4.3BSD-Reno/src/pgrm/strings/strings.1

Compare this file to the similar file:
Show the results in this format:
.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided
.\" that: (1) source distributions retain this entire copyright notice and
.\" comment, and (2) distributions including binaries display the following
.\" acknowledgement:  ``This product includes software developed by the
.\" University of California, Berkeley and its contributors'' in the
.\" documentation or other materials provided with the distribution and in
.\" all advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software.
.\" Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors may
.\" be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without
.\" specific prior written permission.
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
.\" WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
.\"
.\"     @(#)strings.1	6.7 (Berkeley) 6/24/90
.\"
.TH STRINGS 1 "%Q"
.UC
.SH NAME
strings \- find the printable strings in a file
.SH SYNOPSIS
.ft B
strings [ \-ao ] [ \-n number ] [ file ... ]
.ft R
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I String
displays the sequences of printable characters in each of the specified
files, or in the standard input, by default.
By default, a sequence must be at least four characters in length
before being displayed.
.PP
The options are as follows:
.TP
\-a
By default,
.I strings
only searches the initialized data space of object files.
The
.I \-a
option causes
.I strings
to search the entire object file.
.TP
\-n
Specifies the minimum number of characters in a sequence to be
.IR number ,
instead of four.
.TP
\-o
The
.I \-o
option causes each string to be preceded by its decimal offset in the
file.
.PP
.I Strings
is useful for identifying random binaries, among other things.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
hexdump(1)
.SH BUGS
The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive.