temppath

A lightweight and multi-platform Node.js module designed to create temporary files and directories. It can utilize the system's default temporary path or a user-specified directory, offering flexibility and ease of use across different environments.

This module leverages system environment variables to determine the temporary directory and will fallback to the built-in function os.tmpdir() if the module is incapable to determine the temporary directory provided by the system.

Here’s a detailed example demonstrating how to create a temporary directory using this module:

const temppath = require('@mitsuki31/temppath');

temppath.createTempPath((err, tempDir) => {
  if (err) console.error('Error creating temporary directory:', err);
  else console.log('Created temporary directory:', tempDir);
});

And here’s how you can create a temporary file:

const temppath = require('@mitsuki31/temppath');

temppath.createTempPath({ asFile: true }, (err, tempFile) => {
  if (err) console.error('Error creating temporary file:', err);
  else console.log('Created temporary file:', tempFile);
});

In the examples above:

• The first snippet creates a temporary directory within the system's default temporary path.
• The second snippet creates a temporary file within the same system-based temporary path.

It's that simple! With just a few lines of code, temppath allows you to handle temporary file and directory creation effortlessly.

If you don't like callback-based function and want the createTempPath function as a promise-based function. Try to promisify it using util.promisify function, like this:

const { promisify } = require('node:util');
const temppath = require('@mitsuki31/temppath');
// Promisify the function
const createTempPath = promisify(temppath.createTempPath);

(async () => {  // Need this block if use CommonJS module
  // Create a temporary file in current directory with extension '.foo' and
  // limit the maximum file name's length to 20 characters
  const tempFile = await createTempPath('.', {
    asFile: true,
    ext: 'foo',
    maxLen: 20
  });
  console.log(tempFile);
  // Output: b3du3b2156sb36bo9hgi.foo
})();

About System Temporary Directory

On different operating systems, the path to the temporary directory is specified by various environment variables. These paths are used by the operating system and applications to store temporary files. Below are the details for each operating system:

Linux and macOS

On Linux and macOS systems, the temporary directory path is provided by the environment variable TMPDIR. This variable is widely recognized and used by applications for temporary storage. If TMPDIR is not set, applications may fallback to using standard directories such as /tmp.

You can check the temporary path provided by the system echoing the TMPDIR environment variable:

echo $TMPDIR

Windows

On Windows systems, there are two primary environment variables that typically store the path to the temporary directory: TEMP and TMP. Both variables usually point to the same directory and are used interchangeably by the operating system and applications to store temporary files.

You can check the temporary path provided by the system using this command:

echo $env:TMP
echo $env:TEMP

If you're using Command Prompt try this instead:

echo %TMP%
echo %TEMP%

In summary, these environment variables ensure that temporary files are stored in a standard location that can be easily accessed and cleaned up by the system or applications.

APIs

getTempPath (Function)

function getTempPath(tmpdir?: string, maxLen?: number = 32): string

Generates a temporary path based on the provided or system temporary directory.

This function utilizes a random UUID for the directory name, ensuring that each time it is called, the path will be different from previous calls. The returned path can be used for either a temporary file or directory, according to your preferences.

Parameters

Returns

A string representing a generated temporary path with a random UUID that can be used as temporary file or directory name.

Type: string

Throws

• TypeError
  Throws a TypeError if the provided tmpdir is not a string.

• RangeError
  If the given maxLen is less than or equal to zero.

createTempPath (Function)

function createTempPath(
  tmpdir?: string | TempPathOptions | CreateTempPathCallback,
  options?: TempPathOptions | CreateTempPathCallback,
  callback: CreateTempPathCallback
): void

Asynchronously creates a temporary path, either as a directory or file, based on the provided or system temporary directory.

This function utilizes the getTempPath function.

Parameters

Throws

• TypeError
  If the given arguments or the extension name specified with incorrect type.

createTempPathSync (Function)

function createTempPathSync(
  tmpdir?: string | TempPathOptions,
  options?: TempPathOptions
): string

Synchronously creates a temporary path, either as a directory or file, based on the provided or system temporary directory and then returns a path that refers to the generated temporary directory or file.

This function utilizes the getTempPath function.

Parameters

Returns

A string representating the path of the created temporary directory or file.

Type: string

Throws

• TypeError
  If the given arguments or the extension name specified with incorrect type.

• Error
  Throws an Error if there is an issue creating the temporary directory or file.

Development

Initialize and Install Dependencies

npm install

Build JSDoc

Generated JSDocs will be in docs directory.

npm run build:docs

Test

Tests are written using inbuilt node:assert module.

npm test

Alternatively, you can run each test manually.

• Run CommonJS test.

  npm run test:cjs
  

• Run ESModule test.

  npm run test:esm
  

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. For more details, see the LICENSE file.