How do I automatically delete temp files in C#?

Question

What's a good way to ensure that a temp file is deleted if my application closes or crashes? Ideally, I would like to obtain a temp file, use it, and then forget about it.

Right now, I keep a list of my temp files and delete them with an EventHandler that's triggered on Application.ApplicationExit.

Is there a better way?

Answer 1

Nothing is guaranteed if the process is killed prematurely, however, I use "using" to do this..

using System; using System.IO; sealed class TempFile : IDisposable {     string path;     public TempFile() : this(System.IO.Path.GetTempFileName()) { }      public TempFile(string path)     {         if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(path)) throw new ArgumentNullException("path");         this.path = path;     }     public string Path     {         get         {             if (path == null) throw new ObjectDisposedException(GetType().Name);             return path;         }     }     ~TempFile() { Dispose(false); }     public void Dispose() { Dispose(true); }     private void Dispose(bool disposing)     {         if (disposing)         {             GC.SuppressFinalize(this);                         }         if (path != null)         {             try { File.Delete(path); }             catch { } // best effort             path = null;         }     } } static class Program {     static void Main()     {         string path;         using (var tmp = new TempFile())         {             path = tmp.Path;             Console.WriteLine(File.Exists(path));         }         Console.WriteLine(File.Exists(path));     } } 

Now when the TempFile is disposed or garbage-collected the file is deleted (if possible). You could obviously use this as tightly-scoped as you like, or in a collection somewhere.