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72281370 1README for libpng version 1.5.7 - December 15, 2011 (shared library 15.0)
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2See the note about version numbers near the top of png.h
3
4See INSTALL for instructions on how to install libpng.
5
970f6abe 6Libpng comes in several distribution formats. Get libpng-*.tar.gz,
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7libpng-*.tar.xz or libpng-*.tar.bz2 if you want UNIX-style line endings
8in the text files, or lpng*.zip if you want DOS-style line endings.
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9
10Version 0.89 was the first official release of libpng. Don't let the
11fact that it's the first release fool you. The libpng library has been in
12extensive use and testing since mid-1995. By late 1997 it had
13finally gotten to the stage where there hadn't been significant
14changes to the API in some time, and people have a bad feeling about
15libraries with versions < 1.0. Version 1.0.0 was released in
16March 1998.
17
18****
19Note that some of the changes to the png_info structure render this
20version of the library binary incompatible with libpng-0.89 or
21earlier versions if you are using a shared library. The type of the
22"filler" parameter for png_set_filler() has changed from png_byte to
23png_uint_32, which will affect shared-library applications that use
24this function.
25
26To avoid problems with changes to the internals of png_info_struct,
27new APIs have been made available in 0.95 to avoid direct application
28access to info_ptr. These functions are the png_set_<chunk> and
29png_get_<chunk> functions. These functions should be used when
30accessing/storing the info_struct data, rather than manipulating it
31directly, to avoid such problems in the future.
32
33It is important to note that the APIs do not make current programs
34that access the info struct directly incompatible with the new
35library. However, it is strongly suggested that new programs use
36the new APIs (as shown in example.c and pngtest.c), and older programs
37be converted to the new format, to facilitate upgrades in the future.
38****
39
40Additions since 0.90 include the ability to compile libpng as a
41Windows DLL, and new APIs for accessing data in the info struct.
42Experimental functions include the ability to set weighting and cost
43factors for row filter selection, direct reads of integers from buffers
44on big-endian processors that support misaligned data access, faster
45methods of doing alpha composition, and more accurate 16->8 bit color
46conversion.
47
48The additions since 0.89 include the ability to read from a PNG stream
49which has had some (or all) of the signature bytes read by the calling
50application. This also allows the reading of embedded PNG streams that
51do not have the PNG file signature. As well, it is now possible to set
52the library action on the detection of chunk CRC errors. It is possible
53to set different actions based on whether the CRC error occurred in a
54critical or an ancillary chunk.
55
56The changes made to the library, and bugs fixed are based on discussions
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57on the PNG-implement mailing list and not on material submitted
58privately to Guy, Andreas, or Glenn. They will forward any good
59suggestions to the list.
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9c0d9ce3 61For a detailed description on using libpng, read libpng-manual.txt. For
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62examples of libpng in a program, see example.c and pngtest.c. For usage
63information and restrictions (what little they are) on libpng, see
64png.h. For a description on using zlib (the compression library used by
65libpng) and zlib's restrictions, see zlib.h
66
67I have included a general makefile, as well as several machine and
68compiler specific ones, but you may have to modify one for your own needs.
69
70You should use zlib 1.0.4 or later to run this, but it MAY work with
71versions as old as zlib 0.95. Even so, there are bugs in older zlib
72versions which can cause the output of invalid compression streams for
73some images. You will definitely need zlib 1.0.4 or later if you are
74taking advantage of the MS-DOS "far" structure allocation for the small
75and medium memory models. You should also note that zlib is a
76compression library that is useful for more things than just PNG files.
77You can use zlib as a drop-in replacement for fread() and fwrite() if
78you are so inclined.
79
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80zlib should be available at the same place that libpng is, or at.
81ftp://ftp.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/zlib
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82
83You may also want a copy of the PNG specification. It is available
84as an RFC, a W3C Recommendation, and an ISO/IEC Standard. You can find
b61cc19c 85these at http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/documents/
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86
87This code is currently being archived at libpng.sf.net in the
88[DOWNLOAD] area, and on CompuServe, Lib 20 (PNG SUPPORT)
89at GO GRAPHSUP. If you can't find it in any of those places,
90e-mail me, and I'll help you find it.
91
92If you have any code changes, requests, problems, etc., please e-mail
93them to me. Also, I'd appreciate any make files or project files,
94and any modifications you needed to make to get libpng to compile,
95along with a #define variable to tell what compiler/system you are on.
96If you needed to add transformations to libpng, or wish libpng would
97provide the image in a different way, drop me a note (and code, if
98possible), so I can consider supporting the transformation.
