58

I use the watch command to see the contents of my directory changing as a script runs on it (via watch ls dir/)

It's a great tool, except that I can't seem to scroll down or up to see all of the contents once the number of entries fills the vertical length of the screen.

Is there a way to do this?

Zaid
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6 Answers6

44

watch is great, but this is one of the things it can't do. You can use tail to show the latest entries:

watch "ls -rtx dir/ | tail -n $(($LINES - 2))"
Dennis Williamson
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    Can you explain why it is necessary to use `$(($LINES - 2))"` to get the latest entries? – bbaja42 Jun 24 '11 at 20:18
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    @bbaja42: It fills the screen, leaving a couple of lines for the output of `watch` itself. `$LINES` is an automatic variable that Bash and other shells use to contain the number of lines that the screen can display. You could `tail` any number you want. – Dennis Williamson Jun 25 '11 at 06:00
  • Can I use the command as is to pipe the output of multiple programs (chained using &&) to tail? – T0xicCode Feb 05 '13 at 20:56
  • @xav0989: You would need to wrap your chain in curly braces or it will only `tail` the last command: `{ command1 && command2 && command3; } | tail` - don't forget the spaces (after the opening and before closing brace) and semicolon after the last command. Remember, the whole chain will be executed each time `watch` reruns it. – Dennis Williamson Feb 05 '13 at 22:50
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    I'm not sure why this is the accepted answer. The OP asked "to scroll down or up" but this answer is a fixed offset from the end of the file and needs to be re-run to change the offset. Am I missing something here? – Hephaestus Dec 15 '21 at 20:27
  • Wait if the latest entries printed on top of the file? – alper Jan 03 '22 at 22:36
15

I've created a small program that does exactly what you want in python. Find it here, it's called pwatch.

slm
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Joey Yakimowich Payne
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5

You could use watchall python package; its usage is the same as watch.

sudo pip install watchall
Jeff Schaller
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Mohammad
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  • is this downvoted because the answer is not detailed enough ... or because the proposed program is not suitable? – RTbecard Dec 13 '18 at 17:54
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    I downloaded the tar. Compared to `pwatch`, it looks like it supports `-d` for diffing like `watch` can. It also binds `PgUp`/`PgDn`, it also supports custom intervals. – Zren Mar 12 '19 at 04:22
  • Works as expected. You can scroll while it is updating and the output will stay on the same line. Or it will start out on the same line as before the update. It makes it very useful with `-d` option, so you can monitor only some parts of the output. – ddofborg Jun 03 '21 at 20:35
  • Tried on Ubuntu 20 with Py3.8. Line 132 has error; easy to fix (clearly some Py2.x syntax). But then: "line 121, in refresh_screen self.pad.addch('\n') _curses.error: add_wch() returned ERR". Still runs but arrow or direction keys don't seem to work. – Hephaestus Dec 15 '21 at 20:11
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    Not usable in 2022. It even doesn't start (there is syntax error about missing parentheses). It is probably discontinued and really should be removed from the Python package repository. However, +1 for mentioning it - likely it has been useful for a while in former times. – Binarus Oct 08 '22 at 06:55
5

I've created a bash ** swatch ** program that does exactly what you want in bash. In the gif video, you can see how to scroll through a changing mmio file.

enter image description here

#!/bin/bash
#
# watch a file and scroll 
#
# keys => arrow-up/down, page-up/down, pos1, end
#
# usages:
#           swatch -n <timeout_watch> <file>
#           swatch <file>
#
# version:          1.1
# dependencies:     awk , tput , clear, read
# published:        https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/3842/how-can-i-scroll-within-the-output-of-my-watch-command
# gif recording:    peek , https://github.com/phw/peek

#
# =============================================
# KEYCODES
# =============================================
# https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/294908/read-special-keys-in-bash
# showkey -a


# =============================================
# DEFAULTS
# =============================================
fname=""
line_show_begin=1
line_show_begin_last=-1
console_lines_correction=4
timeout_watch=2
timeout_read=.1


# =============================================
# DEFINE Escape-Sequences
# =============================================

# http://ascii-table.com/ansi-escape-sequences-vt-100.php

ESC_clr_line='\033[K'
ESC_reset_screen='\033c'
ESC_clr_screen='\033[2J'
ESC_cursor_pos='\033[0;0f'
ESC_cursor_home='\033[H'


