NAME
zlib - compression/decompression library
SYNOPSIS
[see zlib.h for full description]
DESCRIPTION
The zlib library is a general purpose data compression library. The
code is thread safe. It provides in-memory compression and
decompression functions, including integrity checks of the uncompressed
data. This version of the library supports only one compression method
(deflation) but other algorithms will be added later and will have the
same stream interface.
Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large
enough (for example if an input file is mmap’ed), or can be done by
repeated calls of the compression function. In the latter case, the
application must provide more input and/or consume the output
(providing more output space) before each call.
The library also supports reading and writing files in gzip(1) (.gz)
format with an interface similar to that of stdio.
The library does not install any signal handler. The decoder checks
the consistency of the compressed data, so the library should never
crash even in case of corrupted input.
All functions of the compression library are documented in the file
zlib.h. The distribution source includes examples of use of the
library in the files example.c and minigzip.c.
Changes to this version are documented in the file ChangeLog that
accompanies the source, and are concerned primarily with bug fixes and
portability enhancements.
A Java implementation of zlib is available in the Java Development Kit
1.1:
http://www.javasoft.com/products/JDK/1.1/docs/api/Package-
java.util.zip.html
A Perl interface to zlib, written by Paul Marquess (pmqs@cpan.org), is
available at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites,
including:
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Compress/
A Python interface to zlib, written by A.M. Kuchling (amk@magnet.com),
is available in Python 1.5 and later versions:
http://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-zlib.html
A zlib binding for tcl(1), written by Andreas Kupries
(a.kupries@westend.com), is availlable at:
http://www.westend.com/~kupries/doc/trf/man/man.html
An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format, written
on top of zlib by Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com), is available at:
http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/unzip.html and also in the
contrib/minizip directory of the main zlib web site.
SEE ALSO
The zlib web site can be found at either of these locations:
http://www.zlib.org
http://www.gzip.org/zlib/
The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC (Request
for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1950.txt (concerning zlib format)
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1951.txt (concerning deflate format)
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1952.txt (concerning gzip format)
These documents are also available in other formats from:
ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.html
Mark Nelson (markn@ieee.org) wrote an article about zlib for the Jan.
1997 issue of Dr. Dobb’s Journal; a copy of the article is available
at:
http://dogma.net/markn/articles/zlibtool/zlibtool.htm
REPORTING PROBLEMS
Before reporting a problem, please check the zlib web site to verify
that you have the latest version of zlib; otherwise, obtain the latest
version and see if the problem still exists. Please read the zlib FAQ
at:
http://www.gzip.org/zlib/zlib_faq.html
before asking for help. Send questions and/or comments to
zlib@gzip.org, or (for the Windows DLL version) to Gilles Vollant
(info@winimage.com).
AUTHORS
Version 1.2.3.4 Copyright (C) 1995-2006 Jean-loup Gailly
(jloup@gzip.org) and Mark Adler (madler@alumni.caltech.edu).
This software is provided "as-is," without any express or implied
warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
arising from the use of this software. See the distribution directory
with respect to requirements governing redistribution. The deflate
format used by zlib was defined by Phil Katz. The deflate and zlib
specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch. Thanks to all the
people who reported problems and suggested various improvements in
zlib; who are too numerous to cite here.
UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers, U.S. National Library of Medicine
(rodgers@nlm.nih.gov).
21 December 2009