Threads/IPC/???

[Ed Kutrzyba <kutrzyba airborne nrl navy mil>]

I am developing an application that controls a "Data  Collection
System".  I used glade and anjuta for my GUI and C backend control coding.
 My program works great, but I need to add some extra backround tasks:

1) I need to run a script (perl or bash) on demand without interfering
with my program.  i.e. the script runs in the background so GTK is still
responsive.

2) I need to spawn a task to perform some background operations.  i.e.
get time from an add in board, arm and disarm an interrupt routine that
time tags an external signal -- need to start and stop this on demand.

What is the best way to do this?

I have some code from the vendor to control the add in board, I just
need to massage it to fit into my app, my way.


Thanks,
Ed