strings(1) [osx man page]

STRINGS(1)						      General Commands Manual							STRINGS(1)

NAME

       strings - find the printable strings in a object, or other binary, file

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

       Strings	looks  for ASCII strings in a binary file or standard input.  Strings is useful for identifying random object files and many other
       things.	A string is any sequence of 4 (the default) or more printing characters ending with a newline or a null.  Unless  the  -  flag	is
       given,  strings	looks in all sections of the object files except the (__TEXT,__text) section.  If no files are specified standard input is
       read.

       The file arguments may be of the form libx.a(foo.o), to request information about only that object file and not the entire library.   (Typ-
       ically this argument must be quoted, ``libx.a(foo.o)'', to get it past the shell.)

       The options to strings(1) are:

       -a     This option causes strings to look for strings in all sections of the object file (including the (__TEXT,__text) section.

       -      This option causes strings to look for strings in all bytes of the files (the default for non-object files).

       --     This option causes strings to treat all the following arguments as files.

       -o     Preceded each string by its offset in the file (in decimal).

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

       d      The offset shall be written in decimal.

       o      The offset shall be written in octal.

       x      The offset shall be written in hexadecimal.

       -number
	      The decimal number is used as the minimum string length rather than the default of 4.

       -n number
	      Specify the minimum string length, where the number argument is a positive decimal integer. The default shall be 4.

       -arch arch_type
	      Specifies the architecture, arch_type, of the file for strings(1) to operate on when the file is a universal file.  (See arch(3) for
	      the currently know arch_types.)  The arch_type can be "all" to operate on all architectures in the file, which is the default.

SEE ALSO

       od(1)

BUGS

       The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive.

Apple Computer, Inc.						September 11, 2006							STRINGS(1)

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)