execline
Software
skarnet.org

The `&` program

& launches a command in the background, then goes on with the execution flow.

Interface

In an execlineb script:

     & [ -d ] { prog1... } prog2...

& reads a prog1... command in a block and unquotes it.
It spawns a child executing prog1....
It sets the ! environment variable to the pid of the prog1... process.
It then execs into prog2....

Options

-d : doublefork. If the -d option is set, prog1... will run as a grandchild of &.

Notes

& prog1... "" prog2... is equivalent to sh -c 'prog1... & ; exec prog2...'.