tempname

Unique name for temporary file

Syntax

tmpName = tempname

tmpName = tempname(folderName)

Description

tmpName = tempname returns a character vector containing a unique path for a temporary file in your system’s temporary folder.

tmpName = tempname(folderName) returns a unique path for a temporary file in the specified folder.

Examples

Create Temporary File Name with Extension

Create a temporary file name that has the extension, .dat, by concatenating two character vectors.

tmpName = [tempname,'.dat'];

Create Temporary File Name in Folder

Create a temporary file name for use in the C:\myTemporaryFiles folder.

tmpName = tempname('C:\myTemporaryFiles');

Write Data to Temporary File

Create a temporary file name.

filename = tempname;

Create a new file with the temporary file name, and write data to the file.

fileID = fopen(filename,'w');
fwrite(fileID,magic(5));
fclose(fileID);

Input Arguments

folderName — Folder name

string scalar | character vector

Folder name, specified as a string scalar or a character vector containing the folder name.

Limitations

• In most cases, tempname generates a universally unique identifier (UUID). However, if you run MATLAB^® without JVM™ software, then tempname generates a random character vector using the CPU counter and time, which is not guaranteed to be unique. For more information about the MATLAB startup option that does not load JVM software, see Commonly Used Startup Options.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a