PROLOG

       This  manual  page  is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of
       this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux  manual  page  for  details  of
       Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME

       pthread_detach — detach a thread

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pthread.h>

       int pthread_detach(pthread_t thread);

DESCRIPTION

       The  pthread_detach()  function  shall indicate to the implementation that storage for the
       thread thread can be reclaimed when that thread terminates. If thread has not  terminated,
       pthread_detach() shall not cause it to terminate.

       The   behavior   is   undefined   if  the  value  specified  by  the  thread  argument  to
       pthread_detach() does not refer to a joinable thread.

RETURN VALUE

       If the call succeeds, pthread_detach() shall return 0; otherwise, an error number shall be
       returned to indicate the error.

ERRORS

       The pthread_detach() function shall not return an error code of [EINTR].

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

RATIONALE

       The  pthread_join()  or  pthread_detach()  functions should eventually be called for every
       thread that is created so that storage associated with the thread may be reclaimed.

       It has been suggested that a ``detach'' function is not necessary; the detachstate  thread
       creation  attribute  is  sufficient,  since  a  thread need never be dynamically detached.
       However, need arises in at least two cases:

        1. In a cancellation handler for a pthread_join()  it  is  nearly  essential  to  have  a
           pthread_detach()  function  in  order to detach the thread on which pthread_join() was
           waiting.  Without  it,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  the  handler  do   another
           pthread_join()   to  attempt  to  detach  the  thread,  which  would  both  delay  the
           cancellation  processing  for  an  unbounded  period  and  introduce  a  new  call  to
           pthread_join(),  which  might  itself need a cancellation handler. A dynamic detach is
           nearly essential in this case.

        2. In order to detach the ``initial thread'' (as may be desirable in processes  that  set
           up server threads).

       If  an  implementation  detects  that  the  value  specified  by  the  thread  argument to
       pthread_detach() does not refer to a joinable thread, it is recommended that the  function
       should fail and report an [EINVAL] error.

       If  an  implementation  detects  use  of  a thread ID after the end of its lifetime, it is
       recommended that the function should fail and report an [ESRCH] error.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       pthread_join()

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <pthread.h>

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and  reproduced  in  electronic  form  from  IEEE  Std
       1003.1,  2013  Edition,  Standard  for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System
       Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013  by  the
       Institute  of  Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers,  Inc and The Open Group.  (This is
       POSIX.1-2008 with the  2013  Technical  Corrigendum  1  applied.)  In  the  event  of  any
       discrepancy  between  this  version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the
       original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The  original  Standard
       can be obtained online at http://www.unix.org/online.html .

       Any  typographical  or  formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have
       been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page  format.  To  report
       such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .