ptybandage.1

.TH ptybandage 1
.SH NAME
ptybandage \- wrap a transparent pty around a program
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B ptybandage
.I subprogram
[
.I args ...
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B ptybandage
obtains a new pty and runs
.I subprogram
under it.
This has the following effects:
.TP
.B *
Descriptors 0, 1, and 2
of
.I subprogram
are redirected to the pty.
.BR ptybandage 's
input
is transparently
forwarded to the pty's input;
the pty's output is transparently forwarded to
.BR ptybandage 's
output.
.TP
.B *
The pty's mode is set to the mode of
.BR ptybandage 's
controlling tty.
Meanwhile, 
.BR ptybandage 's
controlling tty is set to raw mode.
.TP
.B *
When
.I subprogram
exits,
.B ptybandage
exits with the same exit code,
after restoring the mode of its controlling tty.
.TP
.B *
If
.I subprogram
stops,
.B ptybandage
stops with the same signal,
temporarily restoring the mode of its controlling tty.
When
.B ptybandage
continues,
.IR subprogram 's
process group will receive a SIGCONT.
.TP
.B *
.B ptybandage
forwards window-size changes to the pty.
.TP
.B *
The controlling tty of
.I subprogram
is replaced with the pty.
.TP
.B *
As an added bonus,
.B ptybandage
gives
.I subprogram
descriptor 3 pointing to /dev/tty,
and an environment variable TTY
giving the name of the pty.
Beware:
.B ptybandage
also closes descriptors 4, 5, and 9.
.PP
.B ptybandage
is useful for handling programs that refuse to run inside a pipe.
As far as
.I subprogram
can see, it is talking to a tty.
.B ptybandage
doesn't mind being put inside a pipe.

.B ptybandage
also fools
.BR isatty .
If
.I subprogram
uses stdio, its output will be line-buffered.

.B ptybandage
is a synonym for
.B ptyget
.B ptyio \-t
.BR ptyspawn .
Any
.B ptyspawn
options may be used with
.BR ptybandage .
.SH "SEE ALSO"
ptyrun(1),
isatty(3),
ptyget(8),
ptyio(8),
ptyspawn(8)