PTHREAD_DETACH(3P)

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.1-2017, <pthread.h>

COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. 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.opengroup.org/unix/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 .