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1 | README for libpng version 1.4.4 - September 23, 2010 (shared library 14.0) | |
2 | See the note about version numbers near the top of png.h | |
3 | ||
4 | See INSTALL for instructions on how to install libpng. | |
5 | ||
6 | Libpng comes in several distribution formats. Get libpng-*.tar.gz, | |
7 | libpng-*.tar.xz or libpng-*.tar.bz2 if you want UNIX-style line endings | |
8 | in the text files, or lpng*.zip if you want DOS-style line endings. | |
9 | ||
10 | Version 0.89 was the first official release of libpng. Don't let the | |
11 | fact that it's the first release fool you. The libpng library has been in | |
12 | extensive use and testing since mid-1995. By late 1997 it had | |
13 | finally gotten to the stage where there hadn't been significant | |
14 | changes to the API in some time, and people have a bad feeling about | |
15 | libraries with versions < 1.0. Version 1.0.0 was released in | |
16 | March 1998. | |
17 | ||
18 | **** | |
19 | Note that some of the changes to the png_info structure render this | |
20 | version of the library binary incompatible with libpng-0.89 or | |
21 | earlier 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 | |
23 | png_uint_32, which will affect shared-library applications that use | |
24 | this function. | |
25 | ||
26 | To avoid problems with changes to the internals of png_info_struct, | |
27 | new APIs have been made available in 0.95 to avoid direct application | |
28 | access to info_ptr. These functions are the png_set_<chunk> and | |
29 | png_get_<chunk> functions. These functions should be used when | |
30 | accessing/storing the info_struct data, rather than manipulating it | |
31 | directly, to avoid such problems in the future. | |
32 | ||
33 | It is important to note that the APIs do not make current programs | |
34 | that access the info struct directly incompatible with the new | |
35 | library. However, it is strongly suggested that new programs use | |
36 | the new APIs (as shown in example.c and pngtest.c), and older programs | |
37 | be converted to the new format, to facilitate upgrades in the future. | |
38 | **** | |
39 | ||
40 | Additions since 0.90 include the ability to compile libpng as a | |
41 | Windows DLL, and new APIs for accessing data in the info struct. | |
42 | Experimental functions include the ability to set weighting and cost | |
43 | factors for row filter selection, direct reads of integers from buffers | |
44 | on big-endian processors that support misaligned data access, faster | |
45 | methods of doing alpha composition, and more accurate 16->8 bit color | |
46 | conversion. | |
47 | ||
48 | The additions since 0.89 include the ability to read from a PNG stream | |
49 | which has had some (or all) of the signature bytes read by the calling | |
50 | application. This also allows the reading of embedded PNG streams that | |
51 | do not have the PNG file signature. As well, it is now possible to set | |
52 | the library action on the detection of chunk CRC errors. It is possible | |
53 | to set different actions based on whether the CRC error occurred in a | |
54 | critical or an ancillary chunk. | |
55 | ||
56 | The changes made to the library, and bugs fixed are based on discussions | |
57 | on the PNG-implement mailing list and not on material submitted | |
58 | privately to Guy, Andreas, or Glenn. They will forward any good | |
59 | suggestions to the list. | |
60 | ||
61 | For a detailed description on using libpng, read libpng.txt. For | |
62 | examples of libpng in a program, see example.c and pngtest.c. For usage | |
63 | information and restrictions (what little they are) on libpng, see | |
64 | png.h. For a description on using zlib (the compression library used by | |
65 | libpng) and zlib's restrictions, see zlib.h | |
66 | ||
67 | I have included a general makefile, as well as several machine and | |
68 | compiler specific ones, but you may have to modify one for your own needs. | |
69 | ||
70 | You should use zlib 1.0.4 or later to run this, but it MAY work with | |
71 | versions as old as zlib 0.95. Even so, there are bugs in older zlib | |
72 | versions which can cause the output of invalid compression streams for | |
73 | some images. You will definitely need zlib 1.0.4 or later if you are | |
74 | taking advantage of the MS-DOS "far" structure allocation for the small | |
75 | and medium memory models. You should also note that zlib is a | |
76 | compression library that is useful for more things than just PNG files. | |
77 | You can use zlib as a drop-in replacement for fread() and fwrite() if | |
78 | you are so inclined. | |
79 | ||
80 | zlib should be available at the same place that libpng is, or at. | |
