NAME

strings − find the printable strings in an object or other binary file

SYNOPSIS

strings [−a] [−o] [− number] [file] ...

DESCRIPTION

strings looks for ASCII strings in a file.  If no file is specified, standard input is used.  A string is any sequence of four or more printing characters ending with a new-line or null character. 

Options

−a By default, strings looks only in the initialized data space of object files (as recognized by their magic numbers).  If this flag is used, the entire file is inspected.  This flag is always set if standard input is being read or the file is not recognized as an object file.  For backward compatibility, − is understood as a synonym for −a. 

−o Each string is preceded by its offset in the file (in octal). 

−number Specify number as the minimum string length, rather than the default 4. 

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

AUTHOR

strings was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. 

WARNINGS

The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive. 

SEE ALSO

od(1). 

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  HP-UX Release 8.05: June 1991