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

.\" Copyright (c) 1993 Free Software Foundation
.\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
.TH nm 1 "25 June 1993" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
.de BP
.sp
.ti \-.2i
\(**
..

.SH NAME
strings\(em\&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 | "\-\-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 a NUL or newline character.  By default, it only prints
the strings from the initialized data 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 data section 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"
.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
.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
b26ac613 DM	1	.\" Copyright (c) 1993 Free Software Foundation
	2	.\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
	3	.TH nm 1 "25 June 1993" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
	4	.de BP
	5	.sp
	6	.ti \-.2i
	7	\(**
	8	..
	9
	10	.SH NAME
	11	strings\(em\&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 \| "\-\-radix="\c
	33	.I {o,x,d}\c
	34	\&\\|]
	35	.I file\c
	36	.ad b
	37	.hy 1
	38	.SH DESCRIPTION
	39	For each
	40	.I file
	41	given, GNU \c
	42	.B strings
	43	prints the printable character sequences that are at least 4
	44	characters long (or the number given with the options below) and are
	45	followed by a NUL or newline character. By default, it only prints
	46	the strings from the initialized data sections of object files; for
	47	other types of files, it prints the strings from the whole file.
	48
	49	.PP
	50	.B strings
	51	is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text files.
	52
	53	.SH OPTIONS
	54	The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
	55	equivalent.
	56
	57	.TP
	58	.B \-a
	59	.TP
	60	.B \-\-all
	61	.TP
	62	.B \-
	63	Do not scan only the initialized data section of object files; scan
	64	the whole files.
65
66	.TP
67	.B \-f
68	.TP
69	.B \-\-print\-file\-name
70	Print the name of the file before each string.
71
72	.TP
73	.B \-\-help
74	Print a summary of the options to
75	.B strings
76	on the standard output and exit.
77
78	.TP
79	.B \-v
80	.TP
81	.B \-\-version
82	Print the version number
83	of
84	.B strings
85	on the standard output and exit.
86
87	.TP
88	.B "\-n \fImin\-len\fP"
89	.B "\-\fImin\-len\fP"
90	.TP
91	.B "\-bytes=\fImin\-len\fP"
92	Print sequences of characters that are at least
93	.I min\-len
94	characters long, instead of the default 4.
95
96	.TP
97	.BR "\-t " {o,x,d}
98	.TP
99	.BR "\-\-radix=" {o,x,d}
100	Print the offset within the file before each string. The single
101	character argument specifies the radix of the offset\(emoctal,
102	hexadecimal, or decimal.
103
104	.TP
105	.B \-o
106	Like
107	.BR "\-t o" .
108
109	.PP
110
111	.SH "SEE ALSO"
112	.RB "`\\|" binutils "\\|'"
113	entry in
114	.B
115	info\c
116	\&;
117	.I
118	The GNU Binary Utilities\c
119	\&, Roland H. Pesch (October 1991);
120	.BR ar ( 1 ),
121	.BR nm ( 1 ),
122	.BR objdump ( 1 ),
123	.BR ranlib ( 1 ).
124
125
126	.SH COPYING
127	Copyright (c) 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
128	.PP
129	Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
130	this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
131	are preserved on all copies.
132	.PP
133	Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
134	manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
135	entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
136	permission notice identical to this one.
137	.PP
138	Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
139	manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
140	versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
141	translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
142	the original English.