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I have a very big text log file of about 37MB.
Using cat file | more I can view the file contents one page at a time.

The problem is that this always starts from the top - the old entries.
How can I make it start from the bottom where the newer entries are then move up page by page?

Parto
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1 Answers1

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Try the tac command, which reverses the input, line by line.

Alternatively, less is more. Start at the end of the file using +G:

less +G some-file

You might have to get used to pressing b (which jumps back a screen) instead of Space.

muru
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    `tac` starts at the bottom but I can't get a way to go up a screen. `less some-file +G` doesn't seem to work. – Parto Feb 23 '15 at 06:04
  • @Parto go up a screen in what? As for +G, open the file in less, then press Shift-G. Does it go to the end of the file? – muru Feb 23 '15 at 06:11
  • @Parto apparently less doesn't follow the Vim convention of allowing commands after filenames even though it borrows key strokes from it. Try `less +G some-file`. – muru Feb 23 '15 at 06:15
  • `less +G` seems more natural when viewing command line history, for example. Something like this: `alias h='history -999999 | less +G'` – Ville Dec 11 '16 at 22:42