Ctt_spawn

Ctt_spawn is a software product for Linux that re-imagines the traditional posix_spawn system call. Ctt_spawn was conceived to be the driving function of a soon-to-be-released Swift Library known as SwiftSlash.

Ctt_spawn is a Swift Package contining C code with one public function: tt_spawn_core. This is the function that will launch external processes, as posix_spawn would do.

Unlike posix_spawn, tt_spawn_core offers precise control over far more attributes of the spawning process when compared to posix_spawn. These attributes are as follows:

• The ability to bind STDIN, STDOUT, and STDERR data channels of the spawned process to a file handle in the current process. This is done by means of an intermediary process known as the tt_spawn_container_proc which facilitates many of the security and control features of tt_spawn_core.

• The ability to securely specify the working directory of the spawned process without the need to compromise the working directory of the current process.

• Detaches the spawned process from its parents file handles before beginning the primary workload, closing a potential security risk between the two proceses.

• Independent (per instance) control over the environment variables of the spawned process. If no environment variables are specified, tt_spawn_core will still clear the spawned process of all environment variables before execution. Environment variables are assigned, never inherited, from the process that initiates the spawned workload.

The fundamental element of tt_spawn_core that enables this functionality and control (without the need to compromise or modify the initiating process's environment) is the tt_spawn_cotainer_proc. This process is designed as an imbedded system (of sorts), and helps facilitate and manage the lifecycle of the spawned process.