[deliverable/binutils-gdb.git] / binutils / strings.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1993, 94, 95, 2000 Free Software Foundation
.\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
.TH strings 1 "09 March 2000" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
.de BP
.sp
.ti \-.2i
\(**
..

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

.SH SYNOPSIS
.hy 0
.na
.TP
.B strings
.RB "[\|" \-a | \-\c
.RB | \-\-all "\|]" 
.RB "[\|" \-f | \-\-print\-file\-name "\|]"
.RB "[\|" \-o "\|]" 
.RB "[\|" \-\-help "\|]" 
.RB "[\|" \-v | \-\-version "\|]"  
.RB "[\|" \-n
.I min\-len\c
.RI | \-min\-len\c
.RB | "\-\-bytes="\c
.I min\-len\c
\&\|]
.RB "[\|" \-t
.I {o,x,d}\c
.RB "[\|" "\-\-target=\fIbfdname" "\|]"
.RB | "\-\-radix="\c
.I {o,x,d}\c
\&\|]
.I file\c
.ad b
.hy 1
.SH DESCRIPTION
For each
.I file
given, GNU \c
.B 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.

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

.SH OPTIONS
The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
equivalent.

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

.TP
.B \-f
.TP
.B \-\-print\-file\-name
Print the name of the file before each string.

.TP
.B \-\-help
Print a summary of the options to
.B strings
on the standard output and exit.

.TP
.B \-v
.TP
.B \-\-version
Print the version number
of
.B strings
on the standard output and exit.

.TP
.B "\-n \fImin\-len\fP"
.TP
.B "\-\fImin\-len\fP"
.TP
.B "\-\-bytes=\fImin\-len\fP"
Print sequences of characters that are at least
.I min\-len
characters long, instead of the default 4.

.TP
.BR "\-t " {o,x,d}
.TP
.BR "\-\-radix=" {o,x,d}
Print the offset within the file before each string.  The single
character argument specifies the radix of the offset\(emoctal,
hexadecimal, or decimal.

.TP
.BI "\-\-target=" "bfdname"
Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
See 
.BR objdump ( 1 ),
for information on listing available formats.

.TP
.B \-o
Like
.BR "\-t o" .

.PP

.SH "SEE ALSO"
.RB "`\|" binutils "\|'"
entry in 
.B
info\c
\&; 
.I
The GNU Binary Utilities\c
\&, Roland H. Pesch (October 1991);
.BR ar ( 1 ),
.BR nm ( 1 ),
.BR objdump ( 1 ),
.BR ranlib ( 1 ).


.SH COPYING
Copyright (c) 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
.PP
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.
.PP
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.
.PP
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
the original English.
Commit	Line	Data
37cc8ec1	1	.\" Copyright (c) 1993, 94, 95, 2000 Free Software Foundation
252b5132	2	.\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
37cc8ec1	3	.TH strings 1 "09 March 2000" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
252b5132 RH	4	.de BP
	5	.sp
	6	.ti \-.2i
	7	\(**
	8	..
	9
	10	.SH NAME
	11	strings \- print the strings of printable characters in files
	12
	13	.SH SYNOPSIS
	14	.hy 0
	15	.na
	16	.TP
	17	.B strings
	18	.RB "[\\|" \-a \| \-\c
	19	.RB \| \-\-all "\\|]"
	20	.RB "[\\|" \-f \| \-\-print\-file\-name "\\|]"
	21	.RB "[\\|" \-o "\\|]"
	22	.RB "[\\|" \-\-help "\\|]"
	23	.RB "[\\|" \-v \| \-\-version "\\|]"
	24	.RB "[\\|" \-n
	25	.I min\-len\c
	26	.RI \| \-min\-len\c
	27	.RB \| "\-\-bytes="\c
	28	.I min\-len\c
	29	\&\\|]
	30	.RB "[\\|" \-t
	31	.I {o,x,d}\c
	32	.RB "[\\|" "\-\-target=\fIbfdname" "\\|]"
	33	.RB \| "\-\-radix="\c
	34	.I {o,x,d}\c
	35	\&\\|]
	36	.I file\c
	37	.ad b
	38	.hy 1
	39	.SH DESCRIPTION
	40	For each
	41	.I file
	42	given, GNU \c
	43	.B strings
	44	prints the printable character sequences that are at least 4
	45	characters long (or the number given with the options below) and are
	46	followed by an unprintable character. By default, it only prints the
	47	strings from the initialized and loaded sections of object files; for
	48	other types of files, it prints the strings from the whole file.
	49
	50	.PP
	51	.B strings
	52	is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text files.
	53
	54	.SH OPTIONS
	55	The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
	56	equivalent.
	57
	58	.TP
	59	.B \-a
	60	.TP
	61	.B \-\-all
	62	.TP
	63	.B \-
	64	Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections of object files;
	65	scan the whole files.
	66
	67	.TP
68	.B \-f
69	.TP
70	.B \-\-print\-file\-name
71	Print the name of the file before each string.
72
73	.TP
74	.B \-\-help
75	Print a summary of the options to
76	.B strings
77	on the standard output and exit.
78
79	.TP
80	.B \-v
81	.TP
82	.B \-\-version
83	Print the version number
84	of
85	.B strings
86	on the standard output and exit.
87
88	.TP
89	.B "\-n \fImin\-len\fP"
90	.TP
91	.B "\-\fImin\-len\fP"
92	.TP
fd5ccd47	93	.B "\-\-bytes=\fImin\-len\fP"
252b5132 RH	94	Print sequences of characters that are at least
	95	.I min\-len
	96	characters long, instead of the default 4.
	97
	98	.TP
	99	.BR "\-t " {o,x,d}
	100	.TP
	101	.BR "\-\-radix=" {o,x,d}
	102	Print the offset within the file before each string. The single
	103	character argument specifies the radix of the offset\(emoctal,
	104	hexadecimal, or decimal.
	105
	106	.TP
	107	.BI "\-\-target=" "bfdname"
	108	Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
	109	See
	110	.BR objdump ( 1 ),
	111	for information on listing available formats.
	112
	113	.TP
	114	.B \-o
	115	Like
	116	.BR "\-t o" .
	117
	118	.PP
	119
	120	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	121	.RB "`\\|" binutils "\\|'"
	122	entry in
	123	.B
	124	info\c
	125	\&;
	126	.I
	127	The GNU Binary Utilities\c
	128	\&, Roland H. Pesch (October 1991);
	129	.BR ar ( 1 ),
	130	.BR nm ( 1 ),
	131	.BR objdump ( 1 ),
	132	.BR ranlib ( 1 ).
	133
	134
	135	.SH COPYING
	136	Copyright (c) 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
	137	.PP
	138	Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
	139	this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
	140	are preserved on all copies.
	141	.PP
	142	Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
	143	manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
	144	entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
	145	permission notice identical to this one.
	146	.PP
	147	Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
	148	manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
	149	versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
	150	translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
	151	the original English.