NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       tail - output the last part of files

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       Print  the  last  10  lines of each FILE to standard output.  With more
       than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file  name.   With
       no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

       --retry
	      keep  trying to open a file even if it is inaccessible when tail
	      starts or if it becomes inaccessible later -- useful  only  with
	      -f

       -c, --bytes=N
	      output the last N bytes

       -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]
	      output appended data as the file grows; -f, --follow, and --fol-
	      low=descriptor are equivalent

       -n, --lines=N
	      output the last N lines, instead of the last 10

       --max-unchanged-stats=N
	      see the texinfo documentation (the default is 5)

       --max-consecutive-size-changes=N
	      see the texinfo documentation (the default is 200)

       --pid=PID
	      with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies

       -q, --quiet, --silent
	      never output headers giving file names

       -s, --sleep-interval=S
	      with -f, sleep S seconds between iterations

       -v, --verbose
	      always output headers giving file names

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
	      output version information and exit

       If the first character of N (the number of bytes or lines)  is  a  `+',
       print  beginning  with the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise,
 print the last N items in the file.  N may have a multiplier suffix:
  b	for 512, k for 1024, m for 1048576 (1 Meg).  A first OPTION of
       -VALUE or +VALUE is treated like -n VALUE or -n +VALUE unless VALUE has
       one  of	the [bkm] suffix multipliers, in which case it is treated like
       -c VALUE or -c +VALUE.

       With --follow (-f), tail defaults to  following	the  file  descriptor,
       which  means that even if a tail'ed file is renamed, tail will continue
       to track its end.  This default behavior  is  not  desirable  when  you
       really want to track the actual name of the file, not the file descriptor
 (e.g., log rotation).  Use --follow=name in that case.  That causes
       tail  to track the named file by reopening it periodically to see if it
       has been removed and recreated by some other program.

AUTHOR    [Toc]    [Back]

       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim  Meyering.

REPORTING BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Report bugs to <[email protected]>.

COPYRIGHT    [Toc]    [Back]

       Copyright (C) 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is
       NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR  A  PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       The  full documentation for tail is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
       the info and tail programs are properly installed  at  your  site,  the
       command

	      info tail

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU textutils 2.0		 November 2001			       TAIL(1)