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strings

Find printable strings in files (POSIX)

Syntax:

strings_variants [-afov] [-n min-len] 
        [-t radix] 
        [--target=bfdname] [--help] 
        file...

Options:

The strings_variant depends on the target platform, as follows:

-a

Scan all of the object files, not just the initialized and loaded sections.

-f

Print the name of the file before each string.

-n 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't be compatible with both ways, we simply chose one.

-t 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
• d for decimal

-v

Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.

GNU extensions

--help

Print a summary of the program usage on the standard output and exit.

--target=bfdname

Specify an object code format other than your system's default format. For more information, see "Target Selection" in the appendix Selecting the Target System.

Description:

For each file given, strings prints the printable character sequences that are at least 4 characters long (or the number given with the options) and are followed by an unprintable character. By default, it prints only the strings from the initialized and loaded sections of object and ELF files; for other types of files, it prints the strings from the whole file.

The strings utility is mainly useful for determining the contents of nontext files.

Contributing author:

GNU