Python tail is a simple implementation of GNU tail and head.
It provides 3 main functions that can be performed on any file-like object that supports seek() and tell().
tail- read lines from the end of a filehead- read lines from the top of a filefollow- read lines as a file grows
It also comes with pytail, a command line version offering the same functionality as GNU tail. This can be particularly useful on Windows systems that have no tail equivalent.
Install with pip or easy_install.
pip install tailer
import tailer
f = open('test.txt', 'w')
for i in range(11):
f.write('Line %d\\n' % (i + 1))
f.close()
# Get the last 3 lines of the file
tailer.tail(open('test.txt'), 3)
# ['Line 9', 'Line 10', 'Line 11']
# Get the first 3 lines of the file
tailer.head(open('test.txt'), 3)
# ['Line 1', 'Line 2', 'Line 3']
# Follow the file as it grows
for line in tailer.follow(open('test.txt')):
print line # use print(line) for python3
Tailer currently only has doctests.
Run tests with nose:
nosetests --with-doctest src/tailer
Run tests with doctest:
python -m doctest -v src/tailer/__init__.py