last_log_position

last_log_position () {

   WATCH_LOG="$1" ; NUMLINES_FILE="$2" ; NUMLINES_DIFF=0

   ## find total number of lines in the log file
   CUR_LINE_COUNT=`wc -l $WATCH_LOG | awk '{print $1}'`

   ## retrieve the previous line count of the log file
   ## if there isn't one, make a new one with the current line count
   if [ -r "$NUMLINES_FILE" ]; then
      OLD_LINE_COUNT=`cat "$NUMLINES_FILE"`
   else
      echo "$CUR_LINE_COUNT" > "$NUMLINES_FILE"
      OLD_LINE_COUNT=`cat "$NUMLINES_FILE"`
   fi

   echo "$CUR_LINE_COUNT" > "$NUMLINES_FILE"  ## save new line count

   if [ "$OLD_LINE_COUNT" -lt "$CUR_LINE_COUNT" ]; then
     NUMLINES_DIFF=$(($CUR_LINE_COUNT - $OLD_LINE_COUNT))
   elif [ "$OLD_LINE_COUNT" -eq "$CUR_LINE_COUNT" ]; then
     NUMLINES_DIFF=0  # log same size
   else
     NUMLINES_DIFF="$CUR_LINE_COUNT"  ## log rolled?
     echo "$MY_DATE - log rolled?" >> "$MY_LOG"
   fi

}