strings(1)

STRINGS(1)            GNU Development Tools            STRINGS(1)

NAME

     strings - print the strings of printable characters in
     files.

SYNOPSIS

     strings [-afovV] [-min-len]
             [-n min-len] [--bytes=min-len]
             [-t radix] [--radix=radix]
             [-e encoding] [--encoding=encoding]
             [-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
             [-T bfdname] [--target=bfdname]
             [-w] [--include-all-whitespace]
             [-s] [--output-separatorsep_string]
             [--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.

     Depending upon how the strings program was configured it
     will default to either displaying all the printable
     sequences that it can find in each file, or only those
     sequences that are in loadable, initialized data sections.
     If the file type in unrecognizable, or if strings is reading
     from stdin then it will always display all of the printable
     sequences that it can find.

     For backwards compatibility any file that occurs after a
     command line option of just - will also be scanned in full,
     regardless of the presence of any -d option.

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

OPTIONS

     -a
     --all
     -   Scan the whole file, regardless of what sections it
         contains or whether those sections are loaded or
         initialized.  Normally this is the default behaviour,
         but strings can be configured so that the -d is the
         default instead.

         The - option is position dependent and forces strings to
         perform full scans of any file that is mentioned after
         the - on the command line, even if the -d option has
         been specified.

     -d
     --data

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STRINGS(1)            GNU Development Tools            STRINGS(1)

         Only print strings from initialized, loaded data
         sections in the file.  This may reduce the amount of
         garbage in the output, but it also exposes the strings
         program to any security flaws that may be present in the
         BFD library used to scan and load sections.  Strings can
         be configured so that this option is the default
         behaviour.  In such cases the -a option can be used to
         avoid using the BFD library and instead just print all
         of the strings found in the file.

     -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.
         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. (l and b apply to, for example,
         Unicode UTF-16/UCS-2 encodings).

     -T bfdname
     --target=bfdname
         Specify an object code format other than your system's
         default format.

     -v

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STRINGS(1)            GNU Development Tools            STRINGS(1)

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

     -w
     --include-all-whitespace
         By default tab and space characters are included in the
         strings that are displayed, but other whitespace
         characters, such a newlines and carriage returns, are
         not.  The -w option changes this so that all whitespace
         characters are considered to be part of a string.

     -s
     --output-separator
         By default, output strings are delimited by a new-line.
         This option allows you to supply any string to be used
         as the output record separator.  Useful with
         --include-all-whitespace where strings may contain new-
         lines internally.

     @file
         Read command-line options from file.  The options read
         are inserted in place of the original @file option.  If
         file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option
         will be treated literally, and not removed.

         Options in file are separated by whitespace.  A
         whitespace character may be included in an option by
         surrounding the entire option in either single or double
         quotes.  Any character (including a backslash) may be
         included by prefixing the character to be included with
         a backslash.  The file may itself contain additional
         @file options; any such options will be processed
         recursively.

SEE ALSO

     ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1) and the Info
     entries for binutils.

COPYRIGHT

     Copyright (c) 1991-2018 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 1.3 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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