
<span id="tempfile-generate-temporary-files-and-directories"></span><h1><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile</span></code> — Generate temporary files and directories<a class="headerlink" href="#module-tempfile" title="Link to this heading"></a></h1>
<p><strong>Source code:</strong> <a class="extlink-source reference external" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/tree/3.13/Lib/tempfile.py">Lib/tempfile.py</a></p>
<hr class="docutils" id="index-0" />
<p>This module creates temporary files and directories. It works on all
supported platforms. <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="tempfile.TemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TemporaryFile</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile" title="tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NamedTemporaryFile</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.TemporaryDirectory" title="tempfile.TemporaryDirectory"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TemporaryDirectory</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile" title="tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SpooledTemporaryFile</span></code></a> are high-level
interfaces which provide automatic cleanup and can be used as
<a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-context-manager"><span class="xref std std-term">context managers</span></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> are lower-level functions which require manual cleanup.</p>
<p>All the user-callable functions and constructors take additional arguments which
allow direct control over the location and name of temporary files and
directories. Files names used by this module include a string of
random characters which allows those files to be securely created in
shared temporary directories.
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 items:</p>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.TemporaryFile">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">TemporaryFile</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">mode</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">'w+b'</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">buffering</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">-1</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">encoding</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">newline</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">errors</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.TemporaryFile" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Return a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-file-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file-like object</span></a> that can be used as a temporary storage area.
The file is created securely, using the same rules as <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 either not created at all or 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 resulting object can be used as a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-context-manager"><span class="xref std std-term">context manager</span></a> (see
<a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile-examples"><span class="std std-ref">Examples</span></a>). On completion of the context or
destruction of the file object the temporary file will be removed
from the filesystem.</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>buffering</em>, <em>encoding</em>, <em>errors</em> and <em>newline</em> are interpreted as for
<a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#open" title="open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>The <em>dir</em>, <em>prefix</em> and <em>suffix</em> parameters have the same meaning and
defaults as with <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.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.O_TMPFILE" title="os.O_TMPFILE"><code class="xref py py-const docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.O_TMPFILE</span></code></a> flag is used if it is available and works
(Linux-specific, requires Linux kernel 3.11 or later).</p>
<p>On platforms that are neither Posix nor Cygwin, TemporaryFile is an alias
for NamedTemporaryFile.</p>
<p class="audit-hook">Raises an <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#auditing"><span class="std std-ref">auditing event</span></a> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile.mkstemp</span></code> with argument <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fullpath</span></code>.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.5: </span>The <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.O_TMPFILE" title="os.O_TMPFILE"><code class="xref py py-const docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.O_TMPFILE</span></code></a> flag is now used if available.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.8: </span>Added <em>errors</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">NamedTemporaryFile</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">mode</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">'w+b'</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">buffering</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">-1</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">encoding</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">newline</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">delete</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">True</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">errors</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">delete_on_close</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">True</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile" title="Link 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 the
following differences:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>This function returns a file that is guaranteed to have a visible name in
the file system.</p></li>
<li><p>To manage the named file, it extends the parameters of
<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> with <em>delete</em> and <em>delete_on_close</em> parameters that
determine whether and how the named file should be automatically deleted.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The returned object is always a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-file-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file-like object</span></a> 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. The
name of the temporary file 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. On Unix, unlike with the
<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 directory entry does not get unlinked immediately
after the file creation.</p>
<p>If <em>delete</em> is true (the default) and <em>delete_on_close</em> is true (the
default), the file is deleted as soon as it is closed. If <em>delete</em> is true
and <em>delete_on_close</em> is false, the file is deleted on context manager exit
only, or else when the <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-file-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file-like object</span></a> is finalized. Deletion is not
always guaranteed in this case (see <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#object.__del__" title="object.__del__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__del__()</span></code></a>). If <em>delete</em> is
false, the value of <em>delete_on_close</em> is ignored.</p>
<p>Therefore to use the name of the temporary file to reopen the file after
closing it, either make sure not to delete the file upon closure (set the
<em>delete</em> parameter to be false) or, in case the temporary file is created 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, set the <em>delete_on_close</em> parameter to be false.
