I want to use ExportString to generate HTML expression. Here is an easy example:
ExportString[x^3, "HTML", "FullDocument" -> False]
gives
<p class="Output">
<img src="HTMLFiles/m-937b9f3a-d110-4ad9-b508-e9c5f1c8dc0f_1.gif" alt="m-937b9f3a-d110-4ad9-b508-e9c5f1c8dc0f_1.gif" width="14" height="16" style="vertical-align:middle" />
</p>
I cannot find the folder HTMLFiles and related file gif. I tried setting the working directory, or looking in any folder of the computer, without having success. My guess is that files are not actually generated. But the point is: ExportString is not useful at all for HTML format. Please, help, any comment is welcome.
Finally I get the answer: it's the temporary folder kept by $TemporaryDirectory.
It was very hard to discover it because the folder HTMLFiles is istantaneously removed after the images are generated. In order to discover it, I created the folder HTMLFiles in my $TempDirectory and then changed the folder's permission so it was not possible to delete it. Doing so I had the confirmation that this is the position where ExportString creates the temporary images.
Now, the question is another one: if I want to use ExportString to get an HTML convertion of a notebook so to embed it into some other html code, how I can avoid that images are destroyed? In other words, if I have to convert a whole notebook (with many plots and expressions in TraditionalForm) by program (not by hand), and for other reasons I need ExportString and not Export, how to resolve the images issue?