g.tempfile(1grass)

💖 g.tempfile — the GRASS User's Manual, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this lil cutie from the GRASS User's Manual is about to become your new fave. no cap. it's g.tempfile, she's a one-trick pony and she EATS every single time. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

g.tempfile — creates a temporary file and prints its file name. that's it. that's the whole job. iconic behavior honestly. 💅

🏷️ KEYWORDS 🏷️

general, support, scripts

like... she's general purpose, she's supportive, and she lives for scripts. main character energy fr fr. 👑

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

g.tempfile
g.tempfile --help
g.tempfile [-d] pid=integer  [--help]  [--verbose]  [--quiet]  [--ui]

🦋 Flags 🦋

• -d — dry run! don't actually create a file, just prints its file name. very "i'm manifesting but not committing" of her. ✨
• --help — print usage summary. when u need the manual to explain the manual. 🙈
• --verbose — verbose module output. she's chatty when u want her to be. 💬
• --quiet — quiet module output. she can also be mysterious and silent. lowkey a vibe. 🤫
• --ui — force launching GUI dialog. fancy windows mode, slay. 🪟

🎀 Parameters 🎀

• pid=integer [required] — the process id to use when naming the tempfile. yes bestie, it's REQUIRED, don't skip it, she will simply not function. 💀

---

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so g.tempfile was literally designed for shell scripts that need to use large temporary files. think big. huge. the way that it handles big files... obsessed. 😭

GRASS provides a mechanism for temporary files that does not depend on /tmp/. that's right, she said "no thank u" to /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. she's moving in. she's nesting. 🏠

and get this — GRASS periodically removes temporary files that have been left behind by programs that failed to remove them before terminating. so if ur script ghosts its own cleanup duties, GRASS will eventually handle it. she's the friend who cleans up after the party. 🧹✨

g.tempfile creates a 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. like genuinely, just use $$, bestie. it's giving "trust the process (id)". 💅

---

🌈 EXAMPLE 🌈

for /bin/sh scripts the following syntax should be used:

temp1=`g.tempfile pid=$$`
temp2=`g.tempfile pid=$$`

for /bin/csh scripts, the following can be used:

set temp1=`g.tempfile pid=$$`
set temp2=`g.tempfile pid=$$`

see how clean that is?? two temps, two calls, zero stress. ate. 🍓

---

⭐ NOTES ⭐

each call to g.tempfile creates a different (i.e. unique) name. no two names, no cap. 🦋

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.

so like... she will clean up eventually, but don't be that person who leaves their giant tempfiles lying around like dirty laundry. they get BIG. they eat your disk. be responsible bestie. 🧚

if you write /bin/sh scripts, learn to use the /bin/sh related trap command. if you write /bin/csh scripts, learn to use the /bin/csh related onintr command. these are your cleanup besties. learn them, love them, use them. periodt. 💖

---

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Michael Shapiro, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

(the original legend. we stan. 🫡)

---

💻 SOURCE CODE 💻

available at: g.tempfile source code (history)

latest change: Friday Feb 07 19:16:09 2025 in commit: a82a39f673b97fafcfce1604dc3e6015cb96487a

Main index | General index | Topics index | Keywords index | Graphical index | Full index

---

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🎀 thanks for reading, u absolute scholar. this was GRASS 8.5.0 vibes, from the GRASS 8.5.0 Reference Manual, © 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team — g.tempfile(1grass) signing off, stay unique like a tempfile name, and pls clean up after urself. mwah. 💋✨🌈