How can a C/C++ program put itself into background?

Question

What\'s the best way for a running C or C++ program that\'s been launched from the command line to put itself into the background, equivalent to if the user had launched fro

Answer 1

A process cannot put itself into the background, because it isn't the one in charge of background vs. foreground. That would be the shell, which is waiting for process exit. If you launch a process with an ampersand "&" at the end, then the shell does not wait for process exit.

But the only way the process can escape the shell is to fork off another child and then let its original self exit back to the waiting shell.

From the shell, you can background a process with Control-Z, then type "bg".