STRINGS(1) GNU Development Tools 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 followed by
an unprintable character. By default, it only prints the
strings from the initialized and loaded sections 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 min-len
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.
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STRINGS(1) GNU Development Tools STRINGS(1)
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
bigendian, 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 output
and exit.
SEE ALSOar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1) and the Info
entries for binutils.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the
Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, 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''.
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