path: root/binutils/strings.1

.\" Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
.\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
.TH strings 1 "09 March 2000" "Free Software Foundation" "GNU Development Tools"
.de BP
.sp
.ti \-.2i
\(**
..

.SH NAME
strings \- print the strings of printable characters in files

.SH SYNOPSIS
.hy 0
.na
.TP
.B strings
.RB "[\|" \-a | \-\c
.RB | \-\-all "\|]" 
.RB "[\|" \-f | \-\-print\-file\-name "\|]"
.RB "[\|" \-o "\|]" 
.RB "[\|" \-\-help "\|]" 
.RB "[\|" \-v | \-\-version "\|]"  
.RB "[\|" \-n
.I min\-len\c
.RI | \-min\-len\c
.RB | "\-\-bytes="\c
.I min\-len\c
\&\|]
.RB "[\|" \-t
.I {o,x,d}\c
.RB "[\|" "\-\-target=\fIbfdname" "\|]"
.RB | "\-\-radix="\c
.I {o,x,d}\c
\&\|]
.I file\c
.ad b
.hy 1
.SH DESCRIPTION
For each
.I file
given, GNU \c
.B 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.

.PP
.B strings
is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text files.

.SH OPTIONS
The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
equivalent.

.TP
.B \-a
.TP
.B \-\-all
.TP
.B \-
Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections of object files;
scan the whole files.

.TP
.B \-f
.TP
.B \-\-print\-file\-name
Print the name of the file before each string.

.TP
.B \-\-help
Print a summary of the options to
.B strings
on the standard output and exit.

.TP
.B \-v
.TP
.B \-\-version
Print the version number
of
.B strings
on the standard output and exit.

.TP
.B "\-n \fImin\-len\fP"
.TP
.B "\-\fImin\-len\fP"
.TP
.B "\-\-bytes=\fImin\-len\fP"
Print sequences of characters that are at least
.I min\-len
characters long, instead of the default 4.

.TP
.BR "\-t " {o,x,d}
.TP
.BR "\-\-radix=" {o,x,d}
Print the offset within the file before each string.  The single
character argument specifies the radix of the offset\(emoctal,
hexadecimal, or decimal.

.TP
.BI "\-\-target=" "bfdname"
Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
See 
.BR objdump ( 1 ),
for information on listing available formats.

.TP
.B \-o
Like
.BR "\-t o" .

.PP

.SH "SEE ALSO"
.RB "`\|" binutils "\|'"
entry in 
.B
info\c
\&; 
.I
The GNU Binary Utilities\c
\&, Roland H. Pesch (October 1991);
.BR ar ( 1 ),
.BR nm ( 1 ),
.BR objdump ( 1 ),
.BR ranlib ( 1 ).


.SH COPYING
Copyright (c) 1993, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
.PP
This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License, version 1.1.  That license is described in the
sources for this manual page, but it is not displayed here in order to
make this manual more consise.  Copies of this license can also be
obtained from: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.

\"  .SH GNU Free Documentation License
\"    Version 1.1, March 2000

\"    Copyright (C) 2000  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
\"    59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
     
\"    Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim
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\"  10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
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\"  ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
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