strings(1)
NAME
strings - print the strings of printable characters in
files.
SYNOPSIS
strings [-afov] [-min-len]
[-n min-len] [--bytes=min-len]
[-t radix] [--radix=radix]
[-e encoding] [--encoding=encoding]
[-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
[--target=bfdname]
[--help] [--version] file...
DESCRIPTION
For each file given, GNU strings prints the printable
character sequences that are at least 4 characters long
(or the number given with the options below) and are fol
lowed by an unprintable character. By default, it only
prints the strings from the initialized and loaded sec
tions of object files; for other types of files, it prints
the strings from the whole file.
strings is mainly useful for determining the contents of
non-text files.
OPTIONS
- -a
--all
- Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections - of object files; scan the whole files.
- -f
--print-file-name - Print the name of the file before each string.
- --help
- Print a summary of the program usage on the standard
output and exit. - -min-len
-n min-len
--bytes=min-len - Print sequences of characters that are at least minlen characters long, instead of the default 4.
- -o Like -t o. Some other versions of strings have -o act
- like -t d instead. Since we can not be compatible
with both ways, we simply chose one. - -t radix
--radix=radix - Print the offset within the file before each string.
The single character argument specifies the radix of
the offset---o for octal, x for hexadecimal, or d for
decimal. - -e encoding
--encoding=encoding - Select the character encoding of the strings that are
to be found. Possible values for encoding are: s = single-7-bit-byte characters (ASCII, ISO 8859, etc.,
default), S = single-8-bit-byte characters, b = 16-bit
bigendian, l = 16-bit littleendian, B = 32-bit bigen
dian, L = 32-bit littleendian. Useful for finding wide
character strings. - --target=bfdname
- Specify an object code format other than your system's
default format. - -v
--version - Print the program version number on the standard out
put and exit.
SEE ALSO
ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1) and the
Info entries for binutils.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000,
2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
- Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify
this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documenta
tion License, Version 1.1 or any later version published
by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sec
tions, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section
entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".