src/zlib/zlib.3

.TH ZLIB 3 "17 November 2003"
.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.
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.
.LP
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.
.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 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 example.c
and
.IR minigzip.c .
.LP
Changes to this version are documented in the file
.I ChangeLog
that accompanies the source,
and are concerned primarily with bug fixes and portability enhancements.
.LP
A Java implementation of
.I zlib
is available in the Java Development Kit 1.1:
.IP
http://www.javasoft.com/products/JDK/1.1/docs/api/Package-java.util.zip.html
.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://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Compress/
.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://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-zlib.html
.LP
A
.I zlib
binding for
.IR tcl (1),
written by Andreas Kupries (a.kupries@westend.com),
is availlable at:
.IP
http://www.westend.com/~kupries/doc/trf/man/man.html
.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/unzip.html
and also in the
.I contrib/minizip
directory of the main
.I zlib
web site.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The
.I zlib
web site can be found at either of these locations:
.IP
http://www.zlib.org
.br
http://www.gzip.org/zlib/
.LP
The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC
(Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:
.IP
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1950.txt (concerning zlib format)
.br
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1951.txt (concerning deflate format)
.br
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1952.txt (concerning gzip format)
.LP
These documents are also available in other formats from:
.IP
ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.html
.LP
Mark Nelson (markn@ieee.org) 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://dogma.net/markn/articles/zlibtool/zlibtool.htm
.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://www.gzip.org/zlib/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 1.2.1
Copyright (C) 1995-2003 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
Commit	Line	Data
	1	.TH ZLIB 3 "17 November 2003"
	2	.SH NAME
	3	zlib \- compression/decompression library
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	[see
	6	.I zlib.h
	7	for full description]
	8	.SH DESCRIPTION
	9	The
	10	.I zlib
	11	library is a general purpose data compression library.
	12	The code is thread safe.
	13	It provides in-memory compression and decompression functions,
	14	including integrity checks of the uncompressed data.
	15	This version of the library supports only one compression method (deflation)
	16	but other algorithms will be added later
	17	and will have the same stream interface.
	18	.LP
	19	Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large enough
	20	(for example if an input file is mmap'ed),
	21	or can be done by repeated calls of the compression function.
	22	In the latter case,
	23	the application must provide more input and/or consume the output
	24	(providing more output space) before each call.
	25	.LP
	26	The library also supports reading and writing files in
	27	.IR gzip (1)
	28	(.gz) format
	29	with an interface similar to that of stdio.
	30	.LP
	31	The library does not install any signal handler.
	32	The decoder checks the consistency of the compressed data,
	33	so the library should never crash even in case of corrupted input.
	34	.LP
	35	All functions of the compression library are documented in the file
	36	.IR zlib.h .
	37	The distribution source includes examples of use of the library
	38	in the files
	39	.I example.c
	40	and
	41	.IR minigzip.c .
	42	.LP
	43	Changes to this version are documented in the file
	44	.I ChangeLog
	45	that accompanies the source,
	46	and are concerned primarily with bug fixes and portability enhancements.
	47	.LP
	48	A Java implementation of
	49	.I zlib
	50	is available in the Java Development Kit 1.1:
	51	.IP
	52	http://www.javasoft.com/products/JDK/1.1/docs/api/Package-java.util.zip.html
	53	.LP
	54	A Perl interface to
	55	.IR zlib ,
	56	written by Paul Marquess (pmqs@cpan.org),
	57	is available at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites,
	58	including:
	59	.IP
	60	http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Compress/
	61	.LP
	62	A Python interface to
	63	.IR zlib ,
	64	written by A.M. Kuchling (amk@magnet.com),
	65	is available in Python 1.5 and later versions:
	66	.IP
	67	http://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-zlib.html
	68	.LP
	69	A
	70	.I zlib
	71	binding for
	72	.IR tcl (1),
	73	written by Andreas Kupries (a.kupries@westend.com),
	74	is availlable at:
	75	.IP
	76	http://www.westend.com/~kupries/doc/trf/man/man.html
	77	.LP
	78	An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format,
	79	written on top of
	80	.I zlib
	81	by Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com),
	82	is available at:
	83	.IP
	84	http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/unzip.html
	85	and also in the
	86	.I contrib/minizip
	87	directory of the main
	88	.I zlib
	89	web site.
	90	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	91	The
	92	.I zlib
	93	web site can be found at either of these locations:
	94	.IP
	95	http://www.zlib.org
	96	.br
	97	http://www.gzip.org/zlib/
	98	.LP
	99	The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC
	100	(Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:
	101	.IP
	102	http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1950.txt (concerning zlib format)
	103	.br
	104	http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1951.txt (concerning deflate format)
	105	.br
	106	http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1952.txt (concerning gzip format)
	107	.LP
	108	These documents are also available in other formats from:
	109	.IP
	110	ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.html
	111	.LP
	112	Mark Nelson (markn@ieee.org) wrote an article about
	113	.I zlib
	114	for the Jan. 1997 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal;
	115	a copy of the article is available at:
	116	.IP
	117	http://dogma.net/markn/articles/zlibtool/zlibtool.htm
	118	.SH "REPORTING PROBLEMS"
	119	Before reporting a problem,
	120	please check the
	121	.I zlib
	122	web site to verify that you have the latest version of
	123	.IR zlib ;
	124	otherwise,
	125	obtain the latest version and see if the problem still exists.
	126	Please read the
	127	.I zlib
	128	FAQ at:
	129	.IP
	130	http://www.gzip.org/zlib/zlib_faq.html
	131	.LP
	132	before asking for help.
	133	Send questions and/or comments to zlib@gzip.org,
	134	or (for the Windows DLL version) to Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com).
	135	.SH AUTHORS
	136	Version 1.2.1
	137	Copyright (C) 1995-2003 Jean-loup Gailly (jloup@gzip.org)
	138	and Mark Adler (madler@alumni.caltech.edu).
	139	.LP
	140	This software is provided "as-is,"
	141	without any express or implied warranty.
	142	In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
	143	arising from the use of this software.
	144	See the distribution directory with respect to requirements
	145	governing redistribution.
	146	The deflate format used by
	147	.I zlib
	148	was defined by Phil Katz.
	149	The deflate and
	150	.I zlib
	151	specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch.
	152	Thanks to all the people who reported problems and suggested various
	153	improvements in
	154	.IR zlib ;
	155	who are too numerous to cite here.
	156	.LP
	157	UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers,
	158	U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov).
	159	.\" end of man page