81 | ftp://ftp.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/zlib | |
82 | ||
83 | You may also want a copy of the PNG specification. It is available | |
84 | as an RFC, a W3C Recommendation, and an ISO/IEC Standard. You can find | |
85 | these at http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/documents/ | |
86 | ||
87 | This code is currently being archived at libpng.sf.net in the | |
88 | [DOWNLOAD] area, and on CompuServe, Lib 20 (PNG SUPPORT) | |
89 | at GO GRAPHSUP. If you can't find it in any of those places, | |
90 | e-mail me, and I'll help you find it. | |
91 | ||
92 | If you have any code changes, requests, problems, etc., please e-mail | |
93 | them to me. Also, I'd appreciate any make files or project files, | |
94 | and any modifications you needed to make to get libpng to compile, | |
95 | along with a #define variable to tell what compiler/system you are on. | |
96 | If you needed to add transformations to libpng, or wish libpng would | |
97 | provide the image in a different way, drop me a note (and code, if | |
98 | possible), so I can consider supporting the transformation. | |
99 | Finally, if you get any warning messages when compiling libpng | |
100 | (note: not zlib), and they are easy to fix, I'd appreciate the | |
101 | fix. Please mention "libpng" somewhere in the subject line. Thanks. | |
102 | ||
103 | This release was created and will be supported by myself (of course | |
104 | based in a large way on Guy's and Andreas' earlier work), and the PNG | |
105 | development group. | |
106 | ||
107 | Send comments/corrections/commendations to png-mng-implement at | |
108 | lists.sourceforge.net (subscription required; visit | |
109 | https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-implement | |
110 | to subscribe) or to glennrp at users.sourceforge.net | |
111 | ||
112 | You can't reach Guy, the original libpng author, at the addresses | |
113 | given in previous versions of this document. He and Andreas will | |
114 | read mail addressed to the png-implement list, however. | |
115 | ||
116 | Please do not send general questions about PNG. Send them to | |
117 | the (png-list at ccrc.wustl.edu, subscription required, write to | |
118 | majordomo at ccrc.wustl.edu with "subscribe png-list" in your message). | |
119 | On the other hand, | |
120 | please do not send libpng questions to that address, send them to me | |
121 | or to the png-implement list. I'll | |
122 | get them in the end anyway. If you have a question about something | |
123 | in the PNG specification that is related to using libpng, send it | |
124 | to me. Send me any questions that start with "I was using libpng, | |
125 | and ...". If in doubt, send questions to me. I'll bounce them | |
126 | to others, if necessary. | |
127 | ||
128 | Please do not send suggestions on how to change PNG. We have | |
129 | been discussing PNG for nine years now, and it is official and | |
130 | finished. If you have suggestions for libpng, however, I'll | |
131 | gladly listen. Even if your suggestion is not used immediately, | |
132 | it may be used later. | |
133 | ||
134 | Files in this distribution: | |
135 | ||
136 | ANNOUNCE => Announcement of this version, with recent changes | |
137 | CHANGES => Description of changes between libpng versions | |
138 | KNOWNBUG => List of known bugs and deficiencies | |
139 | LICENSE => License to use and redistribute libpng | |
140 | README => This file | |
141 | TODO => Things not implemented in the current library | |
142 | Y2KINFO => Statement of Y2K compliance | |
143 | example.c => Example code for using libpng functions | |
144 | libpng.3 => manual page for libpng (includes libpng.txt) | |
145 | libpng.txt => Description of libpng and its functions | |
146 | libpngpf.3 => manual page for libpng's private functions | |
147 | png.5 => manual page for the PNG format | |
148 | png.c => Basic interface functions common to library | |
149 | png.h => Library function and interface declarations | |
150 | pngconf.h => System specific library configuration | |
151 | pngerror.c => Error/warning message I/O functions | |
152 | pngget.c => Functions for retrieving info from struct | |
153 | pngmem.c => Memory handling functions | |
154 | pngbar.png => PNG logo, 88x31 | |
155 | pngnow.png => PNG logo, 98x31 | |
156 | pngpread.c => Progressive reading functions | |
157 | pngread.c => Read data/helper high-level functions | |
158 | pngrio.c => Lowest-level data read I/O functions | |
159 | pngrtran.c => Read data transformation functions | |
160 | pngrutil.c => Read data utility functions | |
161 | pngset.c => Functions for storing data into the info_struct | |
162 | pngtest.c => Library test program | |
