Re: [patch] documentation bug in tail: no mention of -n +N syntax

[Jim Meyering]

Evan Hunt <address@hidden> wrote:
>> > In trying to figure out how to fix my script, I checked "tail --help" and
>> > "man tail", and there was no mention of the fact that tail even *has* this
>> > ability anymore.
>>
>> It should be later on the help.  Coreutils 6.7 "tail --help" says:
>>
>>     -n, --lines=N            output the last N lines, instead of the last 10
>>     ...
>>
>>   If the first character of N (the number of bytes or lines) is a `+',
>>   print beginning with the Nth item from the start of each file, otherwise,
>>   print the last N items in the file.

Thanks for the suggestion.
Here's what I've checked in, trying to keep a balance between saying
too much (which would duplicate the description near the end of --help)
and making things more accurate.

FYI, you can usually find the latest here:

  http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=coreutils.git;a=summary

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 5120963..8644682 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2006-12-27  Jim Meyering  <address@hidden>
+
+       * src/tail.c (usage): Mention +N for --bytes and --lines.
+       Suggestion from Evan Hunt.
+
 2006-12-26  Jim Meyering  <address@hidden>

        * configure.ac: Require autoconf-2.61 and automake-1.10.
diff --git a/src/tail.c b/src/tail.c
index d17f40a..2582b9d 100644
--- a/src/tail.c
+++ b/src/tail.c
@@ -231,7 +231,8 @@ Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short 
options too.\n\
                            inaccessible when tail starts or if it becomes\n\
                            inaccessible later; useful when following by 
name,\n\
                            i.e., with --follow=name\n\
-  -c, --bytes=N            output the last N bytes\n\
+  -c, --bytes=N            output the last N bytes; alternatively, use +N to\n\
+                           output bytes starting with the Nth of each file\n\
 "), stdout);
      fputs (_("\
   -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]\n\
@@ -241,7 +242,8 @@ Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short 
options too.\n\
   -F                       same as --follow=name --retry\n\
 "), stdout);
      printf (_("\
-  -n, --lines=N            output the last N lines, instead of the last %d\n\
+  -n, --lines=N            output the last N lines, instead of the last %d;\n\
+                           or use +N to output lines starting with the Nth\n\
       --max-unchanged-stats=N\n\
                            with --follow=name, reopen a FILE which has not\n\
                            changed size after N (default %d) iterations\n\
--
1.4.4.3.g5485