=================================================================== RCS file: /cvsrepo/anoncvs/cvs/src/usr.bin/tail/tail.1,v retrieving revision 1.8 retrieving revision 1.9 diff -u -r1.8 -r1.9 --- src/usr.bin/tail/tail.1 2000/01/22 02:17:49 1.8 +++ src/usr.bin/tail/tail.1 2000/03/11 21:40:04 1.9 @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -.\" $OpenBSD: tail.1,v 1.8 2000/01/22 02:17:49 aaron Exp $ +.\" $OpenBSD: tail.1,v 1.9 2000/03/11 21:40:04 aaron Exp $ .\" $NetBSD: tail.1,v 1.4 1994/11/23 07:42:13 jtc Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1991, 1993 @@ -61,17 +61,20 @@ .Pp The display begins at a byte, line or 512-byte block location in the input. -Numbers having a leading plus (``+'') sign are relative to the beginning -of the input, for example, -.Dq -c +2 +Numbers having a leading plus +.Pq Ql + +sign are relative to the beginning of the input, for example, +.Ic -c +2 starts the display at the second byte of the input. -Numbers having a leading minus (``-'') sign or no explicit sign are +Numbers having a leading minus +.Pq Ql - +sign or no explicit sign are relative to the end of the input, for example, -.Dq -n 2 +.Ic -n 2 displays the last two lines of the input. The default starting location is -.Dq -n 10 , +.Ic -n 10 , or the last 10 lines of the input. .Pp The options are as follows: @@ -90,12 +93,14 @@ option causes .Nm to not stop when end-of-file is reached, but rather to wait for additional -data to be appended to the input. If the file is replaced (i.e., the -inode number changes), +data to be appended to the input. +If the file is replaced (i.e., the inode number changes), .Nm -will reopen the file and continue. If the file is truncated, +will reopen the file and continue. +If the file is truncated, .Nm -will reset its position back to the beginning. This makes +will reset its position back to the beginning. +This makes .Nm more useful for watching log files that may get rotated. The @@ -164,8 +169,11 @@ .Fl n options modify the .Fl r -option, i.e. ``-r -c 4'' displays the last 4 characters of the last line -of the input, while the historic tail (using the historic syntax ``-4cr'') +option, i.e., +.Ic -r -c 4 +displays the last 4 characters of the last line +of the input, while the historic tail (using the historic syntax +.Ic -4cr ) would ignore the .Fl c option and display the last 4 lines of the input.