dynamically generating temporary files through python/cgi

[poisondart]

Is there a way to dynamically generate temporary files (such as an
html, xml or text file) in Python?

I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself clearly as I've no clue how to
describe this mechanism. I've seen it on certain websites that will
generate a file under certain parameters (through forms) that will
dissapear (i.e. delete itself) after a specified amount of time. These
files usually have some phony string for their filenames...like it's
been md5 hashed or something.

Is there a group of library functions that allow this? I imagine that
if i manually go and allocate a bunch of timers to monitor files, it
would be really expensive in load. Or perhaps is this a client-side
mechanism?

Thanks,
- poisondart