I need to run a program in the background. I know that using '&' after a command runs the command in the background.

In the following script:

#!/bin/bash

echo amt of time delay nsec

read nano

echo amt of time delay in sec

read sec

echo no.of times

read i

while [ $i -ne 0 ]

do

./nanosleep $sec $nano

./schello

i=$[i-1]

done

I have a few data that I get from the user. Is there a way I can run the program in background and while calling the program can I also specify the data required (like nano, sec,i) as arguments or through some other way?