[unix-history] / usr / src / usr.bin / tail / tail.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)tail.1	6.2 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH TAIL 1 ""
.UC 4
.SH NAME
tail \- deliver the last part of a file
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B tail
.if t [ \(+-number[\fBlbc\fR][\fBfr\fR] ]
.if n +\b_number[l\b_b\b_c\b_][r\b_f\b_]
[ file ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Tail
copies the named file to the standard output beginning
at a designated place.
If no file is named, the standard input is used.
.PP
Copying begins at distance
.I +number
from the beginning, or
.I \-number
from the end of the input.
.I Number
is counted in units of lines, blocks or characters,
according to the appended option
.B l,
.B b
or
.B c.
When no units are specified, counting is by lines.
.PP
Specifying
.B r
causes tail to print lines from the end of the file in reverse order.
The default for
.B r
is to print the entire file this way.
Specifying
.B f
causes
.I tail
to not quit at end of file, but rather wait and try to read repeatedly
in hopes that the file will grow.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
dd(1)
.SH BUGS
Tails relative to the end of the file
are treasured up in a buffer, and thus 
are limited in length.
.PP
Various kinds of anomalous behavior may happen
with character special files.
Commit	Line	Data
09d34764 KM	1	.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
	2	.\" All rights reserved. The Berkeley software License Agreement
	3	.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
	4	.\"
735908d4	5	.\" @(#)tail.1 6.2 (Berkeley) %G%
09d34764	6	.\"
a025a9d0	7	.TH TAIL 1 ""
09d34764 KM	8	.UC 4
	9	.SH NAME
	10	tail \- deliver the last part of a file
	11	.SH SYNOPSIS
	12	.B tail
	13	.if t [ \(+-number[\fBlbc\fR][\fBfr\fR] ]
735908d4	14	.if n +\b_number[l\b_b\b_c\b_][r\b_f\b_]
09d34764 KM	15	[ file ]
	16	.SH DESCRIPTION
	17	.I Tail
	18	copies the named file to the standard output beginning
	19	at a designated place.
	20	If no file is named, the standard input is used.
	21	.PP
	22	Copying begins at distance
	23	.I +number
	24	from the beginning, or
	25	.I \-number
	26	from the end of the input.
	27	.I Number
	28	is counted in units of lines, blocks or characters,
	29	according to the appended option
	30	.B l,
	31	.B b
	32	or
	33	.B c.
	34	When no units are specified, counting is by lines.
	35	.PP
	36	Specifying
	37	.B r
	38	causes tail to print lines from the end of the file in reverse order.
	39	The default for
	40	.B r
	41	is to print the entire file this way.
	42	Specifying
	43	.B f
	44	causes
	45	.I tail
	46	to not quit at end of file, but rather wait and try to read repeatedly
	47	in hopes that the file will grow.
	48	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	49	dd(1)
	50	.SH BUGS
	51	Tails relative to the end of the file
	52	are treasured up in a buffer, and thus
	53	are limited in length.
	54	.PP
	55	Various kinds of anomalous behavior may happen
	56	with character special files.