strings(1)               USER COMMANDS                 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 char-
     acters 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 ini-
                 tialized 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  primi-
     tive.   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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