cannam@89: .TH ZLIB 3 "2 May 2012"
cannam@89: .SH NAME
cannam@89: zlib \- compression/decompression library
cannam@89: .SH SYNOPSIS
cannam@89: [see
cannam@89: .I zlib.h
cannam@89: for full description]
cannam@89: .SH DESCRIPTION
cannam@89: The
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: library is a general purpose data compression library.
cannam@89: The code is thread safe, assuming that the standard library functions
cannam@89: used are thread safe, such as memory allocation routines.
cannam@89: It provides in-memory compression and decompression functions,
cannam@89: including integrity checks of the uncompressed data.
cannam@89: This version of the library supports only one compression method (deflation)
cannam@89: but other algorithms may be added later
cannam@89: with the same stream interface.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large enough
cannam@89: or can be done by repeated calls of the compression function.
cannam@89: In the latter case,
cannam@89: the application must provide more input and/or consume the output
cannam@89: (providing more output space) before each call.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: The library also supports reading and writing files in
cannam@89: .IR gzip (1)
cannam@89: (.gz) format
cannam@89: with an interface similar to that of stdio.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: The library does not install any signal handler.
cannam@89: The decoder checks the consistency of the compressed data,
cannam@89: so the library should never crash even in the case of corrupted input.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: All functions of the compression library are documented in the file
cannam@89: .IR zlib.h .
cannam@89: The distribution source includes examples of use of the library
cannam@89: in the files
cannam@89: .I test/example.c
cannam@89: and
cannam@89: .IR test/minigzip.c,
cannam@89: as well as other examples in the
cannam@89: .IR examples/
cannam@89: directory.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: Changes to this version are documented in the file
cannam@89: .I ChangeLog
cannam@89: that accompanies the source.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: is available in Java using the java.util.zip package:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/compression/
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: A Perl interface to
cannam@89: .IR zlib ,
cannam@89: written by Paul Marquess (pmqs@cpan.org),
cannam@89: is available at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites,
cannam@89: including:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://search.cpan.org/~pmqs/IO-Compress-Zlib/
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: A Python interface to
cannam@89: .IR zlib ,
cannam@89: written by A.M. Kuchling (amk@magnet.com),
cannam@89: is available in Python 1.5 and later versions:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://docs.python.org/library/zlib.html
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: is built into
cannam@89: .IR tcl:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://wiki.tcl.tk/4610
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format,
cannam@89: written on top of
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: by Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com),
cannam@89: is available at:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/minizip.html
cannam@89: and also in the
cannam@89: .I contrib/minizip
cannam@89: directory of the main
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: source distribution.
cannam@89: .SH "SEE ALSO"
cannam@89: The
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: web site can be found at:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://zlib.net/
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC
cannam@89: (Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1950 (for the zlib header and trailer format)
cannam@89: .br
cannam@89: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1951 (for the deflate compressed data format)
cannam@89: .br
cannam@89: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1952 (for the gzip header and trailer format)
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: Mark Nelson wrote an article about
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: for the Jan. 1997 issue of  Dr. Dobb's Journal;
cannam@89: a copy of the article is available at:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://marknelson.us/1997/01/01/zlib-engine/
cannam@89: .SH "REPORTING PROBLEMS"
cannam@89: Before reporting a problem,
cannam@89: please check the
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: web site to verify that you have the latest version of
cannam@89: .IR zlib ;
cannam@89: otherwise,
cannam@89: obtain the latest version and see if the problem still exists.
cannam@89: Please read the
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: FAQ at:
cannam@89: .IP
cannam@89: http://zlib.net/zlib_faq.html
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: before asking for help.
cannam@89: Send questions and/or comments to zlib@gzip.org,
cannam@89: or (for the Windows DLL version) to Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com).
cannam@89: .SH AUTHORS
cannam@89: Version 1.2.7
cannam@89: Copyright (C) 1995-2012 Jean-loup Gailly (jloup@gzip.org)
cannam@89: and Mark Adler (madler@alumni.caltech.edu).
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: This software is provided "as-is,"
cannam@89: without any express or implied warranty.
cannam@89: In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
cannam@89: arising from the use of this software.
cannam@89: See the distribution directory with respect to requirements
cannam@89: governing redistribution.
cannam@89: The deflate format used by
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: was defined by Phil Katz.
cannam@89: The deflate and
cannam@89: .I zlib
cannam@89: specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch.
cannam@89: Thanks to all the people who reported problems and suggested various
cannam@89: improvements in
cannam@89: .IR zlib ;
cannam@89: who are too numerous to cite here.
cannam@89: .LP
cannam@89: UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers,
cannam@89: U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov).
cannam@89: .\" end of man page