'strings' binary from binutils - how do you use it?

[mihk]

Hi ,
it is about 'strings' binary from binutils. I recently wanted to test what it does and how it works.
The best I did was this:

#!/bin/sh

PROGRAM="
int main()
{
/*removed comment*/
char txt[]=\"should I grep this?\";
printf(\"%s\", txt);
return 1;
}
"

echo $PROGRAM > source.c
cc -c source.c
gcc -o source source.c

echo "\n----------------------------------\n"
if [ -f ./source.o ]
then 
   strings source.o ;
fi

echo "\n----------------------------------\n"
if [ -f ./source ]
then
  strings source ;
fi
echo "\n----------------------------------\n"

Ok, from the output I don't get it.
Can someone show me in a simple script, what is 'strings' good for ?
Thanks !

[Irithori]

In general it is used it to get text from an otherwise binary file.

Some of my recent examples:
- searched for and found a typo for an URL in a swf file. ( Yes, I also dont like flash )
- used it on a tcpdump (with payload of course) between a application and a database, to trace what database this app *really* was connecting to and which SELECTs it uses.