Xtail 2.1 Release Notes

Table of Contents

What is xtail ?

xtail (eXtended tail) is Chip Rosenthal's take on the standard UNIX 'tail -f'

Xtail monitors one or more files, and displays all data written to a file since command invocation almost in realtime (with a few seconds delay). It is very useful for monitoring multiple log-files simultaneously.

Chip's favorite use used to be:

xtail /usr/spool/uucp/.Log/*

which views the UUCP logs as they are written. [Recall that this program was posted to comp.sources.unix in 1989...]

A more modern favorite might be:

xtail /var/httpd/logs

which will show you hits to your Web site (and HTTP errors) as they occur (Note: the actual pathname to your http log directory may vary)

See the man page for details, or just try it.

Builder Notice(s):

The author of this product is Chip Rosenthal whose email address when xtail was posted used to be chip@vector.Dallas.TX.US. Thanks Chip!

Built and packaged for SGI by Ariel Faigon who is afraid emails for support would have to be silently ignored. Patches and constructive suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Installation Information

Xtail Subsystems

fw_CRxtail.sw.*

Execution only environment. The xtail executable.

fw_CRxtail.man .*

Man page + release notes.

fw_CRxtail.src.*

The original source distribution.

Installation Method

All of the subsystems for this product can be installed using IRIX. You do not need to use the miniroot. Refer to the Software Installation Administrator's Guide for complete installation instructions.

Compatibility

This software is compatible with IRIX 5.3 and IRIX 6.x.