tail can efficiently be done using File::ReadBackwards.

# Displays the last $n lines of $file_name,
# earliest first.

my $file_name = 'file.log';
my $n = 5;

my $fh = File::ReadBackwards->new($file_name)
   or die("Can't read input file: $!\n");

my @lines;
for (1..$n) {
   my $line = $fh->readline();
   last if not defined $line;
   unshift(@lines, $line);
}

print foreach @lines;

[download]

Update: marto's suggestion seems to be more appropriate.

In reply to Re: Perl Tail ? by ikegami
in thread Perl Tail ? by perlAffen

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