"Michael Richards" <michael(at)fastmail(dot)ca> writes:
> Suppose I'm creating temporary files to sort, on the supported
> platforms (anything non-windows AFAIK) can't you just create and
> unlink the file so long as you don't close it?
No.
(A) cygwin is considered a supported platform.
(B) we use virtual-file references to these files; there is no guarantee
that the file will be held open continuously for as long as we need it.
regards, tom lane