Strings (Unix): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:06, 25 March 2019

Revision as of 22:32, 18 January 2020

Line 1:

{{lowercase}}

{{distinguish|string (computing)}}

{{Infobox Software

| name = strings

Line 17 ⟶ 18:

| website =

}}

In [[computer software]], '''strings''' is a program in [[Unix-like]] [[operating system]]s that finds and prints text [[string (computer science)|strings]] embedded in [[binary files]] such as executables. It can be used on object files and [[core dump]]s.

Line 22 ⟶ 24:

Strings are recognized by looking for sequences of at least 4 (by default) printable characters terminating in a NUL character (that is, [[null-terminated string]]s). Some implementations provide options for determining what is recognized as a printable character, which is useful for finding non-ASCII and wide character text.

Common usage includes piping its output to <tt>[[grep]]</tt> and <tt>[[Fold (Unix)|fold]]</tt> or redirecting the output to a [[Computer file|file]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Kiddle
| first =Oliver Oliver
| author2 = Jerry Peek
| author3 = Peter Stephenson
| title = From Bash to Z Shell
| year =2005 2005
| ___location = New York, NY
| publisher = Apress
| isbn = 978-1-590-59376-9|page=413 |oclc=57450917 |url=http://www.apress.com/9781590593769}}</ref>

| page = 413

| oclc = 57450917

| url = https://www.apress.com/gp/book/9781590593769}}</ref>

It is part of the [[GNU Binary Utilities]] (<tt>binutils</tt>), and has been ported to other operating systems including [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]].<ref>[[cygwin]]</ref>

==Example==

Line 34 ⟶ 48:

==See also==

{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

* <tt>[[Cat (Unix)|cat]]</tt>

* <tt>[[Paste (Unix)|paste]]</tt>

* [[GNU Debugger]]

* <tt>[[Strip (Unix)|strip]]</tt>

==References==

Line 43 ⟶ 57:

==External links==

* {{man|cu|strings|SUS}}

{{Unix commands}}