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SINCE(1)			  User Manuals				SINCE(1)

NAME
     since - display content of a file since the last time

SYNOPSIS
     since [-aefhlmnqvxz] [-d seconds] [-s file] files

DESCRIPTION
     since  is	a  utility  designed  to monitor log files.  since is similar to
     tail(2) as it also displays information appended to a file.  However  since
     only  displays  the data which has been added since the last time since was
     run. If since is run on a particular file for the first time, then the  en-
     tire file is displayed.

EXAMPLE
     since /var/log/apache/{access,error}_log > /dev/null
     lynx --dump http://localhost/ > /dev/null
     since /var/log/apache/{access,error}_log

OPTIONS
     -a     Make updates to the since state files atomic. This option configures
	    since  to  use  a temporary file and a rename(2) instead of updating
	    the state file in situ.

     -d seconds
	    Specify the number of integer seconds to wait between polling  files
	    for changes. This option is only relevant in conjunction with the -f
	    option and if the inotify mechanism is not being used.

     -e     Print the header lines to standard error instead of standard output.

     -f     Follow  the  specified files. This option is analogous to tail -f as
	    the files are also polled for changes until the  process  is  inter-
	    rupted.

     -h     Print a terse help message.

     -l     Relaxed  mode.  If	some  data files are inaccessible since will not
	    fail completely.

     -m     Disable mmap(2), use read(2) instead to access state and data files.
	    Note that for certain smaller io operations read(2) may be used even
	    if this option has not been given.

     -n     Do not update the .since file which keeps track of file growth.

     -q     Make the utility operate more quietly.

     -s filename
	    Specify the state file explicitly. Using this option will also  dis-
	    able the use of fallback state files.

     -v     Increase the verbosity. This option can be given multiple times.

     -x     Ignore file arguments which have compressed extensions.

     -z     Discard  output. Similar to redirecting the output to /dev/null, but
	    faster. If used in conjunction with the -f option, only the  initial
	    output will be discarded.

FILES
     .since

	    State  file  recording the length of the previously displayed files.
	    The location of the file can be set on the command line using the -s
	    option. If this option is not given, since will check the SINCE  en-
	    vironment  variable for the location of the state file. If the SINCE
	    environment variable has not been set since will use the HOME  envi-
	    ronment variable and store the information in the file $HOME/.since.
	    If	the  HOME  variable  is  not  set,  since will use a getpwuid(3)
	    lookup. If all these fail will use the file /tmp/since.

BUGS
     since uses the inode of a file as its key, if that inode is recycled  since
     will  get	confused.   since  is not particularly efficient when storing or
     looking up the stat(2) information. Functionality equivalent to  since  can
     probably be achieved with a number of trivial shell scripts.

COPYING
     since  may  only  be  used, distributed and modified in accordance with the
     terms of the GPL (GNU General Public License) version 3 or  newer	as  pub-
     lished by the FSF (Free Software Foundation).

SEE ALSO
     tail(1), stat(2).

FreeBSD 			    JULY 1998				SINCE(1)

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