I am writing a process in C++ and Qt which will service a bunch of requests via tcp sockets. I notice that all the demons in linux can be switched on an off with standard start stop restart arguments. Where can I find information on modifying my application to conform to this start, stop, restart standard?

You can view the existing "services" you have on your machine, they have a pretty simple switch inside the file which determines if you want to start, stop or restart the service. I think you'll be able to figure out (or even copy-paste) the structure by taking a look at the existing service scripts, so go ahead.

OK, thanks. I see they are all similar. I can copy and paste my own. Cheers.

Yes, there's usually a /etc/services or similar directory in which all of these files appear.

The usual command (varies for your distro) for starting, stopping and managing services is a command-file that you can actually read. (Just don't change anything.)

The /etc/inittab file is the magic reference list that starts everything off. (See: man init. Read about "runlevels.")

When you design your service, consider from the very beginning that you'd like to have it run as a non-privileged (non-root) user, and that it might be started by xinetd, which listens to ports and starts services on-demand.

By all means, study carefully the cornucopia of existing code. If you don't find exactly what you are looking for, you're sure to find something that's very close.