README

=== CHANGES ===

v2.1 - Stamps out a Y2K bug and now uses GNU autoconf.


=== SUMMARY ===

"xtail" watches the growth of files.  It's like running a "tail -f"
on a bunch of files at once.  The syntax is:

	xtail name ...

You can specify both filenames and directories on the command line.
If you specify a directory, it watches all the files in that
directory.  It will notice when new files are created (and start
watching them) or when old files are deleted (and stop watching
them).

I originally wrote this program so I could run:

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

Even though I don't use "uucp" any more, I still use this utility
a lot.  These days, my favorite is:

	xtail /var/log/* /usenet/lib/*log


=== INSTRUCTIONS ===

	- xtail version 2 requires an ANSI compiler such as gcc.
	- Run:  sh configure
	- If you'd like, review the configuration definitions in xtail.h
	- Run:  make
	- If you'd like, as root run:  make install


=== HISTORICAL NOTES ===

This program is an oldie but goodie.  It was posted to comp.sources.misc
in July 1989 (see ftp.uu.net:/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume7/xtail.Z).
I remember posting an even earlier version to alt.sources.  It has been
published in the O'Reilly & Associates "Unix Power Tools" collection
(book and CD-ROM).

Over the years, some fly-by-night organizations (such as the MIT X
Consortium and SGI) have tried to steal the "xtail" name.  Don't be
fooled!  Insist on the original.

The 1989 release credited David Dykstra for his contributions.

Chip Rosenthal
<chip@unicom.com>

$Id: README,v 2.4 2000/06/04 05:15:35 chip Exp $