# =============================================
# FUNCTIONS
# =============================================


function fn_help() {
cat << EOF
Usage: ./$0 [-n <timeout>] [<file>]  ,  timeout >0.1s , default 2s
EOF
}


function get_options() {

    [[ "$1" == "" ]] && { fn_help ; exit 1 ; }

    while [ -n "$1" ]; do

        case "$1" in

        -h|--help) 
            fn_help
            ;;

        -n) 
            [[ "$2" == "" ]] && { echo "Error: option -n required <timeout>" ; exit 1 ; }
            if [[ "$(echo "$2<0.1"|bc)" == "0" ]] ; then 
                timeout_watch="$2" 
                shift
            else
                echo "Error: timeout <0.1 not allowed"
                exit 1
            fi
            ;;

        -*) 
                echo "Error: unknown option »$1«"
                exit 1
            ;;

        *)
            if [[ -f "$1" ]] ; then
                fname=$1
            else
                echo "Error: file not found »$1«"
                exit 1
            fi
            ;;

        esac

        shift

    done

    [[ "$fname" == "" ]] && { echo "Error: file required" ; exit 1 ; }

}


function fn_print_headline() {

    hdl_txt_right="${HOSTNAME}: $(date "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")"
    hdl_txt_left="$fname , ${timeout_watch}s , $line_show_begin"

    hdl_txt_left_length=${#hdl_txt_left}

    printf '%s%*s\n\n' "$hdl_txt_left" "$(($console_columns-$hdl_txt_left_length))" "$hdl_txt_right"

}


function fn_print_file() {

    # ---------------------------------------------------
    # file lenght can change while watch
    # ---------------------------------------------------

    lines_fname=$(awk 'END {print NR}' $fname)

    line_last=$(($lines_fname-$console_lines))

    (( "$line_last" < "1" )) && { line_last=1; clear; }

    (( "$line_show_begin" > "$line_last" )) && { line_show_begin=$line_last; clear; }


    # ---------------------------------------------------
    # print postion changed
    # ---------------------------------------------------

    if (( "$line_show_begin" != "$line_show_begin_last" )) ; then

        line_show_begin_last=$line_show_begin;
        clear

    else

        printf $ESC_cursor_home

    fi


    # ---------------------------------------------------
    # print file section
    # ---------------------------------------------------

    fn_print_headline
    awk -v var1="$line_show_begin" -v var2="$console_lines" 'NR>=var1 {if (NR>var1+var2) {exit 0} else {printf "%s\n",$0 } }' $fname

}


function fn_console_size_change() {

    console_columns=$(tput cols)
    console_lines=$(($(tput lines)-$console_lines_correction))
    line_show_begin_last=-1

}


function fn_quit() {

    echo "quit" $0 , $?

    setterm -cursor on ; exit 0

}


# =============================================
# GET OPTIONS
# =============================================

get_options "$@"    # pass all arguments with double-quotes



# =============================================
# INIT TRAP
# =============================================

trap "fn_console_size_change" SIGWINCH # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_(IPC)#SIGWINCH
trap "fn_quit" INT TERM EXIT


# =============================================
# MAIN
# =============================================

fn_console_size_change
setterm -cursor off


while true ; do

    fn_print_file

    read -rsn1 -t $timeout_watch k # char 1

    case "$k" in

    [[:graph:]])
        # Normal input handling
        ;;
    $'\x09') # TAB
        # Routine for selecting current item
        ;;
    $'\x7f') # Back-Space
        # Routine for back-space
        ;;
    $'\x01') # Ctrl+A
        # Routine for ctrl+a
        ;;
    $'\x1b') # ESC

        read -rsn1 k # char 2
        [[ "$k" == ""  ]] && return  Esc-Key
        [[ "$k" == "[" ]] && read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 3
        [[ "$k" == "O" ]] && read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 3

        case "$k" in

        A)  # Arrow-Up-Key
            (( "$line_show_begin" > "1" )) && line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin-1))
            ;;

        B)  # Arrow-Down-Key
            (( "$line_show_begin" < "$line_last" )) && line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin+1))
            ;;

        H)  # Pos1-Key
            line_show_begin=1
            ;;

        F)  # End-Key
            line_show_begin=$line_last
            ;;

        5)  # PgUp-Key
            read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 4

            if [[ "$k" == "~" ]] && (( "$line_show_begin" > "$(($console_lines/2))" )) ; then
                line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin-$console_lines/2))
            else
                line_show_begin=1
            fi
            ;;

        6)  # PgDown-Key
            read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 4

            if [[ "$k" == "~" ]] && (( "$line_show_begin" < "$(($line_last-$console_lines/2))" )) ; then
                line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin+$console_lines/2))
            else
                line_show_begin=$line_last
            fi
            ;;

        esac

        read -rsn4 -t $timeout_read    # Try to flush out other sequences ...

