Print the first or last lines of a file, follow changes, and optionally filter the output, replacing or highlighting text parts with a free open source command line tool for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

sfk tail [-lines=n] [-f[ollow] [filename]
sfk ... +[t]tail [-lines=n]

1. print last lines of a file, optionally following changes.
   to use file content processing, provide a single filename.

2. print last text lines procuded by a previous command.
   to process chain text ttail is recommended.

options
   -lines=n     print last n lines (default is 10).
   -follow      or -f waits for file changes, printing them endlessly.
                if file is recreated or shrunk, rereads the last lines.
                to post-process tail output, e.g. with +filter, always
                add +loop at the end of the command sequence.
   -nowait      if tail is reached multiple times in a chain by +loop
                then do not wait for a file size change but force
                stepping of the command chain.
   -quiet       do not tell verbosely about read restarts.
   -polltime=n  with -follow, specifies the delay in milliseconds before
                the file is checked again for changes. default is 500.
   -altsize     use a different method to determine the file size
                (stat instead of seek). may help if the default method
                fails to read the file, or to improve performance.
   -verbose     tell in detail what is done.

see also
   sfk filter -tail=n  read and search last n lines of text files.
   sfk view     GUI tool to view all text files of a folder, then jump
                through file ends by ctrl+end.

web reference
   http://stahlworks.com/sfk-tail

examples
   sfk tail -follow logs\access.log
      immediately lists last lines, then all added lines over time.
   sfk tail -f c:\temp\log.txt +filter -+error: -+warning: +loop
      endless filter of error and warning messages from log.txt.

example sfk script with conditional execution
  file logfilter.txt:
    sfk label checklog
       +tail -follow logfile.txt
       +tee toterm +storetext
       +filter -+error: -justrc
       +if "rc>0" call myalert
       +gettext +filter -+alldone: -justrc
       +if "rc>0" stop
       +loop +end
    sfk label myalert
       +then run -yes "myalert.bat" +end
  sfk script logfilter.txt
     will run myalert.bat whenever errors appear in logfile.txt.
     the script stops as soon as "alldone" appears in the log.
     to allow double filtering of the chain text it must be
     stored before the first filter, then restored.
 
   scripted example

   if you want to both tail and filter on several phrases,
   the command may become hard to read and to edit. as an
   alternative, you may put it into a batch embedded sfk script,
   e.g. under windows, create a file

      filtlog.bat:
         
         @echo off
         sfk script filtlog.bat -from begin
         goto xend
         
         sfk label begin
         
            +tail -f log.txt
         
            +filter
         
               -high red      error:*
               -high yellow   warning:*
               -high blue     debug:*
         
            +loop
         
         :xend
         
   then type "filtlog". creating command sequences this way
   allows better readability, and easy editing in any editor.

see also

   sfk filter   - all options for selection and post-processing of text
   sfk partcopy - copy byte block from the beginning of a file
   sfk script   - how to create script files with sfk commands
   sfk samp     - ready-to-use templates for windows and linux scripts