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NAME
tail - output the last part of files
SYNOPSIS
tail [-c [+]N[bkm]] [-n [+]N] [-fqv] [--bytes=[+]N[bkm]] [--lines=[+]N]
[--follow] [--quiet] [--silent] [--verbose] [file...]
tail [{-,+}Nbcfklmqv] [file...]
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of tail. tail prints the last
part (10 lines by default) of each given file; it reads from standard
input if no files are given or when a filename of `-' is encountered. If
more than one file is given, it prints a header consisting of the file's
name enclosed in `==>' and `<==' before the output for each file.
The GNU tail can output any amount of data, unlike the Unix version,
which uses a fixed size buffer. It has no -r option (print in reverse).
Reversing a file is really a different job from printing the end of a
file; the BSD tail can only reverse files that are at most as large as
its buffer, which is typically 32k. A reliable and more versatile way to
reverse files is the GNU tac command.
OPTIONS
tail accepts two option formats: the new one, in which numbers are
arguments to the option letters, and the old one, in which a `+' or `-'
and optional number precede any option letters.
If a number (`N') starts with a `+', tail begins printing with the Nth
item from the start of each file, instead of from the end.
-c N, --bytes N
Tail by N bytes. N is a nonzero integer, optionally followed by one
of the following characters to specify a different unit.
b 512-byte blocks.
k 1-kilobyte blocks.
m 1-megabyte blocks.
-f, --follow
Loop forever trying to read more characters at the end of the file,
on the assumption that the file is growing. Ignored if reading from
a pipe. Cannot be used if more than one file is given.
-l, -n N, --lines N
Tail by N lines.
-q, --quiet, --silent
Never print filename headers.
-v, --verbose
Always print filename headers.
The long-named options can be introduced with `+' as well as `--', for
compatibility with previous releases. Eventually support for `+' will be
removed, because it is incompatible with the POSIX.2 standard.