Best temporary storage location - /tmp ?

[fishtech]

I need to create some export/import routines on Mac OS X client.

I need to export the data to a temporary location which the user does not need to know about. I don't care what happens to the exported data after the routine is run.

Should I export the date to /tmp ?

Would /var/tmp be better?

Or somewhere else?

Just looking for best practice.

Thanks,

ft.

[Vaughan]

Use the Get( TemporaryPath ) function to get to FileMaker's temporary folder. This will work cross-platform and the user has permission to write here.

If you want the user to be able to see the file use the documents folder through the Get( DocumentsPath ) function or save to the desktop through the Get( DesktopPath ) function.

Any other location, including the FileMaker application folder, will probably be write protected in a corporate environment or for non-admin users. I've seen some environments where the desktop is also write protected.

[bcooney]

Get (TemporaryPath) I believe is new to FM10. The OP's profile suggests he is using version FM8.5

[Fenton]

Get (TemporaryPath) came out in FileMaker 9. There was some question about "when" the items we actually deleted however. FileMaker 10 changed the path, and the items were for sure deleted on Restart.

AppleScript knows (at least) two other "temporary items" paths. But you'd have to either put them in an AppleScript calculation or set them into a global field to use.

set tmp_system to path to temporary items as text

-- "Macintosh HD:private:var:folders:UD:UDdmAXvGGA9BuatQgyGdpE+++TI:TemporaryItems:"

set tmp_user to path to temporary items from user domain as text

-- "Macintosh HD:Users:fej:Library:Caches:TemporaryItems:"

[fishtech]

Hi,

Sorry for the confusion. This is actually in FM 10 on Mac OS X only.

From my testing the folder at get(temporarypath) shows strange behavior. For example, although the user can view the temporary folder in the finder using:

Go Menu > Go To Folder... >TempFolderPath

If the user uses the terminal and types:

cd TempFolderPath

they receive a Permission Denied error.

Also, I find that if I export a file to TempFolderPath when I try to open it I get

' "Filename" was not created by FileMaker Pro or is severely damaged and cannot be opened."

This is possibly something to do with the fact I am running managed clients portable home directories under OS X Server. i don;t have access to an unmanaged client to check right now.

Also, the documentation is not explicit that the user has write access to get(temporarypath).

So... I will be using ~/Library/Caches.

It's not cross-platform but it will work for me.

Regards,

ft.