The latter approach is recommended as it provides assistance in automatic
cleaning of the temporary file upon the context manager exit.</p>
<p>Opening the temporary file again by its name while it is still open works as
follows:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>On POSIX the file can always be opened again.</p></li>
<li><p>On Windows, make sure that at least one of the following conditions are
fulfilled:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><em>delete</em> is false</p></li>
<li><p>additional open shares delete access (e.g. by calling <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>
with the flag <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">O_TEMPORARY</span></code>)</p></li>
<li><p><em>delete</em> is true but <em>delete_on_close</em> is false. Note, that in this
case the additional opens that do not share delete access (e.g.
created via builtin <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#open" title="open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open()</span></code></a>) must be closed before exiting the
context manager, else the <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.unlink" title="os.unlink"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.unlink()</span></code></a> call on context manager
exit will fail with a <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#PermissionError" title="PermissionError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PermissionError</span></code></a>.</p></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>On Windows, if <em>delete_on_close</em> is false, and the file is created in a
directory for which the user lacks delete access, then the <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.unlink" title="os.unlink"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.unlink()</span></code></a>
call on exit of the context manager will fail with a <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#PermissionError" title="PermissionError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PermissionError</span></code></a>.
This cannot happen when <em>delete_on_close</em> is true because delete access is
requested by the open, which fails immediately if the requested access is not
granted.</p>
<p>On POSIX (only), a process that is terminated abruptly with SIGKILL
cannot automatically delete any NamedTemporaryFiles it created.</p>
<p class="audit-hook">Raises an <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#auditing"><span class="std std-ref">auditing event</span></a> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile.mkstemp</span></code> with argument <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fullpath</span></code>.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.8: </span>Added <em>errors</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.12: </span>Added <em>delete_on_close</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py class">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile">
<em class="property"><span class="k"><span class="pre">class</span></span><span class="w"> </span></em><span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">SpooledTemporaryFile</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">max_size</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">0</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">mode</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">'w+b'</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">buffering</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">-1</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">encoding</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">newline</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">errors</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>This class 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 files <a class="reference internal" href="io.html#io.IOBase.fileno" title="io.IOBase.fileno"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fileno()</span></code></a> 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>.</p>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile.rollover">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">rollover</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile.rollover" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>The resulting file has one additional method, <code class="xref py py-meth 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>
</dd></dl>
<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 an <a class="reference internal" href="io.html#io.BytesIO" title="io.BytesIO"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io.BytesIO</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="io.html#io.TextIOWrapper" title="io.TextIOWrapper"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io.TextIOWrapper</span></code></a> object
(depending on whether binary or text <em>mode</em> was specified) or a true file
object, depending on whether <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile.rollover" title="tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile.rollover"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rollover()</span></code></a> 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="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.3: </span>the truncate method now accepts a <em>size</em> argument.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.8: </span>Added <em>errors</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.11: </span>Fully implements the <a class="reference internal" href="io.html#io.BufferedIOBase" title="io.BufferedIOBase"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io.BufferedIOBase</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="io.html#io.TextIOBase" title="io.TextIOBase"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io.TextIOBase</span></code></a> abstract base classes (depending on whether binary
or text <em>mode</em> was specified).</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py class">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.TemporaryDirectory">
<em class="property"><span class="k"><span class="pre">class</span></span><span class="w"> </span></em><span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">TemporaryDirectory</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">ignore_cleanup_errors</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">False</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">delete</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">True</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.TemporaryDirectory" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>This class securely creates a temporary directory using the same rules as <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>.
The resulting object can be used as a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-context-manager"><span class="xref std std-term">context manager</span></a> (see
<a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile-examples"><span class="std std-ref">Examples</span></a>). On completion of the context or destruction
of the temporary directory object, the newly created temporary directory
and all its contents are removed from the filesystem.</p>
<dl class="py attribute">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.TemporaryDirectory.name">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">name</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.TemporaryDirectory.name" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>The directory 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 object. When the returned object is used as a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-context-manager"><span class="xref std std-term">context manager</span></a>, the
<code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name</span></code> will be assigned to the target of the <code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">as</span></code> clause in
the <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, if there is one.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.TemporaryDirectory.cleanup">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">cleanup</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.TemporaryDirectory.cleanup" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>The directory can be explicitly cleaned up by calling the
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cleanup()</span></code> method. If <em>ignore_cleanup_errors</em> is true, any unhandled
exceptions during explicit or implicit cleanup (such as a
<a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#PermissionError" title="PermissionError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PermissionError</span></code></a> removing open files on Windows) will be ignored,
and the remaining removable items deleted on a “best-effort” basis.
