| .TH ZLIB 3 "28 Apr 2013" | |
| .SH NAME | |
| zlib \- compression/decompression library | |
| .SH SYNOPSIS | |
| [see | |
| .I zlib.h | |
| for full description] | |
| .SH DESCRIPTION | |
| The | |
| .I zlib | |
| library is a general purpose data compression library. | |
| The code is thread safe, assuming that the standard library functions | |
| used are thread safe, such as memory allocation routines. | |
| 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 may be added later | |
| with the same stream interface. | |
| .LP | |
| Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large enough | |
| 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. | |
| .LP | |
| The library also supports reading and writing files in | |
| .IR gzip (1) | |
| (.gz) format | |
| with an interface similar to that of stdio. | |
| .LP | |
| 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 the case of corrupted input. | |
| .LP | |
| All functions of the compression library are documented in the file | |
| .IR zlib.h . | |
| The distribution source includes examples of use of the library | |
| in the files | |
| .I test/example.c | |
| and | |
| .IR test/minigzip.c, | |
| as well as other examples in the | |
| .IR examples/ | |
| directory. | |
| .LP | |
| Changes to this version are documented in the file | |
| .I ChangeLog | |
| that accompanies the source. | |
| .LP | |
| .I zlib | |
| is available in Java using the java.util.zip package: | |
| .IP | |
| http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/compression/ | |
| .LP | |
| A Perl interface to | |
| .IR zlib , | |
| written by Paul Marquess (pmqs@cpan.org), | |
| is available at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites, | |
| including: | |
| .IP | |
| http://search.cpan.org/~pmqs/IO-Compress-Zlib/ | |
| .LP | |
| A Python interface to | |
| .IR zlib , | |
| written by A.M. Kuchling (amk@magnet.com), | |
| is available in Python 1.5 and later versions: | |
| .IP | |
| http://docs.python.org/library/zlib.html | |
| .LP | |
| .I zlib | |
| is built into | |
| .IR tcl: | |
| .IP | |
| http://wiki.tcl.tk/4610 | |
| .LP | |
| An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format, | |
| written on top of | |
| .I zlib | |
| by Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com), | |
| is available at: | |
| .IP | |
| http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/minizip.html | |
| and also in the | |
| .I contrib/minizip | |
| directory of the main | |
| .I zlib | |
| source distribution. | |
| .SH "SEE ALSO" | |
| The | |
| .I zlib | |
| web site can be found at: | |
| .IP | |
| http://zlib.net/ | |
| .LP | |
| The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC | |
| (Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files: | |
| .IP | |
| http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1950 (for the zlib header and trailer format) | |
| .br | |
| http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1951 (for the deflate compressed data format) | |
| .br | |
| http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1952 (for the gzip header and trailer format) | |
| .LP | |
| Mark Nelson wrote an article about | |
| .I zlib | |
| for the Jan. 1997 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal; | |
| a copy of the article is available at: | |
| .IP | |
| http://marknelson.us/1997/01/01/zlib-engine/ | |
| .SH "REPORTING PROBLEMS" | |
| Before reporting a problem, | |
| please check the | |
| .I zlib | |
| web site to verify that you have the latest version of | |
| .IR zlib ; | |
| otherwise, | |
| obtain the latest version and see if the problem still exists. | |
| Please read the | |
| .I zlib | |
| FAQ at: | |
| .IP | |
| http://zlib.net/zlib_faq.html | |
| .LP | |
| 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). | |
| .SH AUTHORS | |
| Version 1.2.8 | |
| Copyright (C) 1995-2013 Jean-loup Gailly (jloup@gzip.org) | |
| and Mark Adler (madler@alumni.caltech.edu). | |
| .LP | |
| 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 | |
| .I zlib | |
| was defined by Phil Katz. | |
| The deflate and | |
| .I zlib | |
| specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch. | |
| Thanks to all the people who reported problems and suggested various | |
| improvements in | |
| .IR zlib ; | |
| who are too numerous to cite here. | |
| .LP | |
| UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers, | |
| U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov). | |
| .\" end of man page |