strings(1)

NAME

     strings - find printable strings in an object or binary file

SYNOPSIS

     strings [-a | -]  [-t format | -o]   [-n number  |  -number]
     [file...]

DESCRIPTION

     The strings utility looks for  ASCII  strings  in  a  binary
     file. A string is any sequence of 4 or more printing charac-
     ters ending with a newline or a null character.

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

OPTIONS

     The following options are supported:

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

     -n number | -number
           Use a number as the minimum string length rather  than
           the default, which is 4.

     -o    Equivalent to -t d option.

     -t format
           Write each string preceded by its byte offset from the
           start of the file. The format is dependent on the sin-
           gle character used as the format option-argument:

           d     The offset will be written in decimal.

           o     The offset will be written in octal.

           x     The offset will be written in hexadecimal.

OPERANDS

     The following operand is supported:

     file  A path name of a regular file to be used as input.  If
           no file operand is specified, the strings utility will
           read from the standard input.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

     See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment
     variables  that  affect  the  execution  of  strings:  LANG,
     LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS

     The following exit values are returned:

     0     Successful completion.

     >0    An error occurred.

ATTRIBUTES

     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWtoo                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | CSI                         | Enabled                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Standard                    |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|

SEE ALSO

     od(1), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5)

NOTES

     The algorithm for identifying strings  is  extremely  primi-
     tive.

     For backwards compatibility, the options -a and - are inter-
     changeable.