99Finally, if you get any warning messages when compiling libpng
100(note: not zlib), and they are easy to fix, I'd appreciate the
101fix. Please mention "libpng" somewhere in the subject line. Thanks.
102
103This release was created and will be supported by myself (of course
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104based in a large way on Guy's and Andreas' earlier work), and the PNG
105development group.
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107Send comments/corrections/commendations to png-mng-implement at
108lists.sourceforge.net (subscription required; visit
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109https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-implement
110to subscribe) or to glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
111
112You can't reach Guy, the original libpng author, at the addresses
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113given in previous versions of this document. He and Andreas will
114read mail addressed to the png-implement list, however.
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115
116Please do not send general questions about PNG. Send them to
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117png-mng-misc at lists.sf.net (subscription required; visit
118https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-misc to
119subscribe). If you have a question about something
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120in the PNG specification that is related to using libpng, send it
121to me. Send me any questions that start with "I was using libpng,
122and ...". If in doubt, send questions to me. I'll bounce them
123to others, if necessary.
124
125Please do not send suggestions on how to change PNG. We have
9c0d9ce3 126been discussing PNG for sixteen years now, and it is official and
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127finished. If you have suggestions for libpng, however, I'll
128gladly listen. Even if your suggestion is not used immediately,
129it may be used later.
130
131Files in this distribution:
132
133 ANNOUNCE => Announcement of this version, with recent changes
134 CHANGES => Description of changes between libpng versions
135 KNOWNBUG => List of known bugs and deficiencies
136 LICENSE => License to use and redistribute libpng
137 README => This file
138 TODO => Things not implemented in the current library
139 Y2KINFO => Statement of Y2K compliance
140 example.c => Example code for using libpng functions
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141 libpng.3 => manual page for libpng (includes libpng-manual.txt)
142 libpng-manual.txt => Description of libpng and its functions
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143 libpngpf.3 => manual page for libpng's private functions
144 png.5 => manual page for the PNG format
145 png.c => Basic interface functions common to library
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146 png.h => Library function and interface declarations (public)
147 pngpriv.h => Library function and interface declarations (private)
148 pngconf.h => System specific library configuration (public)
149 pngstruct.h => png_struct declaration (private)
150 pnginfo.h => png_info struct declaration (private)
151 pngdebug.h => debugging macros (private)
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152 pngerror.c => Error/warning message I/O functions
153 pngget.c => Functions for retrieving info from struct
154 pngmem.c => Memory handling functions
155 pngbar.png => PNG logo, 88x31
156 pngnow.png => PNG logo, 98x31
157 pngpread.c => Progressive reading functions
158 pngread.c => Read data/helper high-level functions
159 pngrio.c => Lowest-level data read I/O functions
160 pngrtran.c => Read data transformation functions
161 pngrutil.c => Read data utility functions
162 pngset.c => Functions for storing data into the info_struct
163 pngtest.c => Library test program
164 pngtest.png => Library test sample image
165 pngtrans.c => Common data transformation functions
166 pngwio.c => Lowest-level write I/O functions
167 pngwrite.c => High-level write functions
168 pngwtran.c => Write data transformations
169 pngwutil.c => Write utility functions
170 contrib => Contributions
171 gregbook => source code for PNG reading and writing, from
172 Greg Roelofs' "PNG: The Definitive Guide",
173 O'Reilly, 1999
174 msvctest => Builds and runs pngtest using a MSVC workspace
175 pngminus => Simple pnm2png and png2pnm programs
176 pngsuite => Test images
177 visupng => Contains a MSVC workspace for VisualPng
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178 projects => Contains project files and workspaces for
179 building a DLL
9c0d9ce3 180 cbuilder5 => Contains a Borland workspace for building
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181 libpng and zlib
182 visualc6 => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)
183 workspace for building libpng and zlib
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184 visualc71 => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)
185 workspace for building libpng and zlib
186 xcode => Contains an Apple xcode
187 workspace for building libpng and zlib
0272a10d 188 scripts => Directory containing scripts for building libpng:
9c0d9ce3 189 (see scripts/README.txt for the list of scripts)
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190
191Good luck, and happy coding.
192
b61cc19c 193-Glenn Randers-Pehrson (current maintainer, since 1998)
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194 Internet: glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
195
196-Andreas Eric Dilger (former maintainer, 1996-1997)
197 Internet: adilger at enel.ucalgary.ca
b61cc19c 198 Web: http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/
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199
200-Guy Eric Schalnat (original author and former maintainer, 1995-1996)
201 (formerly of Group 42, Inc)
202 Internet: gschal at infinet.com