Temporary Files And Directories in OpenSCAD

Our program will demonstrate how to work with temporary files and directories in OpenSCAD. Here’s the full source code:

include <MCAD/units.scad>

// Function to create a temporary file
function create_temp_file(prefix = "sample") =
    let(
        temp_dir = str(getenv("TEMP"), "/"),
        file_name = str(temp_dir, prefix, floor(rands(0, 1000000, 1)[0]))
    )
    file_name;

// Function to create a temporary directory
function create_temp_dir(prefix = "sampledir") =
    let(
        temp_dir = str(getenv("TEMP"), "/"),
        dir_name = str(temp_dir, prefix, floor(rands(0, 1000000, 1)[0]))
    )
    dir_name;

// Main module
module main() {
    // Create a temporary file
    temp_file = create_temp_file();
    echo("Temp file name:", temp_file);
    
    // Write some data to the file
    write(temp_file, "1234");
    
    // Create a temporary directory
    temp_dir = create_temp_dir();
    echo("Temp dir name:", temp_dir);
    
    // Create a file in the temporary directory
    file_in_temp_dir = str(temp_dir, "/file1");
    write(file_in_temp_dir, "12");
}

main();

In OpenSCAD, we don’t have built-in functions for creating temporary files and directories. However, we can simulate this behavior using random numbers and environment variables. Let’s break down the code:

The create_temp_file() function generates a temporary file name. It uses the TEMP environment variable to get the system’s temporary directory, then appends a prefix and a random number.

The create_temp_dir() function works similarly, but for creating temporary directory names.

In the main() module:

1. We create a temporary file name and echo it to the console.

2. We use the write() function to write some data to the file. Note that in OpenSCAD, this function is used for debugging purposes and might not actually create a file on the filesystem.

3. We create a temporary directory name and echo it.

4. We simulate creating a file in the temporary directory by concatenating the directory name with a file name.

To run this script, you would typically save it as a .scad file and open it in the OpenSCAD application. The console output would show the generated temporary file and directory names.

Note that OpenSCAD is primarily a 3D modeling scripting language, so it doesn’t have robust file system manipulation capabilities like general-purpose programming languages. The code above demonstrates the concept of working with temporary files and directories, but in a real OpenSCAD project, you would typically use these techniques for generating unique names for 3D objects or modules, rather than actual file system operations.