I use the following to keep webserver-generated links (and files) valid for three hours: 
#[snip]#
# Finally, remove old spreadsheets from temporary directory

opendir(TMPD, $tmpdir) or die "No tmp Directory! $! \n";

while (my $f = readdir(TMPD))
{
    if ($f =~ /\.xls$/)
    {
    if ((-A "$tmpdir/$f") > 0.125) # if file is older than 3 hours, de
+lete it
    { 
        system('rm', '-f', "$tmpdir/$f") 
        && die "Can't remove $f: $!\n"; 
    }
    }
}

closedir(TMPD);
#[snip]#

[download]
The files and the directory need to be writable by the webserver, but since earlier incarnations of the same page create them, that is not a problem.

In reply to Re: Temp file strategy by samizdat
in thread Temp file strategy by Sprad

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