root@sysresccd /mnt/backup % while x=0; do ls -l test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa ; sleep 1 ; done -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4045868127 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4050159560 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4053476778 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4057533324 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4060728604 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4064071926 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4067336585 Jul 11 13:17 test.ubuntu.12.04.fsa
Short method of "while x=0; do foo ; sleep 1 ; done"
For use when you can't use "watch" (user-defined functions, aliases). This isn't mine - its an alternate posted in the comments by flatcap, and is the shortest and easiest to remember.
Any thoughts on this command? Does it work on your machine? Can you do the same thing with only 14 characters?
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while :; do foo; sleep 1; done
or use the sleep as the while conditionwhile sleep 1; do foo; done