// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// CreateTemporaryFile.java
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

/*
 * =============================================================================
 * Copyright (c) 1998-2009 Jeffrey M. Hunter. All rights reserved.
 * 
 * All source code and material located at the Internet address of
 * http://www.idevelopment.info is the copyright of Jeffrey M. Hunter and
 * is protected under copyright laws of the United States. This source code may
 * not be hosted on any other site without my express, prior, written
 * permission. Application to host any of the material elsewhere can be made by
 * contacting me at jhunter@idevelopment.info.
 *
 * I have made every effort and taken great care in making sure that the source
 * code and other content included on my web site is technically accurate, but I
 * disclaim any and all responsibility for any loss, damage or destruction of
 * data or any other property which may arise from relying on it. I will in no
 * case be liable for any monetary damages arising from such loss, damage or
 * destruction.
 * 
 * As with any code, ensure to test this code in a development environment 
 * before attempting to run it in production.
 * =============================================================================
 */
 
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.IOException;

/**
 * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * This program demonstrates how to create a temporary file that will be
 * deleted when the program exits.
 * 
 * The Java I/O package contains a method for creating temporary files. The 
 * method creates a new empty file in the specified directory, using the given 
 * prefix and suffix strings to generate its name. If this method returns 
 * successfully then it is guaranteed that: 
 *
 *      1.) The file denoted by the returned abstract pathname did not exist 
 *          before this method was invoked, and 
 *      2.) Neither this method nor any of its variants will return the same 
 *          abstract pathname again in the current invocation of the virtual
 *          machine. 
 *
 * This method provides only part of a temporary-file facility. To arrange for 
 * a file created by this method to be deleted automatically, use the 
 * deleteOnExit() method. 
 * 
 * The prefix argument must be at least three characters long. It is 
 * recommended that the prefix be a short, meaningful string such as "hjb" or 
 * "mail". The suffix argument may be null, in which case the suffix ".tmp" 
 * will be used. 
 * 
 * To create the new file, the prefix and the suffix may first be adjusted to 
 * fit the limitations of the underlying platform. If the prefix is too long 
 * then it will be truncated, but its first three characters will always be 
 * preserved. If the suffix is too long then it too will be truncated, but if 
 * it begins with a period character ('.') then the period and the first three 
 * characters following it will always be preserved. Once these adjustments 
 * have been made the name of the new file will be generated by concatenating 
 * the prefix, five or more internally-generated characters, and the suffix.
 * 
 * If the directory argument is null then the system-dependent default 
 * temporary-file directory will be used. The default temporary-file directory 
 * is specified by the system property java.io.tmpdir. On UNIX systems the 
 * default value of this property is typically "/tmp" or "/var/tmp"; on 
 * Win32 systems it is typically "c:\\temp". A different value may be given to 
 * this system property when the Java virtual machine is invoked, but 
 * programmatic changes to this property are not guaranteed to have any effect 
 * upon the the temporary directory used by this method.
 * 
 *      Parameters:
 *          prefix    - The prefix string to be used in generating the file's 
 *                      name; must be at least three characters long
 *          suffix    - The suffix string to be used in generating the file's 
 *                      name; may be null, in which case the suffix ".tmp" will
 *                      be used
 *          directory - The directory in which the file is to be created, or 
 *                      null if the default temporary-file directory is to be
 *                      used 
 *      Returns:
 *                      An abstract pathname denoting a newly-created empty file
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @author  Jeffrey M. Hunter  (jhunter@idevelopment.info)
 * @author  http://www.idevelopment.info
 * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 */

public class CreateTemporaryFile {

    private static void doCreate() {

        try {

            // Create a temporary file object
            File tempFile = File.createTempFile("mail", "temp");
            System.out.println("\nCreated temporary file: " + tempFile + "\n");

            // Delete temp file when program exits
            tempFile.deleteOnExit();

            // Write to temporary file
            BufferedWriter out = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(tempFile));
            out.write("TEMP FILE: " + tempFile);
            out.close();

        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }


    /**
     * Sole entry point to the class and application.
     * @param args Array of String arguments.
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        doCreate();
    }

}