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dtach(1)		     General Commands Manual			dtach(1)

NAME
     dtach - simple program that emulates the detach feature of screen.

SYNOPSIS
     dtach -a <socket> <options>
     dtach -A <socket> <options> <command...>
     dtach -c <socket> <options> <command...>
     dtach -n <socket> <options> <command...>
     dtach -N <socket> <options> <command...>
     dtach -p <socket>

DESCRIPTION
     dtach  is	a  program that emulates the detach feature of screen. It is de-
     signed to be transparent and un-intrusive; it avoids interpreting the input
     and output between attached terminals and the program  under  its	control.
     Consequently, it works best with full-screen applications such as emacs.

     dtach  is	intended for users who want the detach feature of screen without
     the other overhead of screen. It is tiny, does not use many libraries,  and
     stays out of the way as much as possible.

   SESSIONS
     A session in dtach is a single instance in which a program is running under
     the  control of dtach.  The program is disassociated from the original ter-
     minal, and is thus protected from your original terminal being disconnected
     for some reason.

     Other instances of dtach can attach themselves to a particular session. In-
     put and output is copied between the program running in the dtach	session,
     and the attached terminals.

     dtach  avoids interpreting the communication stream between the program and
     the attached terminals; it instead relies on the ability  of  the	attached
     terminals to manage the screen.

     Sessions are represented by Unix-domain sockets in the filesystem. No other
     permission  checking  other than the filesystem access checks is performed.
     dtach creates a master process that monitors the session socket,  the  pro-
     gram, and any attached terminals.

   MODES
     dtach  has several modes of operation. It can create a new session in which
     a program is executed, or it can attach to an existing session.  The  first
     argument specifies which mode dtach should operate in.

     -a     Attach to an existing session.  dtach attaches itself to the session
	    specified  by  <socket>.   After the attach is completed, the window
	    size of the current terminal is sent to the master	process,  and  a
	    redraw is also requested.

     -A     Attach  to	an  existing  session, or create a new one.  dtach first
	    tries to attach to the session specified by <socket> if possible. If
	    the attempt to open the socket fails, dtach tries to  create  a  new
	    session before attaching to it.

     -c     Creates  a new session. A new session is created in which the speci-
	    fied program is executed.  dtach then tries to attach itself to  the
	    newly created session.

     -n     Creates  a	new  session,  without attaching to it. A new session is
	    created in which the specified program is executed.  dtach does  not
	    try  to  attach to the newly created session, however, and exits in-
	    stead.

     -N     Creates a new session, without attaching to it or daemonizing. A new
	    session is created in  which  the  specified  program  is  executed.
	    dtach  does not try to attach to the newly created session, however,
	    and will stay in the foreground until the program exits.

     -p     Copies the contents of standard input to a session.  dtach	connects
	    to	the  session specified by <socket>, copies the contents of stan-
	    dard input to the session, and then exits. dtach will not  scan  the
	    input for a detach character.

   OPTIONS
     dtach has a few options that allow you to modify its behavior. Each attach-
     ing  process can have separate settings for these options, which allows for
     some flexibility.

     -e <char>
	    Sets the detach character to <char>.  When the detach  character  is
	    pressed,  dtach  detaches itself from the current session and exits.
	    The process running in the session is unaffected by the  detach.  By
	    default, the detach character is set to ^\ (Ctrl-\).

     -E     Disables  the  detach  character.	dtach does not try to scan input
	    from the terminal for a detach character. The  only  way  to  detach
	    from  the session is then by sending the attaching process an appro-
	    priate signal.

     -r <method>
	    Sets the redraw method to <method>.  The  valid  methods  are  none,
	    ctrl_l, or winch.

	    none  disables redrawing completely, ctrl_l sends a Ctrl L character
	    to the program if the terminal is in character-at-a-time and no-echo
	    mode, and winch forces a WINCH signal to be sent to the program.

	    When creating a new session, the specified method is used as the de-
	    fault redraw method for the session. If not  specified,  the  ctrl_l
	    method is used.

     -z     Disables  processing  of the suspend key.  Normally, dtach will sus-
	    pend itself when the suspend key is pressed. With this  option,  the
	    suspend character is sent to the session instead of being handled by
	    dtach.

EXAMPLES
     The  following  example creates a new session that has the detach character
     and suspend processing disabled. A socket is created in the /tmp  directory
     for the session.

	$ dtach -c /tmp/foozle -Ez bash

     The following example attaches to the /tmp/foozle session if it exists, and
     if  not, creates a new session using /tmp/foozle as the socket for the ses-
     sion.  Processing of the suspend character is also disabled for the  attach
     instance.

	$ dtach -A /tmp/foozle -z bash

     The  following example attaches to the /tmp/foozle session, using the winch
     redraw method to redraw the screen.

	$ dtach -a /tmp/foozle -r winch

     The following example creates a new session and  sets  the  default  redraw
     method for the session to the winch redraw method.

	$ dtach -c /tmp/foozle -r winch bash

AUTHOR
     Ned T. Crigler <crigler@users.sourceforge.net>.

SEE ALSO
     screen(1)

dtach 0.9			    May 2016				dtach(1)

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