strings(1)  UNIX System V(Directory and File Management Utilities)   strings(1)


NAME
      strings - find printable strings in an object file or binary

SYNOPSIS
      strings [ -a ] [ -o ] [ -n number |-number ] filename . . .

DESCRIPTION
      The strings command looks for ASCII strings in a binary file.  A string
      is any sequence of 4 or more printing characters ending with a newline or
      a null character.

      strings is useful for identifying random object files and many other
      things.

      The following options are available:

      -a          Look everywhere in the file for strings.  If this flag is
                  omitted, strings only looks in the initialized data space of
                  object files.

      -o          Precede each string by its offset in the file.

      -n number   Use number as the minimum string length rather than 4.

SEE ALSO
      od(1)

NOTES
      The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive.

      For backwards compatibility, -number can be used in place of -n number.
      Similarly, the -a and a - option are interchangeable.  The - and the
      -number variations are obsolescent.





















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