man3/pthread_detach.3

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  26 .TH PTHREAD_DETACH 3 2017-09-15 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
  27 .SH NAME
  28 pthread_detach \- detach a thread
  29 .SH SYNOPSIS
  30 .nf
  31 .B #include <pthread.h>
  32 .PP
  33 .BI "int pthread_detach(pthread_t " thread );
  34 .fi
  35 .PP
  36 Compile and link with \fI\-pthread\fP.
  37 .SH DESCRIPTION
  38 The
  39 .BR pthread_detach ()
  40 function marks the thread identified by
  41 .IR thread
  42 as detached.
  43 When a detached thread terminates,
  44 its resources are automatically released back to the system without
  45 the need for another thread to join with the terminated thread.
  46 .PP
  47 Attempting to detach an already detached thread results
  48 in unspecified behavior.
  49 .SH RETURN VALUE
  50 On success,
  51 .BR pthread_detach ()
  52 returns 0;
  53 on error, it returns an error number.
  54 .SH ERRORS
  55 .TP
  56 .B EINVAL
  57 .I thread
  58 is not a joinable thread.
  59 .TP
  60 .B ESRCH
  61 No thread with the ID
  62 .I thread
  63 could be found.
  64 .SH ATTRIBUTES
  65 For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
  66 .BR attributes (7).
  67 .TS
  68 allbox;
  69 lb lb lb
  70 l l l.
  71 Interface       Attribute       Value
  72 T{
  73 .BR pthread_detach ()
  74 T}      Thread safety   MT-Safe
  75 .TE
  76 .sp 1
  77 .SH CONFORMING TO
  78 POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008.
  79 .SH NOTES
  80 Once a thread has been detached, it can't be joined with
  81 .BR pthread_join (3)
  82 or be made joinable again.
  83 .PP
  84 A new thread can be created in a detached state using
  85 .BR pthread_attr_setdetachstate (3)
  86 to set the detached attribute of the
  87 .I attr
  88 argument of
  89 .BR pthread_create (3).
  90 .PP
  91 The detached attribute merely determines the behavior of the system
  92 when the thread terminates;
  93 it does not prevent the thread from being terminated
  94 if the process terminates using
  95 .BR exit (3)
  96 (or equivalently, if the main thread returns).
  97 .PP
  98 Either
  99 .BR pthread_join (3)
 100 or
 101 .BR pthread_detach ()
 102 should be called for each thread that an application creates,
 103 so that system resources for the thread can be released.
 104 (But note that the resources of any threads for which one of these
 105 actions has not been done will be freed when the process terminates.)
 106 .SH EXAMPLE
 107 The following statement detaches the calling thread:
 108 .PP
 109     pthread_detach(pthread_self());
 110 .SH SEE ALSO
 111 .BR pthread_attr_setdetachstate (3),
 112 .BR pthread_cancel (3),
 113 .BR pthread_create (3),
 114 .BR pthread_exit (3),
 115 .BR pthread_join (3),
 116 .BR pthreads (7)