NAME

       strings - print the strings of printable characters in files.

SYNOPSIS

       strings [-afov] [-min-len]
               [-n min-len] [--bytes=min-len]
               [-t radix] [--radix=radix]
               [-e encoding] [--encoding=encoding]
               [-] [--all] [--print-file-name]
               [-T bfdname] [--target=bfdname]
               [--help] [--version] file...

DESCRIPTION

       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.   By
       default,  it  only prints the strings from the initialized and loaded sections of object files; for other
       types of files, it prints the strings from the whole file.

       strings is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text files.

OPTIONS

       -a
       --all
       -   Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections of object files; scan the whole files.

       -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.

       -T bfdname
       --target=bfdname
           Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.

       -v
       --version
           Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.

       @file
           Read  command-line  options  from file.  The options read are inserted in place of the original @file
           option.  If file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be  treated  literally,  and
           not removed.

           Options  in file are separated by whitespace.  A whitespace character may be included in an option by
           surrounding the entire option in  either  single  or  double  quotes.   Any  character  (including  a
           backslash)  may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash.  The file may
           itself contain additional @file options; any such options will be processed recursively.

SEE ALSO

       ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1) and the Info entries for binutils.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,  2004,  2005,
       2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission  is  granted  to  copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free
       Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software  Foundation;  with
       no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license is
       included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".