        ;;

    esac

done
bashprogger
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  • Alas this one fails too. After several updates the text tears with uneven updates until it is a jumbled mess. – Hephaestus Dec 15 '21 at 20:50
  • I've updated your script to work on macOS, fixed some aspects, cleaned it up and put it here for anyone to check it out: https://pastebin.com/cR4KqUKr – ikaerom Nov 29 '22 at 12:02
2

You can use viddy.

It's a binary that has the basic features of original watch command, including color output and diff highlight, but allows scroll and has a couple more cool features including text search and time machine mode, which allows one go back to the previous versions of the output.

The current one-liner to install it is

wget -O viddy.tar.gz https://github.com/sachaos/viddy/releases/download/v0.3.6/viddy_0.3.6_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz && tar xvf viddy.tar.gz && sudo mv viddy /usr/local/bin

And then you can use it like, for example

viddy -d -n 1 ls dir/

to list the dir every second and to highlight the changes. While viddy is running, press ? to get the keyboard shortcuts.

viddy cmd options:

$ viddy -h

Usage:
 viddy [options] command

Options:
  -b, --bell                 ring terminal bell changes between updates
  -d, --differences          highlight changes between updates
  -n, --interval <interval>  seconds to wait between updates (default "2s")
  -p, --precise              attempt run command in precise intervals
  -c, --clockwork            run command in precise intervals forcibly
  -t, --no-title             turn off header
  --shell                    shell (default "sh")
  --shell-options            additional shell options
  --unfold                   unfold command result
  --pty                      run on pty (experimental, not for Windows)
Dima Mironov
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0

I edited the above script to work with command line

#!/bin/bash
#
# watch a file and scroll
#
# keys => arrow-up/down, page-up/down, pos1, end
#
# usages:
#           swatch -n <timeout_watch> <file>
#           swatch <file>
#
# version:          1.1
# dependencies:     awk , tput , clear, read
# published:        https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/3842/how-can-i-scroll-within-the-output-of-my-watch-command
# gif recording:    peek , https://github.com/phw/peek

#
# =============================================
# KEYCODES
# =============================================
# https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/294908/read-special-keys-in-bash
# showkey -a


# =============================================
# DEFAULTS
# =============================================
command=""
TMPFILE=$(mktemp)
line_show_begin=1
line_show_begin_last=-1
console_lines_correction=4
timeout_watch=5
timeout_read=.1


# =============================================
# DEFINE Escape-Sequences
# =============================================

# http://ascii-table.com/ansi-escape-sequences-vt-100.php

ESC_clr_line='\033[K'
ESC_reset_screen='\033c'
ESC_clr_screen='\033[2J'
ESC_cursor_pos='\033[0;0f'
ESC_cursor_home='\033[H'


# =============================================
# FUNCTIONS
# =============================================


function fn_help() {
cat << EOF
Usage: ./$0 [-n <timeout>] [<command>]  ,  timeout >0.1s , default 5s
EOF
}


function get_options() {
    [[ "$1" == "" ]] && { fn_help ; exit 1 ; }
    while [ -n "$1" ]; do
        case "$1" in
            -h|--help)
                fn_help
            ;;
            -n)
                [[ "$2" == "" ]] && { echo "Error: option -n required <timeout>" ; exit 1 ; }
                if [[ "$(echo "$2<0.1"|bc)" == "0" ]] ; then
                    timeout_watch="$2"
                    shift
                else
                    echo "Error: timeout <0.1 not allowed"
                    exit 1
                fi
            ;;
            -*)
                echo "Error: unknown option »$1«"
                exit 1
            ;;
            *)
                #if [[ -f "$1" ]] ; then
                command=$1
                #else
                #    echo "Error: file not found »$1«"
                #    exit 1
                #fi
            ;;
        esac
        shift
    done
    [[ "$command" == "" ]] && { echo "Error: command required" ; exit 1 ; }
}


