Read from a file starting at the end, similar to tail

Question

In native C#, how can I read from the end of a file?

This is pertinent because I need to read a log file, and it doesn\'t make sense to read 10k, to read the last

Answer 1

Maybe something like this will work for you:

using (var fs = File.OpenRead(filePath))
{
    fs.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.End);

    int newLines = 0;
    while (newLines < 3)
    {
        fs.Seek(-1, SeekOrigin.Current);
        newLines += fs.ReadByte() == 13 ? 1 : 0; // look for \r
        fs.Seek(-1, SeekOrigin.Current);
    }

    byte[] data = new byte[fs.Length - fs.Position];
    fs.Read(data, 0, data.Length);
}

Take note that this assumes \r\n.