[comp.sys.sgi] unix tail command

root@lri.uwo.ca (0000) (06/02/90)

If I want to print out the last line of each file I think the following 
command should do it:

tail -1 *

and if I want the first line of each file the following:

head -1 *

The head command works but the tail command does not! Is this a limitation
of the tail command or is it a bug?

blbates@AERO4.LARC.NASA.GOV ("Brent L. Bates AAD/TAB MS361 x42854") (06/02/90)

    If it is a bug (tail -1 * , only showing the end of one file), then
every UNIX system I have used is also broken.  I guess it is a "feature."
Although I wished it worked like head.
--

	Brent L. Bates
	NASA-Langley Research Center
	M.S. 361
	Hampton, Virginia  23665-5225
	(804) 864-2854
	E-mail: blbates@aero4.larc.nasa.gov or blbates@aero2.larc.nasa.gov

karron@MCIRPS2.MED.NYU.EDU (06/02/90)

tail -f <filename> will follow a file as it grows. It will generally
print the last few lines of a file and wait for the file to grow.



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