Temporary Files

Temporary files created by the compiler or linker reside in the directory used by the operating system to store temporary files. To store temporary files, the operating system first checks for the TMP environment variable.

If the TMP environment variable is defined, the directory that it points to is used for temporary files. If the TMP environment variable is not defined, the operating system checks for the TEMP environment variable. If the TEMP environment variable is not defined, the current working directory is used for temporary files. Temporary files are usually deleted, unless the /keep option was specified. For performance reasons, use a local drive (rather than using a network drive) to contain the temporary files.

To view the file name and directory where each temporary file is created, use the /watch:cmd option. To create object files in your current working directory, use the /compile_only or /keep option. Any object files (.obj files) that you specify on the DF command line are retained.