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File: binutils.info,  Node: strings,  Next: strip,  Prev: size,  Up: Top
7 strings
*********
     strings [-afovV] [-MIN-LEN]
             [-n MIN-LEN] [--bytes=MIN-LEN]
             [-t RADIX] [--radix=RADIX]
             [-e ENCODING] [--encoding=ENCODING]
             [-U METHOD] [--unicode=METHOD]
             [-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
             [-T BFDNAME] [--target=BFDNAME]
             [-w] [--include-all-whitespace]
             [-s] [--output-separatorSEP_STRING]
             [--help] [--version] FILE...
   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.
'-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).
'-U [D|I|L|E|X|H]'
'--unicode=[DEFAULT|INVALID|LOCALE|ESCAPE|HEX|HIGHLIGHT]'
     Controls the display of UTF-8 encoded mulibyte characters in
     strings.  The default ('--unicode=default') is to give them no
     special treatment, and instead rely upon the setting of the
     '--encoding' option.  The other values for this option
     automatically enable '--encoding=S'.
     The '--unicode=invalid' option treats them as non-graphic
     characters and hence not part of a valid string.  All the remaining
     options treat them as valid string characters.
     The '--unicode=locale' option displays them in the current locale,
     which may or may not support UTF-8 encoding.  The '--unicode=hex'
     option displays them as hex byte sequences enclosed between <>
     characters.  The '--unicode=escape' option displays them as escape
     sequences (\UXXXX) and the '--unicode=highlight' option displays
     them as escape sequences highlighted in red (if supported by the
     output device).  The colouring is intended to draw attention to the
     presence of unicode sequences where they might not be expected.
'-T BFDNAME'
'--target=BFDNAME'
     Specify an object code format other than your system's default
     format.  *Note Target Selection::, for more information.
'-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.