temp file name conflicts in unattended document generation

[ecashin@coe.uga.edu (Ed L. Cashin)]

Hi.  Most of the time, the files that are generated by TeX and its
friends during processing are named after the source file.  For
example, "foo.tex", when compiled, results in new files like foo.log,
foo.aux, foo.tui, etc., depending on the software in use.

I take advantage of that feature when making documents on behalf of
"client" processes, usually web servers.  Usually I'll add a process
number or a unique identifier for each potential client to the
filename, e.g., "foo-1234.tex".  

That way, the client's files don't step on the toes of other clients
who are trying to generate documents independently and maybe at the
same time.

I notice that occasionally I see a context-generated filename that is
not related to the source filename, e.g., "texutil.tuo" and
"cont-opt.bak".  It seems like these files may cause collisions when
two instances of context are running in the same directory on separate
sources, e.g. if, in /var/tmp, foo-2222.tex and foo-3333.tex are being
compiled simultaneously by context.

Is that a valid concern?  If so, is there a way to specify an "id"
string for use in the tempfile names?

-- 
--Ed Cashin                     PGP public key:
  ecashin@coe.uga.edu           http://www.coe.uga.edu/~ecashin/pgp/