Otherwise, errors will be raised in whatever context cleanup occurs
(the <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cleanup()</span></code> call, exiting the context manager, when the object
is garbage-collected or during interpreter shutdown).</p>
</dd></dl>
<p>The <em>delete</em> parameter can be used to disable cleanup of the directory tree
upon exiting the context. While it may seem unusual for a context manager
to disable the action taken when exiting the context, it can be useful during
debugging or when you need your cleanup behavior to be conditional based on
other logic.</p>
<p class="audit-hook">Raises an <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#auditing"><span class="std std-ref">auditing event</span></a> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile.mkdtemp</span></code> with argument <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fullpath</span></code>.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.2.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.10: </span>Added <em>ignore_cleanup_errors</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.12: </span>Added the <em>delete</em> parameter.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.mkstemp">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">mkstemp</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">text</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">False</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.mkstemp" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Creates a temporary file in the most secure manner possible. There are
no race conditions in the files 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 not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, 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 not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, the file name will begin with that prefix;
otherwise, a default prefix is used. The default is the return value of
<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> or <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.gettempprefixb" title="tempfile.gettempprefixb"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gettempprefixb()</span></code></a>, as appropriate.</p>
<p>If <em>dir</em> is not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, 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 any of <em>suffix</em>, <em>prefix</em>, and <em>dir</em> are not
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, they must be the same type.
If they are bytes, the returned name will be bytes instead of str.
If you want to force a bytes return value with otherwise default behavior,
pass <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">suffix=b''</span></code>.</p>
<p>If <em>text</em> is specified and true, the file is opened in text mode.
Otherwise, (the default) the file is opened in binary mode.</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>
<p class="audit-hook">Raises an <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#auditing"><span class="std std-ref">auditing event</span></a> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile.mkstemp</span></code> with argument <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fullpath</span></code>.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.5: </span><em>suffix</em>, <em>prefix</em>, and <em>dir</em> may now be supplied in bytes in order to
obtain a bytes return value. Prior to this, only str was allowed.
<em>suffix</em> and <em>prefix</em> now accept and default to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> to cause
an appropriate default value to be used.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.6: </span>The <em>dir</em> parameter now accepts a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-path-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">path-like object</span></a>.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.mkdtemp">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">mkdtemp</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.mkdtemp" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Creates a temporary directory in the most secure manner possible. There
are no race conditions in the directorys 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>
<p class="audit-hook">Raises an <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#auditing"><span class="std std-ref">auditing event</span></a> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempfile.mkdtemp</span></code> with argument <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fullpath</span></code>.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.5: </span><em>suffix</em>, <em>prefix</em>, and <em>dir</em> may now be supplied in bytes in order to
obtain a bytes return value. Prior to this, only str was allowed.
<em>suffix</em> and <em>prefix</em> now accept and default to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> to cause
an appropriate default value to be used.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.6: </span>The <em>dir</em> parameter now accepts a <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-path-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">path-like object</span></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.12: </span><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> now always returns an absolute path, even if <em>dir</em> is relative.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.gettempdir">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">gettempdir</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.gettempdir" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the name of the directory used for temporary files. This
defines the default value for the <em>dir</em> argument to all functions
in this module.</p>
<p>Python searches a standard list of directories to find 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 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>
<p>The result of this search is cached, see the description of
<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> below.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.10: </span>Always returns a str. Previously it would return any <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>
value regardless of type so long as it was not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.gettempdirb">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">gettempdirb</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.gettempdirb" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Same as <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.gettempdir" title="tempfile.gettempdir"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gettempdir()</span></code></a> but the return value is in bytes.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.5.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.gettempprefix">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">gettempprefix</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.gettempprefix" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the filename prefix used to create temporary files. This does not
contain the directory component.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.gettempprefixb">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">gettempprefixb</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.gettempprefixb" title="Link to this definition"></a></dt>
<dd><p>Same as <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> but the return value is in bytes.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.5.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<p>The module uses a global variable to store the name of the directory
used for temporary files returned by <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.gettempdir" title="tempfile.gettempdir"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gettempdir()</span></code></a>. It can be
set directly to override the selection process, but this is discouraged.
