1STRINGS(1)                   GNU Development Tools                  STRINGS(1)
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NAME

6       strings - print the strings of printable characters in files.
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SYNOPSIS

9       strings [-afov] [-min-len]
10               [-n min-len] [--bytes=min-len]
11               [-t radix] [--radix=radix]
12               [-e encoding] [--encoding=encoding]
13               [-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
14               [--target=bfdname]
15               [--help] [--version] file...
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DESCRIPTION

18       For  each  file  given,  GNU  strings  prints  the  printable character
19       sequences that are at least 4 characters long (or the number given with
20       the  options  below)  and are followed by an unprintable character.  By
21       default, it only prints the strings from  the  initialized  and  loaded
22       sections  of  object  files;  for  other  types of files, it prints the
23       strings from the whole file.
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25       strings is mainly useful  for  determining  the  contents  of  non-text
26       files.
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OPTIONS

29       -a
30       --all
31       -   Do  not  scan  only  the  initialized and loaded sections of object
32           files; scan the whole files.
33
34       -f
35       --print-file-name
36           Print the name of the file before each string.
37
38       --help
39           Print a summary of the program usage on  the  standard  output  and
40           exit.
41
42       -min-len
43       -n min-len
44       --bytes=min-len
45           Print  sequences of characters that are at least min-len characters
46           long, instead of the default 4.
47
48       -o  Like -t o.  Some other versions of strings have -o act  like  -t  d
49           instead.   Since we can not be compatible with both ways, we simply
50           chose one.
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52       -t radix
53       --radix=radix
54           Print the offset within the file before each  string.   The  single
55           character argument specifies the radix of the offset---o for octal,
56           x for hexadecimal, or d for decimal.
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58       -e encoding
59       --encoding=encoding
60           Select the character encoding of the strings that are to be  found.
61           Possible  values for encoding are: s = single-7-bit-byte characters
62           (ASCII, ISO 8859, etc., default), S = single-8-bit-byte characters,
63           b  =  16-bit  bigendian, l = 16-bit littleendian, B = 32-bit bigen‐
64           dian, L = 32-bit littleendian. Useful for  finding  wide  character
65           strings.
66
67       --target=bfdname
68           Specify an object code format other than your system's default for‐
69           mat.
70
71       -v
72       --version
73           Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.
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SEE ALSO

76       ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1) and  the  Info  entries
77       for binutils.
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80       Copyright  (c)  1991,  1992,  1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
81       2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
82
83       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify  this  document
84       under  the  terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
85       any later version published by the Free Software  Foundation;  with  no
86       Invariant  Sections,  with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
87       Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
88       Free Documentation License''.
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92binutils-2.15.97                  2005-04-20                        STRINGS(1)
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