Can I redirect a file to the terminal

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I know I can redirect all terminal output to a file, but does that work the other way around?



Can I have a terminal window open, in Tmux or elsewhere, that is receiving redirected output from a file in real time? IE if another process is writing to the file, this is being directed to a terminal window?



The reason I would like this is I would like to see the output of some code in a REPL, Erlang it turns out, which has many processes creating terminal output stuff in background, but this output is very rapid and I "lose" my REPL command line constantly as it is drowned by the output. So I'd like to output to a file instead, but in another terminal, I want to see what that output is in real time.






command-line redirect







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  • 1




    Possibly related: Displaying a “scrolling” log file
    – steeldriver
    57 mins ago










  • Interestingly, while tail -f works fine with appending to the fille using >>, if I open the file in Vim and add to it, it doesn't work. Just sayin'. Haven't tested with Erlang yet but it's coming up.
    – Thomas Browne
    49 mins ago










  • aha! I need to use -F in that case, because it appears that vim closes and then reopens the file. Okay good news. Isn't Linux foxtrot wonderful!
    – Thomas Browne
    47 mins ago















up vote
1
down vote

favorite












I know I can redirect all terminal output to a file, but does that work the other way around?



Can I have a terminal window open, in Tmux or elsewhere, that is receiving redirected output from a file in real time? IE if another process is writing to the file, this is being directed to a terminal window?



The reason I would like this is I would like to see the output of some code in a REPL, Erlang it turns out, which has many processes creating terminal output stuff in background, but this output is very rapid and I "lose" my REPL command line constantly as it is drowned by the output. So I'd like to output to a file instead, but in another terminal, I want to see what that output is in real time.






command-line redirect







share|improve this question



















  • 1




    Possibly related: Displaying a “scrolling” log file
    – steeldriver
    57 mins ago










  • Interestingly, while tail -f works fine with appending to the fille using >>, if I open the file in Vim and add to it, it doesn't work. Just sayin'. Haven't tested with Erlang yet but it's coming up.
    – Thomas Browne
    49 mins ago










  • aha! I need to use -F in that case, because it appears that vim closes and then reopens the file. Okay good news. Isn't Linux foxtrot wonderful!
    – Thomas Browne
    47 mins ago













up vote
1
down vote

favorite









up vote
1
down vote

favorite











I know I can redirect all terminal output to a file, but does that work the other way around?



Can I have a terminal window open, in Tmux or elsewhere, that is receiving redirected output from a file in real time? IE if another process is writing to the file, this is being directed to a terminal window?



The reason I would like this is I would like to see the output of some code in a REPL, Erlang it turns out, which has many processes creating terminal output stuff in background, but this output is very rapid and I "lose" my REPL command line constantly as it is drowned by the output. So I'd like to output to a file instead, but in another terminal, I want to see what that output is in real time.






command-line redirect







share|improve this question















I know I can redirect all terminal output to a file, but does that work the other way around?



Can I have a terminal window open, in Tmux or elsewhere, that is receiving redirected output from a file in real time? IE if another process is writing to the file, this is being directed to a terminal window?



The reason I would like this is I would like to see the output of some code in a REPL, Erlang it turns out, which has many processes creating terminal output stuff in background, but this output is very rapid and I "lose" my REPL command line constantly as it is drowned by the output. So I'd like to output to a file instead, but in another terminal, I want to see what that output is in real time.






command-line redirect




command-line redirect






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













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edited 24 mins ago

























asked 1 hour ago









Thomas Browne

106110




106110







  • 1




    Possibly related: Displaying a “scrolling” log file
    – steeldriver
    57 mins ago










  • Interestingly, while tail -f works fine with appending to the fille using >>, if I open the file in Vim and add to it, it doesn't work. Just sayin'. Haven't tested with Erlang yet but it's coming up.
    – Thomas Browne
    49 mins ago










  • aha! I need to use -F in that case, because it appears that vim closes and then reopens the file. Okay good news. Isn't Linux foxtrot wonderful!
    – Thomas Browne
    47 mins ago













  • 1




    Possibly related: Displaying a “scrolling” log file
    – steeldriver
    57 mins ago










  • Interestingly, while tail -f works fine with appending to the fille using >>, if I open the file in Vim and add to it, it doesn't work. Just sayin'. Haven't tested with Erlang yet but it's coming up.
    – Thomas Browne
    49 mins ago










  • aha! I need to use -F in that case, because it appears that vim closes and then reopens the file. Okay good news. Isn't Linux foxtrot wonderful!
    – Thomas Browne
    47 mins ago








1




1




Possibly related: Displaying a “scrolling” log file
– steeldriver
57 mins ago




Possibly related: Displaying a “scrolling” log file
– steeldriver
57 mins ago












Interestingly, while tail -f works fine with appending to the fille using >>, if I open the file in Vim and add to it, it doesn't work. Just sayin'. Haven't tested with Erlang yet but it's coming up.
– Thomas Browne
49 mins ago




Interestingly, while tail -f works fine with appending to the fille using >>, if I open the file in Vim and add to it, it doesn't work. Just sayin'. Haven't tested with Erlang yet but it's coming up.
– Thomas Browne
49 mins ago












aha! I need to use -F in that case, because it appears that vim closes and then reopens the file. Okay good news. Isn't Linux foxtrot wonderful!
– Thomas Browne
47 mins ago





aha! I need to use -F in that case, because it appears that vim closes and then reopens the file. Okay good news. Isn't Linux foxtrot wonderful!
– Thomas Browne
47 mins ago











1 Answer
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2
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tail -f is what I was looking for. 



touch ~/foo
tail -f ~/foo


now in another terminal:



echo "hello" >> ~/foo
echo "there" >> ~/foo


Works a charm. Now some programs (vim for example) will close and reopen the file and tail -f will not work, so you will not see additions when you save from vim. In this case, use tail -F, which explicitly follows the filename rather than the descriptor.






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    up vote
    2
    down vote













    tail -f is what I was looking for. 



    touch ~/foo
    tail -f ~/foo


    now in another terminal:



    echo "hello" >> ~/foo
    echo "there" >> ~/foo


    Works a charm. Now some programs (vim for example) will close and reopen the file and tail -f will not work, so you will not see additions when you save from vim. In this case, use tail -F, which explicitly follows the filename rather than the descriptor.






    share|improve this answer
























      up vote
      2
      down vote













      tail -f is what I was looking for. 



      touch ~/foo
      tail -f ~/foo


      now in another terminal:



      echo "hello" >> ~/foo
      echo "there" >> ~/foo


      Works a charm. Now some programs (vim for example) will close and reopen the file and tail -f will not work, so you will not see additions when you save from vim. In this case, use tail -F, which explicitly follows the filename rather than the descriptor.






      share|improve this answer






















        up vote
        2
        down vote










        up vote
        2
        down vote









        tail -f is what I was looking for. 



        touch ~/foo
        tail -f ~/foo


        now in another terminal:



        echo "hello" >> ~/foo
        echo "there" >> ~/foo


        Works a charm. Now some programs (vim for example) will close and reopen the file and tail -f will not work, so you will not see additions when you save from vim. In this case, use tail -F, which explicitly follows the filename rather than the descriptor.






        share|improve this answer












        tail -f is what I was looking for. 



        touch ~/foo
        tail -f ~/foo


        now in another terminal:



        echo "hello" >> ~/foo
        echo "there" >> ~/foo


        Works a charm. Now some programs (vim for example) will close and reopen the file and tail -f will not work, so you will not see additions when you save from vim. In this case, use tail -F, which explicitly follows the filename rather than the descriptor.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 40 mins ago









        Thomas Browne

        106110




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