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Using “tail” to follow a file without displaying the most recent lines


How can I do the equivalent of tail -f with ls?Observe multiple log files in one outputMaking less's follow option show line movementtail -f but suck in content of the file first (aka `cat -f`)Using tail to follow daily log file in BashTail -f the most recent log fileOnly output most recent 10 (or n) lines of a lengthy command outputtail display whole file and then only changesFor a given directory, how do I concatenate the tail end of recently modified files to a new file?Using head and tail to grab different sets of lines and saving into same file













4















I would like use a program like tail to follow a file as it's being written to, but not display the most recent lines.



For instance, when following a new file, no text will be displayed while the file is less than 30 lines. After more than 30 lines are written to the file, lines will be written to the screen starting at line 1.



So as lines 31-40 are written to the file, lines 1-10 will be written to the screen.



If there is no easy way to do this with tail, maybe a there's a way to write to a new file a prior line from the first file each time the first file is extended by a line, and the tail that new file...










share|improve this question







New contributor




ridthyself is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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    4















    I would like use a program like tail to follow a file as it's being written to, but not display the most recent lines.



    For instance, when following a new file, no text will be displayed while the file is less than 30 lines. After more than 30 lines are written to the file, lines will be written to the screen starting at line 1.



    So as lines 31-40 are written to the file, lines 1-10 will be written to the screen.



    If there is no easy way to do this with tail, maybe a there's a way to write to a new file a prior line from the first file each time the first file is extended by a line, and the tail that new file...










    share|improve this question







    New contributor




    ridthyself is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.






















      4












      4








      4


      1






      I would like use a program like tail to follow a file as it's being written to, but not display the most recent lines.



      For instance, when following a new file, no text will be displayed while the file is less than 30 lines. After more than 30 lines are written to the file, lines will be written to the screen starting at line 1.



      So as lines 31-40 are written to the file, lines 1-10 will be written to the screen.



      If there is no easy way to do this with tail, maybe a there's a way to write to a new file a prior line from the first file each time the first file is extended by a line, and the tail that new file...










      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      ridthyself is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.












      I would like use a program like tail to follow a file as it's being written to, but not display the most recent lines.



      For instance, when following a new file, no text will be displayed while the file is less than 30 lines. After more than 30 lines are written to the file, lines will be written to the screen starting at line 1.



      So as lines 31-40 are written to the file, lines 1-10 will be written to the screen.



      If there is no easy way to do this with tail, maybe a there's a way to write to a new file a prior line from the first file each time the first file is extended by a line, and the tail that new file...







      linux command-line tail






      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      ridthyself is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      ridthyself is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question






      New contributor




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      asked 5 hours ago









      ridthyselfridthyself

      121




      121




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      New contributor





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          3 Answers
          3






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          4














          Maybe buffer with awk:



          tail -n +0 -f some/file | awk 'b[NR] = $0 NR > 30 print b[NR-30]; delete b[NR-30] END for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++) print b[i]'


          The awk code, expanded:




          b[NR] = $0 # save the current line in a buffer array

          NR > 30 # once we have more than 30 lines
          print b[NR-30]; # print the line from 30 lines ago
          delete b[NR-30]; # and delete it

          END # once the pipe closes, print the rest
          for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++)
          print b[i]






          share|improve this answer

























          • This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

            – ridthyself
            3 hours ago











          • @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

            – muru
            3 hours ago











          • @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

            – Stéphane Chazelas
            2 hours ago


















          4














          Same as @muru's but using the modulo operator instead of storing and deleting:



          tail -fn+1 some/file | awk -v n=30 '
          NR > n print s[NR % n]
          s[NR % n] = $0
          ENDfor (i = NR - n + 1; i <= NR; i++) print s[i % n]'





          share|improve this answer






























            3














            This isn't very efficient, because it will re-read the file every two seconds, but will do the job:



            watch 'tail -n40 /path/to/file | head -n10'





            share|improve this answer























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              3 Answers
              3






              active

              oldest

              votes








              3 Answers
              3






              active

              oldest

              votes









              active

              oldest

              votes






              active

              oldest

              votes









              4














              Maybe buffer with awk:



              tail -n +0 -f some/file | awk 'b[NR] = $0 NR > 30 print b[NR-30]; delete b[NR-30] END for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++) print b[i]'


              The awk code, expanded:




              b[NR] = $0 # save the current line in a buffer array

              NR > 30 # once we have more than 30 lines
              print b[NR-30]; # print the line from 30 lines ago
              delete b[NR-30]; # and delete it

              END # once the pipe closes, print the rest
              for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++)
              print b[i]






              share|improve this answer

























              • This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

                – ridthyself
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

                – muru
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

                – Stéphane Chazelas
                2 hours ago















              4














              Maybe buffer with awk:



              tail -n +0 -f some/file | awk 'b[NR] = $0 NR > 30 print b[NR-30]; delete b[NR-30] END for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++) print b[i]'


