


      TTTTAAAAIIIILLLL((((1111))))                     ((((UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX 5555....0000))))                    TTTTAAAAIIIILLLL((((1111))))



      NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE
           tail - deliver the last part of a file

      SSSSYYYYNNNNTTTTAAAAXXXX
           ttttaaaaiiiillll [ ++++____[number][llllbbbbcccc[ffff] ] ] [ file ]

      DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN
           _T_a_i_l copies the named file to the standard output beginning
           at a designated place.  If no file is named, the standard
           input is used.

           Copying begins at distance ++++_n_u_m_b_e_r from the beginning, or
           ----_n_u_m_b_e_r from the end of the input (if _n_u_m_b_e_r is null, the
           value 10 is assumed).  _N_u_m_b_e_r is counted in units of lines,
           blocks, or characters, according to the appended option llll,
           bbbb, or cccc.  When no units are specified, counting is by lines.

           With the ----ffff (``follow'') option, if the input file is not a
           pipe, the program will not terminate after the line of the
           input file has been copied, but will enter an endless loop,
           wherein it sleeps for a second and then attempts to read and
           copy further records from the input file.  Thus it may be
           used to monitor the growth of a file that is being written
           by some other process.  For example, the command:

                tail -f fred

           will print the last ten lines of the file ffffrrrreeeedddd, followed by
           any lines that are appended to ffffrrrreeeedddd between the time _t_a_i_l is
           initiated and killed.  As another example, the command:

                tail -15cf fred

           will print the last 15 characters of the file ffffrrrreeeedddd, followed
           by any lines that are appended to ffffrrrreeeedddd between the time _t_a_i_l
           is initiated and killed.

      SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO
           dd(1).

      BBBBUUUUGGGGSSSS
           Tails relative to the end of the file are treasured up in a
           buffer, and thus are limited in length.  Various kinds of
           anomalous behavior may happen with character special files.











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