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
	   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
       -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) 1991-2016 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".



binutils-2.27			  2016-08-03			    STRINGS(1)