I'd like to be able to launch a process from a GUI application (right now I'm thinking specifically of letting an eclipse user -- possibly via a plugin -- click a button to launch a build using my organization's build system).

I don't want this process to stop when I stop the parent application, and I want to be able to "switch into it" later, as though I launched it from a command line.

I've seen GNU screen described as good for most of what I'm asking for, but I'm not sure about the "launch the process from another application" part.

Can this be done if the GUI application was itself launched from within screen? Can this be done if it wasn't? I'd be very interested in seeing how!

Update: Prepending "screen" to a command line looks like a good way to start a process in screen from a shell, but I'm trying to find a way to do this without being taken straight into that session. I want to "send" the command to a screen session, where it will be started in a new window in that session.