Is there a way to get ls to listen for changes and update output similar to tail -f?

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2















I have a process that creates many files in a known directory, and the only way to tell how far along it is is to type ls manually. Is there a way to make the output of ls update automatically as new files are created, similar to how tail -f works? Because of their names, every new file appears at the end of the list, so I wouldn't have to worry about them appearing in the middle.






terminal ls







share|improve this question






















  • Is the program that creates the files something that instead could possibly be updated to output how far it has come, alternatively how far it has left to go? If not, a tool that is often used to detect file modifications/creation is inotify.

    – Kusalananda
    Jan 11 at 7:25











  • In this specific instance, yes. However I've bumped into this problem in cases where I could not edit the program, and because I couldn't find an answer to this problem on the internet. I figured it would be a useful trick to know, and may help someone else out if there is a solution.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:28











  • Also, doing this without editing the program does not restrict you to receiving the output in the launch terminal, and can be turned on and off.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:29















2















I have a process that creates many files in a known directory, and the only way to tell how far along it is is to type ls manually. Is there a way to make the output of ls update automatically as new files are created, similar to how tail -f works? Because of their names, every new file appears at the end of the list, so I wouldn't have to worry about them appearing in the middle.






terminal ls







share|improve this question






















  • Is the program that creates the files something that instead could possibly be updated to output how far it has come, alternatively how far it has left to go? If not, a tool that is often used to detect file modifications/creation is inotify.

    – Kusalananda
    Jan 11 at 7:25











  • In this specific instance, yes. However I've bumped into this problem in cases where I could not edit the program, and because I couldn't find an answer to this problem on the internet. I figured it would be a useful trick to know, and may help someone else out if there is a solution.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:28











  • Also, doing this without editing the program does not restrict you to receiving the output in the launch terminal, and can be turned on and off.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:29













2












2








2








I have a process that creates many files in a known directory, and the only way to tell how far along it is is to type ls manually. Is there a way to make the output of ls update automatically as new files are created, similar to how tail -f works? Because of their names, every new file appears at the end of the list, so I wouldn't have to worry about them appearing in the middle.






terminal ls







share|improve this question














I have a process that creates many files in a known directory, and the only way to tell how far along it is is to type ls manually. Is there a way to make the output of ls update automatically as new files are created, similar to how tail -f works? Because of their names, every new file appears at the end of the list, so I wouldn't have to worry about them appearing in the middle.






terminal ls




terminal ls






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Jan 11 at 7:21









David ScottDavid Scott

132




132












  • Is the program that creates the files something that instead could possibly be updated to output how far it has come, alternatively how far it has left to go? If not, a tool that is often used to detect file modifications/creation is inotify.

    – Kusalananda
    Jan 11 at 7:25











  • In this specific instance, yes. However I've bumped into this problem in cases where I could not edit the program, and because I couldn't find an answer to this problem on the internet. I figured it would be a useful trick to know, and may help someone else out if there is a solution.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:28











  • Also, doing this without editing the program does not restrict you to receiving the output in the launch terminal, and can be turned on and off.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:29

















  • Is the program that creates the files something that instead could possibly be updated to output how far it has come, alternatively how far it has left to go? If not, a tool that is often used to detect file modifications/creation is inotify.

    – Kusalananda
    Jan 11 at 7:25











  • In this specific instance, yes. However I've bumped into this problem in cases where I could not edit the program, and because I couldn't find an answer to this problem on the internet. I figured it would be a useful trick to know, and may help someone else out if there is a solution.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:28











  • Also, doing this without editing the program does not restrict you to receiving the output in the launch terminal, and can be turned on and off.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:29
















Is the program that creates the files something that instead could possibly be updated to output how far it has come, alternatively how far it has left to go? If not, a tool that is often used to detect file modifications/creation is inotify.

– Kusalananda
Jan 11 at 7:25





Is the program that creates the files something that instead could possibly be updated to output how far it has come, alternatively how far it has left to go? If not, a tool that is often used to detect file modifications/creation is inotify.

– Kusalananda
Jan 11 at 7:25













In this specific instance, yes. However I've bumped into this problem in cases where I could not edit the program, and because I couldn't find an answer to this problem on the internet. I figured it would be a useful trick to know, and may help someone else out if there is a solution.

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:28





In this specific instance, yes. However I've bumped into this problem in cases where I could not edit the program, and because I couldn't find an answer to this problem on the internet. I figured it would be a useful trick to know, and may help someone else out if there is a solution.

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:28













Also, doing this without editing the program does not restrict you to receiving the output in the launch terminal, and can be turned on and off.

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:29





Also, doing this without editing the program does not restrict you to receiving the output in the launch terminal, and can be turned on and off.

