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strings(1) [opensolaris man page]

strings(1)							   User Commands							strings(1)

NAME
strings - find printable strings in an object or binary file SYNOPSIS
strings [-a | -] [-t format | -o] [-n number | -number] [-N name] [file]... DESCRIPTION
The strings utility looks for ASCII strings in a binary file. A string is any sequence of 4 or more printing characters ending with a NEW- LINE or a NULL character. strings is useful for identifying random object files and many other things. By default, strings looks at program sections that are loaded in memory. Program sections are identified by the section type SHT_PROGBITS. Sections that are loaded in memory are identified by the section flag SHF_ALLOC. Use elfdump(1) to display complete section information for a file. All sections can be inspected with the -a option. Individual sections can be inspected with the -N option. OPTIONS
The following options are supported: -a | - Look everywhere in the file for strings. -n number | -number Use a number as the minimum string length rather than the default, which is 4. -N name Look only in ELF section name. See elfdump(1). Multiple -N options can be specified to inspect multiple sections. If the -a or -option is specified, all -N options are ignored . -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 single character used as the format option-argument: d The offset is written in decimal. o The offset is written in octal. x The offset is 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 reads 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 attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Availability |SUNWtoo | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |CSI |Enabled | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Interface Stability |See below. | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ The strings utility, including all options except -N, are specified by standards. See standards(5). The -N option is not currently speci- fied by any standard. SEE ALSO
elfdump(1), od(1), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5) NOTES
The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive. For backwards compatibility, the options -a and - are interchangeable. SunOS 5.11 13 Apr 2007 strings(1)

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strings(1)						      General Commands Manual							strings(1)

NAME
strings - Finds strings in an ASCII or binary file SYNOPSIS
strings [-aco] [-t format] [-n number] [file...] Obsolescent syntax strings [-] [-t format] [-number] [file...] STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows: strings: XCU5.0 Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags. OPTIONS
Searches an entire object file, not just the initialized data space. Searches only the comment section of the object file. Sets the mini- mum string length (default: 4) to number. Precedes each string by its offset (in octal) in the file. Writes each string preceded by its byte offset from the start of the file. The format is dependent on the single character used as the format argument, as follows: The offset is written in decimal. The offset is written in octal. The offset is written in hexadecimal. Sets the minimum string length (default: 4) to number. (Obsolescent) Searches an entire object file, not just the initialized data space. (Obsolescent) OPERANDS
The name of a file to be searched for strings. If you do not specify a file argument, strings reads from standard input. DESCRIPTION
A string is any sequence of 4 or more printing characters ending with a newline or null character. The strings command is useful for iden- tifying random object files. [Tru64 UNIX] If file specifies an archive file, output is generated for each archive member as if the command had been run on each archive member as a separate file. If -t is specified, the file offsets shown are relative to the beginning of the archive. [Tru64 UNIX] The -a and -c options modify the default behavior of searching only in the initialized data space of object files. NOTES
[Tru64 UNIX] The -t format option should be used when multiple files are specified as input. Without this option, it is not possible to determine which string is associated with which file. EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion. An error occurred. ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of strings: Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used. If any of the internationalization variables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables. Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments and input files) and to identify printable strings. Determines the locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error. Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES. SEE ALSO
Commands: nm(1), od(1) Standards: standards(5) strings(1)
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