[unix-history] / usr / man / man1 / strings.1

.TH STRINGS 1 "24 February 1979"
.UC
.SH NAME
strings \- find the printable strings in a object, or other binary, file
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B strings
[
.B \-
] [
.B \-o
] [
\fB\-\fInumber\fR
] file ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Strings
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.
Unless the
.B \-
flag is given,
.I strings
only looks in the initialized data space of object files.
If the
.B \-o
flag is given, then each string is preceded by its offset in the
file (in octal).
If the
\fB\-\fInumber\fR
flag is given then number is used as the minimum string length
rather than 4.
.PP
.I Strings
is useful for identifying random object files and many other things.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
od(1)
.SH BUGS
The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive
Commit	Line	Data
d8649de5 C	1	.TH STRINGS 1 "24 February 1979"
	2	.UC
	3	.SH NAME
	4	strings \- find the printable strings in a object, or other binary, file
	5	.SH SYNOPSIS
	6	.B strings
	7	[
	8	.B \-
	9	] [
	10	.B \-o
	11	] [
	12	\fB\-\fInumber\fR
	13	] file ...
	14	.SH DESCRIPTION
	15	.I Strings
	16	looks for ascii strings in a binary file.
	17	A string is any sequence of 4 or more printing characters ending with
	18	a newline or a null.
	19	Unless the
	20	.B \-
	21	flag is given,
	22	.I strings
	23	only looks in the initialized data space of object files.
	24	If the
	25	.B \-o
	26	flag is given, then each string is preceded by its offset in the
	27	file (in octal).
	28	If the
	29	\fB\-\fInumber\fR
	30	flag is given then number is used as the minimum string length
	31	rather than 4.
	32	.PP
	33	.I Strings
	34	is useful for identifying random object files and many other things.
	35	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	36	od(1)
	37	.SH BUGS
	38	The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive