tspin

Read from file and view in less

$ tspin [path/to/application.log]

$ journalctl [[-b|--boot]] [[-f|--follow]] | tspin

$ tspin [path/to/application.log] [[-p|--print]]

$ echo "2021-01-01 12:00:00 [INFO] This is a log message" | tspin

tspin [OPTION...] [MESSAGE]

-t, --type
    Specifies the type of spinner animation to display (e.g., 'dots', 'line', 'ascii').

-d, --delay
    Sets the delay between animation frames in milliseconds, controlling the spinner's speed.

-m, --message
    Displays a custom message next to the spinner.

-s, --start
    Starts the spinner. If no message is provided, it might run indefinitely until a stop signal.

-x, --stop
    Stops a running spinner and clears its output line.

-h, --help
    Displays a help message and exits.

-v, --version
    Shows version information and exits.

The tspin command (a hypothetical utility) is designed to provide visual feedback for ongoing processes in a command-line environment. It displays a small, animating character sequence (a 'spinner') to indicate that a task is running and has not frozen. This is particularly useful for long-running scripts, data processing operations, network requests, or any command that performs work without immediate textual output. By showing a constant animation, it reassures the user that the system is active and the process is progressing. Users could typically specify the type of spinner animation, its speed, an accompanying message, and commands to start or stop the spinner.

Important Note: The tspin command is not a standard Linux command found in typical distributions. This description is entirely hypothetical and designed to illustrate what such a command could do based on its name. If you encounter a 'tspin' command, it is likely a custom script, an alias, or an application-specific utility. Its actual functionality would depend entirely on its implementation.

A basic terminal spinner can be implemented in a shell script using a loop, an array of characters for animation, and the sleep command for timing. Techniques like carriage return (\r) with printf are used to overwrite the current line, creating the animation effect without scrolling.
Example snippet (conceptual):
spin_chars=("-" "\\" "|" "/")
i=0
while true; do
  i=$(( (i+1) % ${#spin_chars[@]} ))
  printf "\r[%s] Loading..." "${spin_chars[$i]}"
  sleep 0.1
done

Many users create custom shell scripts or aliases for specific tasks to enhance their workflow. While powerful, these custom commands are not universally available. For cross-system compatibility, it's often better to rely on standard utilities or well-established third-party tools.

As tspin is not a standard Linux command, there is no official development or usage history. Any existing instances would be part of custom scripts or niche projects without public historical records.

printf(1), echo(1), sleep(1), stty(1)