function fn_print_headline() {
    hdl_txt_right="${HOSTNAME}: $(date "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")"
    hdl_txt_left="$command , ${timeout_watch}s , $line_show_begin"
    hdl_txt_left_length=${#hdl_txt_left}
    printf '%s%*s\n\n' "$hdl_txt_left" "$(($console_columns-$hdl_txt_left_length))" "$hdl_txt_right"
}


function fn_print_file() {
    # ---------------------------------------------------
    # file lenght can change while watch
    # ---------------------------------------------------
    eval $command > $TMPFILE
    lines_command=$(awk 'END {print NR}' $TMPFILE)
    line_last=$(($lines_command-$console_lines))
    (( "$line_last" < "1" )) && { line_last=1; clear; }
    (( "$line_show_begin" > "$line_last" )) && { line_show_begin=$line_last; clear; }

    # ---------------------------------------------------
    # print postion changed
    # ---------------------------------------------------

    if (( "$line_show_begin" != "$line_show_begin_last" )) ; then
        line_show_begin_last=$line_show_begin;
        clear
    else
        printf $ESC_cursor_home
    fi

    # ---------------------------------------------------
    # print file section
    # ---------------------------------------------------

    fn_print_headline
    eval $command > $TMPFILE
    awk -v var1="$line_show_begin" -v var2="$console_lines" 'NR>=var1 {if (NR>var1+var2) {exit 0} else {printf "%s\n",$0 } }' $TMPFILE
}


function fn_console_size_change() {
    console_columns=$(tput cols)
    console_lines=$(($(tput lines)-$console_lines_correction))
    line_show_begin_last=-1
}


function fn_quit() {
    echo "quit" $0 , $?
    setterm -cursor on ; exit 0
}


# =============================================
# GET OPTIONS
# =============================================

get_options "$@"    # pass all arguments with double-quotes



# =============================================
# INIT TRAP
# =============================================

trap "fn_console_size_change" SIGWINCH # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_(IPC)#SIGWINCH
trap "fn_quit" INT TERM EXIT


# =============================================
# MAIN
# =============================================

fn_console_size_change
setterm -cursor off


while true ; do
    fn_print_file
    read -rsn1 -t $timeout_watch k # char 1
    case "$k" in
        [[:graph:]])
            # Normal input handling
        ;;
        $'\x09') # TAB
            # Routine for selecting current item
        ;;
        $'\x7f') # Back-Space
            # Routine for back-space
        ;;
        $'\x01') # Ctrl+A
            # Routine for ctrl+a
        ;;
        $'\x1b') # ESC
            read -rsn1 k # char 2
            [[ "$k" == ""  ]] && return  Esc-Key
            [[ "$k" == "[" ]] && read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 3
            [[ "$k" == "O" ]] && read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 3
            case "$k" in
                A)  # Arrow-Up-Key
                    (( "$line_show_begin" > "1" )) && line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin-1))
                ;;
                B)  # Arrow-Down-Key
                    (( "$line_show_begin" < "$line_last" )) && line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin+1))
                ;;
                H)  # Pos1-Key
                    line_show_begin=1
                ;;
                F)  # End-Key
                    line_show_begin=$line_last
                ;;
                5)  # PgUp-Key
                    read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 4

                    if [[ "$k" == "~" ]] && (( "$line_show_begin" > "$(($console_lines/2))" )) ; then
                        line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin-$console_lines/2))
                    else
                        line_show_begin=1
                    fi
                ;;
                6)  # PgDown-Key
                    read -rsn1 -t $timeout_read k # char 4
                    if [[ "$k" == "~" ]] && (( "$line_show_begin" < "$(($line_last-$console_lines/2))" )) ; then
                        line_show_begin=$(($line_show_begin+$console_lines/2))
                    else
                        line_show_begin=$line_last
                    fi
                ;;
            esac
            read -rsn4 -t $timeout_read    # Try to flush out other sequences ...
        ;;
    esac
done
  • create a file in ~/bin/cwatch.sh
nano ~/bin/cwatch.sh
  • change files properties to make it runnable:
chmod +x ~/bin/cwatch.sh
  • edit ~/.bashrc and add alias
alias cwatch="~/bin/cwatch.sh"

now you can try it:

cwatch 'ps aux | grep -v grep'
Khalid M. Kahloot
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