1STRINGS(1) GNU Development Tools STRINGS(1)
2
6 strings - print the sequences of printable characters in files
7
9 strings [-afovV] [-min-len]
10 [-n min-len] [--bytes=min-len]
11 [-t radix] [--radix=radix]
12 [-e encoding] [--encoding=encoding]
13 [-U method] [--unicode=method]
14 [-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
15 [-T bfdname] [--target=bfdname]
16 [-w] [--include-all-whitespace]
17 [-s] [--output-separator sep_string]
18 [--help] [--version] file...
19
21 For each file given, GNU strings prints the printable character
22 sequences that are at least 4 characters long (or the number given with
23 the options below) and are followed by an unprintable character.
24 Depending upon how the strings program was configured it will default
26 to either displaying all the printable sequences that it can find in
27 each file, or only those sequences that are in loadable, initialized
28 data sections. If the file type is unrecognizable, or if strings is
29 reading from stdin then it will always display all of the printable
30 sequences that it can find.
31 For backwards compatibility any file that occurs after a command-line
33 option of just - will also be scanned in full, regardless of the
34 presence of any -d option.
35 strings is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text
37 files.
38
40 -a
41 --all
42 - Scan the whole file, regardless of what sections it contains or
43 whether those sections are loaded or initialized. Normally this is
44 the default behaviour, but strings can be configured so that the -d
45 is the default instead.
46 The - option is position dependent and forces strings to perform
48 full scans of any file that is mentioned after the - on the command
49 line, even if the -d option has been specified.
50 -d
52 --data
53 Only print strings from initialized, loaded data sections in the
54 file. This may reduce the amount of garbage in the output, but it
55 also exposes the strings program to any security flaws that may be
56 present in the BFD library used to scan and load sections. Strings
57 can be configured so that this option is the default behaviour. In
58 such cases the -a option can be used to avoid using the BFD library
59 and instead just print all of the strings found in the file.
60 -f
62 --print-file-name
63 Print the name of the file before each string.
64 --help
66 Print a summary of the program usage on the standard output and
67 exit.
68 -min-len
70 -n min-len
71 --bytes=min-len
72 Print sequences of displayable characters that are at least min-len
73 characters long. If not specified a default minimum length of 4 is
74 used. The distinction between displayable and non-displayable
75 characters depends upon the setting of the -e and -U options.
76 Sequences are always terminated at control characters such as new-
77 line and carriage-return, but not the tab character.
78 -o Like -t o. Some other versions of strings have -o act like -t d
80 instead. Since we can not be compatible with both ways, we simply
81 chose one.
82 -t radix
84 --radix=radix
85 Print the offset within the file before each string. The single
86 character argument specifies the radix of the offset---o for octal,
87 x for hexadecimal, or d for decimal.
88 -e encoding
90 --encoding=encoding
91 Select the character encoding of the strings that are to be found.
92 Possible values for encoding are: s = single-7-bit-byte characters
93 (default), S = single-8-bit-byte characters, b = 16-bit bigendian,
94 l = 16-bit littleendian, B = 32-bit bigendian, L = 32-bit
95 littleendian. Useful for finding wide character strings. (l and b
96 apply to, for example, Unicode UTF-16/UCS-2 encodings).
97 -U [d|i|l|e|x|h]
99 --unicode=[default|invalid|locale|escape|hex|highlight]
100 Controls the display of UTF-8 encoded multibyte characters in
101 strings. The default (--unicode=default) is to give them no
102 special treatment, and instead rely upon the setting of the
103 --encoding option. The other values for this option automatically
104 enable --encoding=S.
105 The --unicode=invalid option treats them as non-graphic characters
107 and hence not part of a valid string. All the remaining options
108 treat them as valid string characters.
109 The --unicode=locale option displays them in the current locale,
111 which may or may not support UTF-8 encoding. The --unicode=hex
112 option displays them as hex byte sequences enclosed between <>
113 characters. The --unicode=escape option displays them as escape
114 sequences (\uxxxx) and the --unicode=highlight option displays them
115 as escape sequences highlighted in red (if supported by the output
116 device). The colouring is intended to draw attention to the
117 presence of unicode sequences where they might not be expected.
118 -T bfdname
120 --target=bfdname
121 Specify an object code format other than your system's default
122 format.
123 -v
125 -V
126 --version
127 Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.
128 -w
130 --include-all-whitespace
131 By default tab and space characters are included in the strings
132 that are displayed, but other whitespace characters, such a
133 newlines and carriage returns, are not. The -w option changes this
134 so that all whitespace characters are considered to be part of a
135 string.
136 -s
138 --output-separator
139 By default, output strings are delimited by a new-line. This option
140 allows you to supply any string to be used as the output record
141 separator. Useful with --include-all-whitespace where strings may
142 contain new-lines internally.
143 @file
145 Read command-line options from file. The options read are inserted
146 in place of the original @file option. If file does not exist, or
147 cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not
148 removed.
149 Options in file are separated by whitespace. A whitespace
151 character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire
152 option in either single or double quotes. Any character (including
153 a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be
154 included with a backslash. The file may itself contain additional
155 @file options; any such options will be processed recursively.
156
158 ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1) and the Info entries
159 for binutils.
160
162 Copyright (c) 1991-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
163 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
165 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
166 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
167 Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
168 Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
169 Free Documentation License".
170binutils-2.41 2023-08-16 STRINGS(1)