github-starred/libxlsxwriter

Fork 0

mirror of https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter.git synced 2026-05-15 14:15:54 -06:00

[GH-ISSUE #157] Error creating tmpfile(s) on WindowsXP #128

New issue

Closed

opened 2026-05-05 11:44:25 -06:00 by gitea-mirror · 7 comments

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:25 -06:00

Owner

Originally created by @goyzhang on GitHub (Mar 19, 2018).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/issues/157

Originally assigned to: @jmcnamara on GitHub.

I'm working on a project which has to be on Windows XP SP3 platform. I tested my codes on Windows 7 and 10. They all work fine. However,on the XP side, I keep getting this error message when workbook_close() is called. After that an empty xlsx file will be created for output.

It seems like the program is somehow unable to create a temp file. Is there any workaround?

Originally created by @goyzhang on GitHub (Mar 19, 2018). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/issues/157 Originally assigned to: @jmcnamara on GitHub. I'm working on a project which has to be on Windows XP SP3 platform. I tested my codes on Windows 7 and 10. They all work fine. However,on the XP side, I keep getting this error message when _workbook_close()_ is called. After that an empty xlsx file will be created for output. ![20180319161026](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/24909320/37584489-ab38cd62-2b90-11e8-9635-130d18d29697.png) It seems like the program is somehow unable to create a temp file. Is there any workaround?

gitea-mirror

2026-05-05 11:44:25 -06:00

closed this issue
added the
question

ready to close
labels

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:31 -06:00

Author

Owner

@jmcnamara commented on GitHub (Mar 19, 2018):

Hi,

Libxlsxwriter uses a library called tmpfileplus to ensure that the library can create the temporary files it needs to create an xlsx file.

The code for that is in the libxslxwriter repo: https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/blob/master/third_party/tmpfileplus/tmpfileplus.c

In particular this part is important:

#ifdef _WIN32
	tempdirs[i++] = getenv_save("TMP", env1, sizeof(env1));
	tempdirs[i++] = getenv_save("TEMP", env2, sizeof(env2));
#else
	tempdirs[i++] = getenv_save("TMPDIR", env3, sizeof(env3));
	tempdirs[i++] = P_tmpdir;
#endif

Are those directories/environmental variables (TMP or TEMP) accessible to your application? Or was the application compiled without _WIN32 so that it is trying to use TMPDIR which doesn't exist on Win XP?

Either way you can directly control the tempdir location from your application, if required, as follows: Specifying a TEMP directory for libxlsxwriter.

John

@jmcnamara commented on GitHub (Mar 19, 2018): Hi, Libxlsxwriter uses a library called [tmpfileplus](https://www.di-mgt.com.au/c_function_to_create_temp_file.html) to ensure that the library can create the temporary files it needs to create an xlsx file. The code for that is in the libxslxwriter repo: https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/blob/master/third_party/tmpfileplus/tmpfileplus.c In particular this part is important: ```C #ifdef _WIN32 tempdirs[i++] = getenv_save("TMP", env1, sizeof(env1)); tempdirs[i++] = getenv_save("TEMP", env2, sizeof(env2)); #else tempdirs[i++] = getenv_save("TMPDIR", env3, sizeof(env3)); tempdirs[i++] = P_tmpdir; #endif ``` Are those directories/environmental variables (`TMP` or `TEMP`) accessible to your application? Or was the application compiled without `_WIN32` so that it is trying to use `TMPDIR` which doesn't exist on Win XP? Either way you can directly control the tempdir location from your application, if required, as follows: [Specifying a TEMP directory for libxlsxwriter](http://libxlsxwriter.github.io/getting_started.html#gsg_tmpdir). John

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:34 -06:00

Author

Owner

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018):

Thank you. The directory refer to c:\docume~1\admini~1\locals~1\temp in WinXP. The directory exists and I was in Administrator. I did compile in WIN32.
lxw_workbook_options fails to work.
lxw_workbook_options options = { LXW_FALSE,(char*)"C:\\Temp" };
In WinXP, I tried C:\Temp but no luck. The project is a VS2017 dll. Maybe I should take a deeper look at what was really going on.

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018): Thank you. The directory refer to `c:\docume~1\admini~1\locals~1\temp` in WinXP. The directory exists and I was in Administrator. I did compile in WIN32. `lxw_workbook_options` fails to work. `lxw_workbook_options options = { LXW_FALSE,(char*)"C:\\Temp" };` In WinXP, I tried C:\\Temp but no luck. The project is a VS2017 dll. Maybe I should take a deeper look at what was really going on.

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:36 -06:00

Author

Owner

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018):

@jmcnamara Hi John,
After some trial-and-error by turning SHOW_DPRINTF on, I found out that in static FILE *mktempfile_internal(const char *tmpdir, const char *pfx, char **tmpname_ptr, int keep) the function is_valid_dir is returning the wrong value under WinXP(it should return 1). After forcing it to return 1,everything works fine. I'm a starter on C programing, any idea how is that happen and how to fix it? Thank you.

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018): @jmcnamara Hi John, After some trial-and-error by turning SHOW_DPRINTF on, I found out that in `static FILE *mktempfile_internal(const char *tmpdir, const char *pfx, char **tmpname_ptr, int keep)` the function `is_valid_dir` is returning the wrong value under WinXP(it should return 1). After forcing it to return 1,everything works fine. I'm a starter on C programing, any idea how is that happen and how to fix it? Thank you.

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:38 -06:00

Author

Owner

@jmcnamara commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018):

the function is_valid_dir is returning the wrong value under WinXP(it should return 1).

What value did it return?

Also, what compiler are you using?

@jmcnamara commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018): > the function is_valid_dir is returning the wrong value under WinXP(it should return 1). What value did it return? Also, what compiler are you using?

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:41 -06:00

Author

Owner

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018):

It returns 0 as (stat(path, &st) == 0) is False. I use Visual Studio 2015 - Windows XP (v140_xp) platform toolset. So I think it's MSBuild by default?

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 20, 2018): It returns 0 as `(stat(path, &st) == 0)` is False. I use **Visual Studio 2015 - Windows XP (v140_xp)** platform toolset. So I think it's MSBuild by default?

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:44 -06:00

Author

Owner

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 21, 2018):

@jmcnamara Problem solved by changing the code generation runtime library from /MT to /MD. Not sure if the dynamic linking would bring any side effect.

@goyzhang commented on GitHub (Mar 21, 2018): @jmcnamara Problem solved by changing the code generation runtime library from **/MT** to **/MD**. Not sure if the dynamic linking would bring any side effect.

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:44:47 -06:00

Author

Owner

@ghost commented on GitHub (May 3, 2018):

In our case, we could not use /MD. The problem seems to be with tmpfileplus. Works well when building with define USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE.

@ghost commented on GitHub (May 3, 2018): In our case, we could not use /MD. The problem seems to be with tmpfileplus. Works well when building with define USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE.

gitea-mirror referenced this issue

2026-05-05 12:15:30 -06:00

[PR #128] [MERGED] MSVC and Shared Linkage Bug Fixes #421