Provided by: dtach_0.8-2.1_amd64 
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...>
DESCRIPTION
dtach is a program that emulates the detach feature of screen. It is designed 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 terminal, and is thus protected from your original terminal
being disconnected for some reason.
Other instances of dtach can attach themselves to a particular session. Input 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 program, 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 specified 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 instead.
OPTIONS
dtach has a few options that allow you to modify its behavior. Each attaching 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
appropriate 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 default redraw method for the
session. If not specified, the ctrl_l method is used.
-z Disables processing of the suspend key. Normally, dtach will suspend 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 session. 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)