MPE/iX Shell and Utilities Reference Manual, Vol 2

strings(1) MPE/iX Shell and Utilities strings(1)
NAME
strings — display printable strings in binary files
SYNOPSIS
strings [–aopx][–n number][–t format] file ...
strings [–][–opx][–t format][–number] file ...
DESCRIPTION
Note: The
MPE/iX implementation of this utility does not function exactly as this man page de-
scribes. For details, see the MPE/iX NOTES section at the end of this man page.
If the command line specifies a file name of –, strings reads the standard input. strings
finds interesting pieces of information in binary files. It is frequently used for looking through
executable files to uncover copyright notices, error messages, undocumented features, etc.
The command displays strings of printable characters that are at least 4 characters in length.
Strings must be terminated by a NUL character, or a newline.
strings recognizes the following options:
–a examines all of an executable file; normally strings ignores the header and the
symbol table. On systems with sufficient information in executable files to differenti-
ate code from data, the code is normally ignored as well.
–n number
displays strings of printable characters that are at least number characters in length.
–o displays each string with its octal offset within the file. This is the same as –t o.
–p only examines the bottom seven bytes of each character.
–t format
displays each string with an offset within the file. The base of the offset is set to dec-
imal, octal, or hexadecimal by specifying format as d, o,orx respectively.
–x displays each string with its hexadecimal offset within the file. This is the same as
–t x.
– is the obsolescent version of –a.
–number
is the obsolescent version of –n number.
1-570 Commands and Utilities