All functions in this module take a <em>dir</em> argument which can be used
to specify the directory. This is the recommended approach that does
not surprise other unsuspecting code by changing global API behavior.</p>
<dl class="py data">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.tempdir">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">tempdir</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.tempdir" title="Link 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 the functions defined in this
module, including its type, bytes or str. It cannot be a
<a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-path-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">path-like object</span></a>.</p>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempdir</span></code> is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> (the default) at any call to any of the above
functions except <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> it is initialized following the
algorithm described in <a class="reference internal" href="#tempfile.gettempdir" title="tempfile.gettempdir"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gettempdir()</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>Beware that if you set <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tempdir</span></code> to a bytes value, there is a
nasty side effect: The global default return type 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> 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> changes to bytes when no
explicit <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">prefix</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">suffix</span></code>, or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dir</span></code> arguments of type
str are supplied. Please do not write code expecting or
depending on this. This awkward behavior is maintained for
compatibility with the historical implementation.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<section id="examples">
<span id="tempfile-examples"></span><h2>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#examples" title="Link to this heading"></a></h2>
<p>Here are some examples of typical usage of the <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> module:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="kn">import</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nn">tempfile</span>
<span class="go"># create a temporary file and write some data to it</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">fp</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">tempfile</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">TemporaryFile</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="sa">b</span><span class="s1">&#39;Hello world!&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go"># read data from file</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">seek</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">read</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="go">b&#39;Hello world!&#39;</span>
<span class="go"># close the file, it will be removed</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">close</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="go"># create a temporary file using a context manager</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">tempfile</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">TemporaryFile</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="sa">b</span><span class="s1">&#39;Hello world!&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">seek</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">read</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="go">b&#39;Hello world!&#39;</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span>
<span class="go"># file is now closed and removed</span>
<span class="go"># create a temporary file using a context manager</span>
<span class="go"># close the file, use the name to open the file again</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">tempfile</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">NamedTemporaryFile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">delete_on_close</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="sa">b</span><span class="s1">&#39;Hello world!&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">close</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="gp">... </span><span class="c1"># the file is closed, but not removed</span>
<span class="gp">... </span><span class="c1"># open the file again by using its name</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">with</span> <span class="nb">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">fp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mode</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;rb&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">read</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="go">b&#39;Hello world!&#39;</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span>
<span class="go"># file is now removed</span>
<span class="go"># create a temporary directory using the context manager</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">tempfile</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">TemporaryDirectory</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">tmpdirname</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;created temporary directory&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">tmpdirname</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span>
<span class="go"># directory and contents have been removed</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="deprecated-functions-and-variables">
<span id="tempfile-mktemp-deprecated"></span><h2>Deprecated functions and variables<a class="headerlink" href="#deprecated-functions-and-variables" title="Link to this heading"></a></h2>
<p>A historical way to create temporary files was to first generate a
file name with the <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 and then create a file
using this name. Unfortunately this is not secure, because a different
process may create a file with this name in the time between the call
to <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> and the subsequent attempt to create the file by the
first process. The solution is to combine the two steps and create the
file immediately. This approach is used by <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 the
other functions described above.</p>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="tempfile.mktemp">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">tempfile.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">mktemp</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">suffix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">''</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefix</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">'tmp'</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">dir</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#tempfile.mktemp" title="Link 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 similar
to those 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>, except that bytes file names, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">suffix=None</span></code>
and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">prefix=None</span></code> are not supported.</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-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </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">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">name</span>
<span class="go">&#39;/tmp/tmptjujjt&#39;</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="sa">b</span><span class="s2">&quot;Hello World!</span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s2">&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">13</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">close</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </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">&gt;&gt;&gt; </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>
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