              The awk code, expanded:




              b[NR] = $0 # save the current line in a buffer array

              NR > 30 # once we have more than 30 lines
              print b[NR-30]; # print the line from 30 lines ago
              delete b[NR-30]; # and delete it

              END # once the pipe closes, print the rest
              for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++)
              print b[i]






              share|improve this answer

























              • This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

                – ridthyself
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

                – muru
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

                – Stéphane Chazelas
                2 hours ago













              4












              4








              4







              Maybe buffer with awk:



              tail -n +0 -f some/file | awk 'b[NR] = $0 NR > 30 print b[NR-30]; delete b[NR-30] END for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++) print b[i]'


              The awk code, expanded:




              b[NR] = $0 # save the current line in a buffer array

              NR > 30 # once we have more than 30 lines
              print b[NR-30]; # print the line from 30 lines ago
              delete b[NR-30]; # and delete it

              END # once the pipe closes, print the rest
              for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++)
              print b[i]






              share|improve this answer















              Maybe buffer with awk:



              tail -n +0 -f some/file | awk 'b[NR] = $0 NR > 30 print b[NR-30]; delete b[NR-30] END for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++) print b[i]'


              The awk code, expanded:




              b[NR] = $0 # save the current line in a buffer array

              NR > 30 # once we have more than 30 lines
              print b[NR-30]; # print the line from 30 lines ago
              delete b[NR-30]; # and delete it

              END # once the pipe closes, print the rest
              for (i = NR - 29; i <= NR; i++)
              print b[i]







              share|improve this answer














              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer








              edited 3 hours ago

























              answered 4 hours ago









              murumuru

              36.8k589163




              36.8k589163












              • This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

                – ridthyself
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

                – muru
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

                – Stéphane Chazelas
                2 hours ago

















              • This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

                – ridthyself
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

                – muru
                3 hours ago











              • @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

                – Stéphane Chazelas
                2 hours ago
















              This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

              – ridthyself
              3 hours ago





              This works, but form the script I would expect it to work like tail, printing out a previous line as each new line is added to the file. Instead it prints out in spurts of ~70 lines after ~100 lines are added to the file. It does not print the most recent 30 lines, so it's pretty close...

              – ridthyself
              3 hours ago













              @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

              – muru
              3 hours ago





              @ridthyself if you have GNU awk, try adding a fflush(); after the print b[NR-30];. Maybe the output is being buffered.

              – muru
              3 hours ago













              @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

              – Stéphane Chazelas
              2 hours ago





              @ridthyself, your awk must be mawk, Try switching to gawk or pass the -W interactive option.

              – Stéphane Chazelas
              2 hours ago













              4














              Same as @muru's but using the modulo operator instead of storing and deleting:



              tail -fn+1 some/file | awk -v n=30 '
              NR > n print s[NR % n]
              s[NR % n] = $0
              ENDfor (i = NR - n + 1; i <= NR; i++) print s[i % n]'





              share|improve this answer



























                4














                Same as @muru's but using the modulo operator instead of storing and deleting:



                tail -fn+1 some/file | awk -v n=30 '
                NR > n print s[NR % n]
                s[NR % n] = $0
                ENDfor (i = NR - n + 1; i <= NR; i++) print s[i % n]'





                share|improve this answer

























                  4












                  4








                  4







                  Same as @muru's but using the modulo operator instead of storing and deleting:



                  tail -fn+1 some/file | awk -v n=30 '
                  NR > n print s[NR % n]
                  s[NR % n] = $0
                  ENDfor (i = NR - n + 1; i <= NR; i++) print s[i % n]'





                  share|improve this answer













                  Same as @muru's but using the modulo operator instead of storing and deleting:



                  tail -fn+1 some/file | awk -v n=30 '
                  NR > n print s[NR % n]
                  s[NR % n] = $0
                  ENDfor (i = NR - n + 1; i <= NR; i++) print s[i % n]'






                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 2 hours ago









                  Stéphane ChazelasStéphane Chazelas

                  312k57592948




                  312k57592948





















                      3














                      This isn't very efficient, because it will re-read the file every two seconds, but will do the job:



                      watch 'tail -n40 /path/to/file | head -n10'





                      share|improve this answer



























                        3














                        This isn't very efficient, because it will re-read the file every two seconds, but will do the job:



                        watch 'tail -n40 /path/to/file | head -n10'





                        share|improve this answer

























                          3












                          3








                          3







                          This isn't very efficient, because it will re-read the file every two seconds, but will do the job:



                          watch 'tail -n40 /path/to/file | head -n10'





                          share|improve this answer













                          This isn't very efficient, because it will re-read the file every two seconds, but will do the job:



                          watch 'tail -n40 /path/to/file | head -n10'






                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered 4 hours ago









                          l0b0l0b0

                          28.8k19121249




                          28.8k19121249




















                              ridthyself is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









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