binutils: strings
7 strings
*********
strings [-afovV] [-MIN-LEN]
[-n MIN-LEN] [--bytes=MIN-LEN]
[-t RADIX] [--radix=RADIX]
[-e ENCODING] [--encoding=ENCODING]
[-] [--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).
'-T BFDNAME'
'--target=BFDNAME'
Specify an object code format other than your system's default
format. 
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.
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