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:29










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















10














You can use command like:



watch ls


to loop execution of ls command



If the listing is too long you can add -C to ls



watch ls -C


Or you can create explicit loop with while



while [ 1 ]
 do
 clear
 ls
 sleep 60
done





share|improve this answer




















  • 1





    Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:54






  • 1





    I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:55











  • @DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

    – Romeo Ninov
    Jan 11 at 7:57






  • 2





    Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

    – rexkogitans
    Jan 11 at 14:06



















8














You can use a script like this that monitor every changes and after any change it makes a ls sorted by date. To be able to execute it you would need inotify-tools installed. The script would be the following:



#!/bin/bash
DIRECTORY="your_directory_path"
inotifywait -m -r -e create --format '%w%f' "$DIRECTORY" | while read NEW
do
 ls -hltr
done





share|improve this answer























  • I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

    – Christopher Schultz
    Jan 11 at 18:09










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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









10














You can use command like:



watch ls


to loop execution of ls command



If the listing is too long you can add -C to ls



watch ls -C


Or you can create explicit loop with while



while [ 1 ]
 do
 clear
 ls
 sleep 60
done





share|improve this answer




















  • 1





    Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:54






  • 1





    I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:55











  • @DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

    – Romeo Ninov
    Jan 11 at 7:57






  • 2





    Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

    – rexkogitans
    Jan 11 at 14:06
















10














You can use command like:



watch ls


to loop execution of ls command



If the listing is too long you can add -C to ls



watch ls -C


Or you can create explicit loop with while



while [ 1 ]
 do
 clear
 ls
 sleep 60
done





share|improve this answer




















  • 1





    Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:54






  • 1





    I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:55











  • @DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

    – Romeo Ninov
    Jan 11 at 7:57






  • 2





    Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

    – rexkogitans
    Jan 11 at 14:06














10












10








10







You can use command like:



watch ls


to loop execution of ls command



If the listing is too long you can add -C to ls



watch ls -C


Or you can create explicit loop with while



while [ 1 ]
 do
 clear
 ls
 sleep 60
done





share|improve this answer















You can use command like:



watch ls


to loop execution of ls command



If the listing is too long you can add -C to ls



watch ls -C


Or you can create explicit loop with while



while [ 1 ]
 do
 clear
 ls
 sleep 60
done






share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Jan 11 at 7:57









roaima

43.8k555118




43.8k555118










answered Jan 11 at 7:36









Romeo NinovRomeo Ninov

5,82331928




5,82331928







  • 1





    Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:54






  • 1





    I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:55











  • @DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

    – Romeo Ninov
    Jan 11 at 7:57






  • 2





    Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

    – rexkogitans
    Jan 11 at 14:06













  • 1





    Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:54






  • 1





    I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

    – David Scott
    Jan 11 at 7:55











  • @DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

    – Romeo Ninov
    Jan 11 at 7:57






  • 2





    Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

    – rexkogitans
    Jan 11 at 14:06








1




1





Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:54





Marked this as the answer for being the closest to my intentions, with the added benefit of allowing for the multi-column output of ls.

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:54




1




1





I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:55





I turned this into a one-line terminal command to make it into an alias more easily: while [ 1 ]; do clear; ls; sleep 60; done

– David Scott
Jan 11 at 7:55













@DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

– Romeo Ninov
Jan 11 at 7:57





@DavidScott, sure, that's possible, feel free to tune the code according to your environment and requirements

– Romeo Ninov
Jan 11 at 7:57




2




2





Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

– rexkogitans
Jan 11 at 14:06






Since you want to watch a progress, something like watch 'ls -ltr | tail' may suit best. Note the quotes so that the shell does not interpret the |.

– rexkogitans
Jan 11 at 14:06














8














You can use a script like this that monitor every changes and after any change it makes a ls sorted by date. To be able to execute it you would need inotify-tools installed. The script would be the following:



#!/bin/bash
DIRECTORY="your_directory_path"
inotifywait -m -r -e create --format '%w%f' "$DIRECTORY" | while read NEW
do
 ls -hltr
done





share|improve this answer























  • I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

    – Christopher Schultz
    Jan 11 at 18:09















8














You can use a script like this that monitor every changes and after any change it makes a ls sorted by date. To be able to execute it you would need inotify-tools installed. The script would be the following:



#!/bin/bash
DIRECTORY="your_directory_path"
inotifywait -m -r -e create --format '%w%f' "$DIRECTORY" | while read NEW
do
 ls -hltr
done





share|improve this answer























  • I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

    – Christopher Schultz
    Jan 11 at 18:09













8












8








8







You can use a script like this that monitor every changes and after any change it makes a ls sorted by date. To be able to execute it you would need inotify-tools installed. The script would be the following:



#!/bin/bash
DIRECTORY="your_directory_path"
inotifywait -m -r -e create --format '%w%f' "$DIRECTORY" | while read NEW
do
 ls -hltr
done





share|improve this answer













You can use a script like this that monitor every changes and after any change it makes a ls sorted by date. To be able to execute it you would need inotify-tools installed. The script would be the following:



#!/bin/bash
DIRECTORY="your_directory_path"
inotifywait -m -r -e create --format '%w%f' "$DIRECTORY" | while read NEW
do
 ls -hltr
done






share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Jan 11 at 7:42









DaselDasel

4497




4497












  • I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

    – Christopher Schultz
    Jan 11 at 18:09

















  • I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

    – Christopher Schultz
    Jan 11 at 18:09
















I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

– Christopher Schultz
Jan 11 at 18:09





I like this answer because it doesn't "poll" and update every X seconds. Instead, it will trigger a refresh when there is a reason to refresh. Presumably, it will react more quickly than sleep 60 will allow.

– Christopher Schultz
Jan 11 at 18:09

















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