SysTempFileName

Function:

SysTempFileName
Syntax:
file = SysTempFileName(template, [filter])

template

The template that describes the temporary file or directory name to be returned. The template should resemble a valid file or directory specification with up to 5 filter characters.
filter
The filter character found in the template. Each filter character found in the template is replaced with a numeric value. The resulting string represents a file or directory that does not exist. The default filter character is ?.
file
A file or directory that does not currently exist. If an error occurred or if no unique file or directory exists given the template provided, a null string is returned.
Purpose:
Returns a unique file or directory name given a certain template. Useful when a program requires a temporary file but is not to overwrite an existing file.

Examples:

 /* Code */
 say SysTempFileName('C:\TEMP\MYEXEC.???')
 say SysTempFileName('C:\TEMP\??MYEXEC.???')
 say SysTempFileName('C:\MYEXEC@.@@@', '@')

 /* Output */
 C:\TEMP\MYEXEC.251
 C:\TEMP\10MYEXEC.392
 C:\MYEXEC6.019

┴╓:

Since it is not required that the filter characters be contiguous within the template, it is impossible to quickly determine the number of files already residing in the target directory that would fit the template description.

SysTempFileName uses a random number algorithm to determine a number to replace the filter characters with. It then tests if the resulting file exists. If it does not, it increments the number, replaces the filter characters, and tests for the existence of the new file, and so on. This continues until a free file is found or all possibilities have been exhausted.

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