STRFILE(8) System Manager’s Manual STRFILE(8)
NAME
strfile, unstr — create a random access file for storing strings
SYNOPSIS
strfile
[−iorsx] [−c char]
source_file [output_file]
unstr source_file
DESCRIPTION
strfile reads a file containing groups of lines separated by a line containing a single percent ‘%’ sign and creates a data file which contains a header structure and a table of file offsets for each group of lines. This allows random access of the strings.
The output file, if not specified on the command line, is named source_file.dat.
The options are as follows:
−c char
Change the delimiting character from the percent sign to char.
−i
Ignore case when ordering the strings.
−o
Order the strings in alphabetical order. The offset table will be sorted in the alphabetical order of the groups of lines referenced. Any initial non-alphanumeric characters are ignored. This option causes the STR_ORDERED bit in the header str_flags field to be set.
−r
Randomize access to the strings. Entries in the offset table will be randomly ordered. This option causes the STR_RANDOM bit in the header str_flags field to be set.
−s
Run silently; don’t give a summary message when finished.
−x
Note that each alphabetic character in the groups of lines is rotated 13 positions in a simple caesar cypher. This option causes the STR_ROTATED bit in the header str_flags field to be set.
The format of the header is:
#define VERSION 2
u_int32_t |
str_version; |
/* version number */ |
||||
u_int32_t |
str_numstr; |
/* # of strings in the file */ |
||||
u_int32_t |
str_longlen; |
/* length of longest string */ |
||||
u_int32_t |
str_shortlen; |
/* length of shortest string */ |
||||
#define |
STR_RANDOM |
0x1 |
/* randomized pointers */ |
|||
#define |
STR_ORDERED |
0x2 |
/* ordered pointers */ |
|||
#define |
STR_ROTATED |
0x4 |
/* rot-13’d text */ |
|||
u_int32_t |
str_flags; |
/* bit field for flags */ |
||||
u_int8_t |
str_delim; |
/* delimiting character */ |
||||
u_int8_t |
str_pad[3]; |
/* padding */ |
All fields are written in network byte order. Each field is also written independently so as to avoid structure padding problems on some architectures.
The purpose of unstr is to undo the work of strfile. It prints out the strings contained in the file source_file in the order that they are listed in the header file source_file.dat to standard output. It is possible to create sorted versions of input files by using −o when strfile is run and then using unstr to dump them out in the table order.
FILES
source_file.dat
default output file.
SEE ALSO
byteorder(3), fortune(6)
HISTORY
The strfile utility first appeared in 4.4BSD. GNU August 14, 2013 STRFILE(8)