<s>
TMPDIR	B-Application
is	O
the	O
canonical	O
environment	O
variable	O
in	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
POSIX	O
that	O
should	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
specify	O
a	O
temporary	B-Application
directory	I-Application
for	O
scratch	B-General_Concept
space	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Unix	B-Application
programs	O
will	O
honor	O
this	O
setting	O
and	O
use	O
its	O
value	O
to	O
denote	O
the	O
scratch	O
area	O
for	O
temporary	O
files	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
common	O
default	O
of	O
or	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
forms	O
sometimes	O
accepted	O
are	O
TEMP	O
,	O
TEMPDIR	O
and	O
TMP	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
alternatives	O
are	O
used	O
more	O
commonly	O
by	O
non-POSIX	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
or	O
non-conformant	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TMPDIR	B-Application
is	O
specified	O
in	O
various	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
similar	O
standards	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
per	O
the	O
Single	O
UNIX	B-Application
Specification	O
.	O
</s>
