strings(1)                          CLIX                          strings(1)



  NAME

    strings - Finds printable strings in files

  SYNOPSIS

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

  FLAGS

    -a          Searches any .text sections in addition to the .data sections
                in COFF object files.

    -n number   Changes the minimum number of characters.  The number may
                range from 1 to the value of the BUFSIZ environment variable.

    -o          Prefixes each output line with the octal offset within the
                file (which is probably not the COFF memory address).

  DESCRIPTION

    The strings command displays ASCII strings contained in the specified
    input files.  The input files may be either ordinary files or COFF object
    files.  For ordinary files, the entire file is searched for strings.  COFF
    files have only their .data sections searched unless the -a flag is used.

    The strings extracted by strings are defined to be a sequence of at least
    4 (by default) printable characters terminated by either a NULL  or a
    NEWLINE character.

  EXAMPLES

    This example searches for ASCII strings in a file named object.o:

    strings object.o


  DIAGNOSTICS

    The following list shows some common error messages and their meanings.

    illegal switches
           The command line contains one or more invalid flags.

    -n spec too short
           The number of characters specified with the -n flag is too small.

    -n too long
           The number of characters specified with the -n flag is too large,
           or exceeds the value of the BUFSIZ environment variable.




  2/94 - Intergraph Corporation                                              1

  strings(1)                          CLIX                          strings(1)



    Need input filenames
           No input files were given.

    Strings:  cannot open filename
           The strings command could not find the given filename.  (The given
           filename may be misspelled or does not exist.)

  EXIT VALUES

    The strings command returns a value of 0 if successful.  If unsuccessful,
    it returns a value of 1.

  RELATED INFORMATION

    Commands:  od(1)







































  2                                              Intergraph Corporation - 2/94