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NAME
g.tempfile - Creates a temporary file and prints the file name.
KEYWORDS
general, map management
SYNOPSIS
g.tempfile
g.tempfile help
g.tempfile pid=integer [--verbose] [--quiet]
Parameters:
- pid=integer
- Process id to use when naming the tempfile
DESCRIPTION
g.tempfile
is designed for shell scripts that need to use large temporary files.
GRASS provides a mechanism for temporary files that does not depend on
/tmp. GRASS temporary files are created in the data base with the assumption
that there will be enough space under the data base for large files.
GRASS periodically removes temporary files that have been left behind
by programs that failed to remove them before terminating.
g.tempfile
creates an unique file and prints the name. The user is required to provide
a process-id which will be used as part of the name of the file.
Most Unix shells provide a way to get the process id of the current shell.
For /bin/sh and /bin/csh this is $$.
It is recommended that $$ be specified as the process-id for
g.tempfile.
EXAMPLE
For /bin/sh scripts the following syntax should be used:
temp1=`g.tempfile pid=$$`
temp2=`g.tempfile pid=$$`
set temp1=`g.tempfile pid=$$`
set temp2=`g.tempfile pid=$$`
NOTES
Each call to g.tempfile
creates a different (i.e. unique) name.
Although GRASS does eventually get around to removing
tempfiles that have been left behind, the programmer should
make every effort to remove these files. They often get
large and take up disk space. If you write /bin/sh scripts,
learn to use the /bin/sh trap command. If you
write /bin/csh scripts, learn to use the /bin/csh
onintr command.
AUTHOR
Michael Shapiro,
U.S. Army Construction Engineering
Research Laboratory
Last changed: $Date: 2011-11-08 01:42:51 -0800 (Tue, 08 Nov 2011) $
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