BareTail

Watching over modifications that occur in certain files is a task that requires some specialized utilities and the 'tail' Unix application inspired many developers to create similar programs that can do even more than the original tool.

Among these dedicated apps you can find BareTail, a small piece of kit that offers some extra functions that go beyond the basic 'tail' or 'tail -f' ('follow' parameter added) commands that showed only the end bits of the target file.

This particular software solution comes complete with a plain and simple, yet functional and practical interface that you can use to load the files and monitor them. A great thing about BareTail is the fact that it enables you to have several files opened and under scrutiny at the same time thanks to its support for multiple tabs.

Another neat feature of this utility is the ability to highlight certain strings and you have the possibility to define as many highlighting profiles as you need. Each of those sets can have its own set of colors that will correspond to the designed string.

There are some detailed options you can assign to those code sequences, like 'Ignore Case', 'Invert Match', 'Bold' or 'Italic'. Also, the profiles can be arranged in the list as you want, by using the 'Move Up' and 'Move Down' commands.

The 'Options' area contains all the adjustments that can be done to the font, main window, file viewing and follow tail mode. It's also worth mentioning that the application preferences can be saved either to a file or directly inside the Windows Registry.

Given the ease of use and thanks to the useful functions it bears, BareTail could prove a really smart choice for all those who are looking for a means of monitoring the changes inside specific files.