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 characters,
	   b  =  16-bit  bigendian, l = 16-bit littleendian, B = 32-bit bigen
	   dian, L = 32-bit littleendian. Useful for  finding  wide  character
	   strings.

       --target=bfdname
	   Specify an object code format other than your systems default for
	   mat.

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

       @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 charac
	   ter 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,  1992,  1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
       2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 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-2.17			  2006-06-23			    STRINGS(1)