getn_wstr - Linux

Overview

getn_wstr is an advanced Linux command used to extract wide-character (UTF-32) strings from a raw binary file or standard input. This command is valuable for developers and researchers working with multi-lingual text or structured binary data containing Unicode characters.

Syntax

getn_wstr [-b byte_order] [-o offset] [-s size] [-w wchar_byte_count] [-d delimiter] [-e exit_error] [-i ignore_utf8] [file_path]

Options/Flags

  • -b byte_order: Specify the byte order of the file; LE for little-endian (default) or BE for big-endian.
  • -o offset: Set the offset within the file to start reading from (in bytes).
  • -s size: Specify the maximum size of the string to extract (in bytes).
  • -w wchar_byte_count: Set the number of bytes per wide-character (default: 4 for UTF-32).
  • -d delimiter: Specify a delimiter character to terminate the extraction (default: \0).
  • -e exit_error: Exit with the specified error code if no wide-character string is found.
  • -i ignore_utf8: Ignore UTF-8 encodings when searching for a delimiter (default: false).

Examples

Extract a single UTF-32 string from a file:

getn_wstr -s 80 file.bin

Extract a substring with a custom delimiter:

getn_wstr -d ';' -s 100 file.csv

Read from standard input:

echo "Hello world" | getn_wstr

Common Issues

  • Ensure the file is in the correct byte order and has the expected wide-character encoding.
  • Avoid using very large values for -s to prevent memory issues or unexpected behavior.
  • Handle error codes appropriately by checking the exit status after executing the command.

Integration

Pipe extracted strings to other commands:

getn_wstr file.txt | wc -c

Use regular expressions to extract specific text from strings:

getn_wstr file.bin | grep -Po 'pattern'

Related Commands

  • getn: Extract ASCII strings from binary files.
  • file: Determine file type or format.
  • strings: Print strings found in binary files.