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strings(1)
find printable strings in an object file or binary
From the original Amiga UNIX 2.1 manual. Some things it mentions may not be in this release.
NAME
strings - find printable strings in an object file or binary
SYNOPSIS
strings [ -a ] [ -o ] [ -n number | -number ] filename...
DESCRIPTION
The strings command 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 character. strings is useful for identifying random object files and many other things. The following options are available:
-a Look everywhere in the file for strings. If this flag is omitted, strings only looks in the initialized data space of object files.
-o Precede each string by its offset in the file.
-n number Use number as the minimum string length rather than 4.
SEE ALSO
od(1)
NOTES
The algorithm for identifying strings is extremely primitive. For backwards compatibility, -number can be used in place of -n number. Similarly, the -a and a - option are interchangeable. The - and the -number variations are obsolescent.