elixir-temp

An Elixir module to easily create and use temporary files and directories. The module is inspired by node-temp.

Installation

Add the dependency to your mix.exs deps:

defp deps do
  [{:temp, "~> 0.4"}]
end

Usage

Getting a temporary path

# just get a path
{:ok, tmp_path} = Temp.path
# with a prefix
{:ok, tmp_path} = Temp.path "my-prefix"
# with prefix and suffix
{:ok, tmp_path} = Temp.path %{prefix: "my-prefix", suffix: "my-suffix"}
# in a non-default tmp_dir
{:ok, tmp_path} = Temp.path %{prefix: "my-prefix", suffix: "my-suffix", basedir: "/my-tmp"}
# error on fail
tmp_path = Temp.path!

Using a temporary directory

Note that you can use all the options available for Temp.path as the first argument.

# tmp dir
{:ok, dir_path} = Temp.mkdir "my-dir"
IO.puts dir_path
File.write Path.join(dir_path, "file_in_my_dir"), "some content"
# remove when done
File.rm_rf dir_path

You can use the Temp.mkdir! if you prefer to have an error on failure.

Using a temporary file

Note that you can use all the options available for Temp.path as the first argument.

# tmp file
{:ok, fd, file_path} = Temp.open "my-file"
IO.puts file_path
IO.write fd, "some content"
File.close fd
# remove when done
File.rm file_path

You can also pass a function to open and use the file descriptor in it. In this case, the file will be closed automatically.

# tmp file
{:ok, file_path} = Temp.open "my-file", &IO.write(&1, "some content")
IO.puts file_path
IO.puts File.read!(file_path)
# remove when done
File.rm file_path

Tracking temporary files

By default, you have to cleanup the files by yourself, however, you can tell Temp to track the temporary files automatically. You just need to call Temp.track (or the bang version Temp.track!) and you are done. Temporary files will be cleaned up automatically when the process exits. You can also call Temp.cleanup if you want to clean them before the process exits. Here is an example of how to use it:

Temp.track!

dir_path = Temp.mkdir! "my-dir"
File.write Path.join(dir_path, "file_in_my_dir"), "some content"

file_path = Temp.open! "my-file", &IO.write(&1, "some content")
IO.puts file_path

IO.puts inspect(Temp.tracked)

# cleanup
Temp.cleanup

dir_path = Temp.mkdir
# this will be cleaned up on exit