debian man page for xtail

Query: xtail

OS: debian

Section: 1

Format: Original Unix Latex Style Formatted with HTML and a Horizontal Scroll Bar

XTAIL(1)						      General Commands Manual							  XTAIL(1)

NAME
xtail - Watch the growth of files.
SYNTAX
xtail entry ...
DESCRIPTION
Xtail monitors one or more files, and displays all data written to a file since command invocation. It is very useful for monitoring mul- tiple logfiles simultaneously. If an entry given on the command line is a directory, all files in that directory will be monitored, including those created after the xtail invocation. If an entry given on the command line doesn't exist, xtail will watch for it and monitor it once created. When switch- ing files in the display, a banner showing the pathname of the file is printed. An interrupt character (usually CTRL/C or DEL) will display a list of the most recently modified files being watched. Send a quit signal (usually CTRL/backslash) to stop xtail.
SEE ALSO
tail(1)
NOTES
Xtail may be easily confused. For example, if you ask it to monitor a file multiple times, it probably will. If you misspell a filename, xtail will treat it as a nonexistent entry and happily wait for its creation. My favorite use is "xtail /usr/spool/uucp/.Log/*".
AUTHOR
Chip Rosenthal <chip@unicom.com> XTAIL(1)
Related Man Pages
fileschanged(1) - suse
uuaids(8c) - ultrix
uumkspool(8c) - ultrix
uupoll(8c) - ultrix
trans(1) - osf1
Similar Topics in the Unix Linux Community
monitor log files
tail limit in sunos