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1 | ZLIB DATA COMPRESSION LIBRARY | |
2 | ||
3 | zlib 1.2.1 is a general purpose data compression library. All the code is | |
4 | thread safe. The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFCs | |
5 | (Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files | |
6 | http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1950.txt (zlib format), rfc1951.txt (deflate format) | |
7 | and rfc1952.txt (gzip format). These documents are also available in other | |
8 | formats from ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.html | |
9 | ||
10 | All functions of the compression library are documented in the file zlib.h | |
11 | (volunteer to write man pages welcome, contact zlib@gzip.org). A usage example | |
12 | of the library is given in the file example.c which also tests that the library | |
13 | is working correctly. Another example is given in the file minigzip.c. The | |
14 | compression library itself is composed of all source files except example.c and | |
15 | minigzip.c. | |
16 | ||
17 | To compile all files and run the test program, follow the instructions given at | |
18 | the top of Makefile. In short "make test; make install" should work for most | |
19 | machines. For Unix: "./configure; make test; make install" For MSDOS, use one | |
20 | of the special makefiles such as Makefile.msc. For VMS, use Make_vms.com or | |
21 | descrip.mms. | |
22 | ||
23 | Questions about zlib should be sent to <zlib@gzip.org>, or to Gilles Vollant | |
24 | <info@winimage.com> for the Windows DLL version. The zlib home page is | |
25 | http://www.zlib.org or http://www.gzip.org/zlib/ Before reporting a problem, | |
26 | please check this site to verify that you have the latest version of zlib; | |
27 | otherwise get the latest version and check whether the problem still exists or | |
28 | not. | |
29 | ||
30 | PLEASE read the zlib FAQ http://www.gzip.org/zlib/zlib_faq.html before asking | |
31 | for help. | |
32 | ||
33 | Mark Nelson <markn@ieee.org> wrote an article about zlib for the Jan. 1997 | |
34 | issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal; a copy of the article is available in | |
35 | http://dogma.net/markn/articles/zlibtool/zlibtool.htm | |
36 | ||
37 | The changes made in version 1.2.1 are documented in the file ChangeLog. | |
38 | ||
39 | Unsupported third party contributions are provided in directory "contrib". | |
40 | ||
41 | A Java implementation of zlib is available in the Java Development Kit | |
42 | http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/zip/package-summary.html | |
43 | See the zlib home page http://www.zlib.org for details. | |
44 | ||
45 | A Perl interface to zlib written by Paul Marquess <pmqs@cpan.org> is in the | |
46 | CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites | |
47 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Compress/ | |
48 | ||
49 | A Python interface to zlib written by A.M. Kuchling <amk@magnet.com> is | |
50 | available in Python 1.5 and later versions, see | |
51 | http://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-zlib.html | |
52 | ||
53 | A zlib binding for TCL written by Andreas Kupries <a.kupries@westend.com> is | |
54 | availlable at http://www.oche.de/~akupries/soft/trf/trf_zip.html | |
55 | ||
56 | An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format, written on top | |
57 | of zlib by Gilles Vollant <info@winimage.com>, is available in the | |
58 | contrib/minizip directory of zlib. | |
59 | ||
60 | ||
61 | Notes for some targets: | |
62 | ||
63 | - For Windows DLL versions, please see win32/DLL_FAQ.txt | |
64 | ||
65 | - For 64-bit Irix, deflate.c must be compiled without any optimization. With | |
66 | -O, one libpng test fails. The test works in 32 bit mode (with the -n32 | |
67 | compiler flag). The compiler bug has been reported to SGI. | |
68 | ||
69 | - zlib doesn't work with gcc 2.6.3 on a DEC 3000/300LX under OSF/1 2.1 it works | |
70 | when compiled with cc. | |
71 | ||
72 | - On Digital Unix 4.0D (formely OSF/1) on AlphaServer, the cc option -std1 is | |
73 | necessary to get gzprintf working correctly. This is done by configure. | |
74 | ||
75 | - zlib doesn't work on HP-UX 9.05 with some versions of /bin/cc. It works with | |
76 | other compilers. Use "make test" to check your compiler. | |
77 | ||
78 | - gzdopen is not supported on RISCOS, BEOS and by some Mac compilers. | |
79 | ||
80 | - For PalmOs, see http://palmzlib.sourceforge.net/ | |
81 | ||
82 | - When building a shared, i.e. dynamic library on Mac OS X, the library must be | |
83 | installed before testing (do "make install" before "make test"), since the | |
84 | library location is specified in the library. | |
85 | ||
86 | ||
87 | Acknowledgments: | |
88 | ||
89 | The deflate format used by zlib was defined by Phil Katz. The deflate | |
90 | and zlib specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch. Thanks to all the | |
91 | people who reported problems and suggested various improvements in zlib; | |
92 | they are too numerous to cite here. | |
93 | ||
94 | Copyright notice: | |
95 | ||
96 | (C) 1995-2003 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler | |
97 | ||
98 | This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied | |
99 | warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages | |
100 | arising from the use of this software. | |
101 | ||
102 | Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, | |
103 | including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it | |
104 | freely, subject to the following restrictions: | |
105 | ||
106 | 1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not | |
107 | claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software | |
108 | in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be | |
109 | appreciated but is not required. | |
110 | 2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be | |
111 | misrepresented as being the original software. | |
112 | 3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution. | |
113 | ||
114 | Jean-loup Gailly Mark Adler | |
115 | jloup@gzip.org madler@alumni.caltech.edu | |
116 | ||
117 | If you use the zlib library in a product, we would appreciate *not* | |
118 | receiving lengthy legal documents to sign. The sources are provided | |
119 | for free but without warranty of any kind. The library has been | |
120 | entirely written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler; it does not | |
121 | include third-party code. | |
122 | ||
123 | If you redistribute modified sources, we would appreciate that you include | |
124 | in the file ChangeLog history information documenting your changes. Please | |
125 | read the FAQ for more information on the distribution of modified source | |
126 | versions. |