STRINGS(1)		    GNU Development Tools		   STRINGS(1)



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

SYNOPSIS
       strings [-afov] [-min-len]
	       [-n min-len] [--bytes=min-len]
	       [-t radix] [--radix=radix]
	       [-e encoding] [--encoding=encoding]
	       [-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
	       [--target=bfdname]
	       [--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.
       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.

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

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

       -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  charac-
	   ters,  b  =	16-bit bigendian, l = 16-bit littleendian, B = 32-bit
	   bigendian, L = 32-bit littleendian. Useful for finding wide	char-
	   acter strings.

       --target=bfdname
	   Specify  an	object	code  format other than your system's default
	   format.

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

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (c) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001,	2002,
       2003, 2004 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 1.1  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-2.15.92.0.2		  2006-08-13			   STRINGS(1)

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