Shorten large file.

shorten.py

#!/usr/bin/env python2.5
from __future__ import with_statement
# also tested with Python 2.6

import os, sys

if len(sys.argv) != 3:
    print sys.argv[0] + ": Invalid number of arguments."
    print "Usage: " + sys.argv[0] + " linecount filename"
    print "to remove linecount lines from the end of the file"
    exit(2)

number = int(sys.argv[1])
file = sys.argv[2]
count = 0

with open(file,'r+b') as f:
    f.seek(0, os.SEEK_END)
    end = f.tell()
    while f.tell() > 0:
        f.seek(-1, os.SEEK_CUR)
        char = f.read(1)
        if char != '\n' and f.tell() == end:
            print "No change: file does not end with a newline"
            exit(1)
        if char == '\n':
            count += 1
        if count == number + 1:
            f.truncate()
            print "Removed " + str(number) + " lines from end of file"
            exit(0)
        f.seek(-1, os.SEEK_CUR)

if count < number + 1:
    print "No change: requested removal would leave empty file"
    exit(3)