163 | pngtest.png => Library test sample image | |
164 | pngtrans.c => Common data transformation functions | |
165 | pngwio.c => Lowest-level write I/O functions | |
166 | pngwrite.c => High-level write functions | |
167 | pngwtran.c => Write data transformations | |
168 | pngwutil.c => Write utility functions | |
169 | contrib => Contributions | |
170 | gregbook => source code for PNG reading and writing, from | |
171 | Greg Roelofs' "PNG: The Definitive Guide", | |
172 | O'Reilly, 1999 | |
173 | msvctest => Builds and runs pngtest using a MSVC workspace | |
174 | pngminus => Simple pnm2png and png2pnm programs | |
175 | pngsuite => Test images | |
176 | visupng => Contains a MSVC workspace for VisualPng | |
177 | projects => Contains project files and workspaces for | |
178 | building a DLL | |
179 | c5builder => Contains a Borland workspace for building | |
180 | libpng and zlib | |
181 | visualc6 => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) | |
182 | workspace for building libpng and zlib | |
183 | scripts => Directory containing scripts for building libpng: | |
184 | descrip.mms => VMS makefile for MMS or MMK | |
185 | makefile.std => Generic UNIX makefile (cc, creates static | |
186 | libpng.a) | |
187 | makefile.elf => Linux/ELF makefile symbol versioning, | |
188 | (gcc, creates libpng14.so.14.1.4.4) | |
189 | makefile.linux => Linux/ELF makefile | |
190 | (gcc, creates libpng14.so.14.1.4.4) | |
191 | makefile.gcc => Generic makefile (gcc, creates static libpng.a) | |
192 | makefile.knr => Archaic UNIX Makefile that converts files with | |
193 | ansi2knr (Requires ansi2knr.c from | |
194 | ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/ghost) | |
195 | makefile.aix => AIX makefile | |
196 | makefile.cygwin => Cygwin/gcc makefile | |
197 | makefile.darwin => Darwin makefile | |
198 | makefile.dec => DEC Alpha UNIX makefile | |
199 | makefile.freebsd => FreeBSD makefile | |
200 | makefile.hpgcc => HPUX makefile using gcc | |
201 | makefile.hpux => HPUX (10.20 and 11.00) makefile | |
202 | makefile.hp64 => HPUX (10.20 and 11.00) makefile, 64 bit | |
203 | makefile.ibmc => IBM C/C++ version 3.x for Win32 and OS/2 (static) | |
204 | makefile.intel => Intel C/C++ version 4.0 and later | |
205 | makefile.mingw => Mingw/gcc makefile | |
206 | makefile.netbsd => NetBSD/cc makefile, makes libpng.so. | |
207 | makefile.ne14bsd => NetBSD/cc makefile, makes | |
208 | libpng14.so | |
209 | makefile.openbsd => OpenBSD makefile | |
210 | makefile.sgi => Silicon Graphics IRIX (cc, creates static lib) | |
211 | makefile.sggcc => Silicon Graphics | |
212 | (gcc, creates libpng14.so.14.1.4.4) | |
213 | makefile.sunos => Sun makefile | |
214 | makefile.solaris => Solaris 2.X makefile | |
215 | (gcc, creates libpng14.so.14.1.4.4) | |
216 | makefile.so9 => Solaris 9 makefile | |
217 | (gcc, creates libpng14.so.14.1.4.4) | |
218 | makefile.32sunu => Sun Ultra 32-bit makefile | |
219 | makefile.64sunu => Sun Ultra 64-bit makefile | |
220 | makefile.sco => For SCO OSr5 ELF and Unixware 7 with Native cc | |
221 | makefile.mips => MIPS makefile | |
222 | makefile.acorn => Acorn makefile | |
223 | makefile.amiga => Amiga makefile | |
224 | smakefile.ppc => AMIGA smakefile for SAS C V6.58/7.00 PPC | |
225 | compiler (Requires SCOPTIONS, copied from | |
226 | scripts/SCOPTIONS.ppc) | |
227 | makefile.atari => Atari makefile | |
228 | makefile.beos => BEOS makefile for X86 | |
229 | makefile.bor => Borland makefile (uses bcc) | |
230 | makefile.bc32 => 32-bit Borland C++ (all modules compiled in C mode) | |
231 | makefile.tc3 => Turbo C 3.0 makefile | |
232 | makefile.dj2 => DJGPP 2 makefile | |
233 | makefile.msc => Microsoft C makefile | |
234 | makefile.vcwin32 => makefile for Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 and | |
235 | later (does not use assembler code) | |
236 | makefile.os2 => OS/2 Makefile (gcc and emx, requires pngos2.def) | |
237 | png32ce.def => module definition for makefile.cegccg | |
238 | pngos2.def => OS/2 module definition file used by | |
239 | makefile.os2 | |
240 | pngwin.def => module definition file used by | |
241 | makefile.cygwin and makefile.mingw | |
242 | makefile.watcom => Watcom 10a+ Makefile, 32-bit flat memory model | |
243 | makevms.com => VMS build script | |
244 | SCOPTIONS.ppc => Used with smakefile.ppc | |
245 | ||
246 | Good luck, and happy coding. | |
247 | ||
248 | -Glenn Randers-Pehrson (current maintainer, since 1998) | |
249 | Internet: glennrp at users.sourceforge.net | |
250 | ||
251 | -Andreas Eric Dilger (former maintainer, 1996-1997) | |
252 | Internet: adilger at enel.ucalgary.ca | |
253 | Web: http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/ | |
254 | ||
255 | -Guy Eric Schalnat (original author and former maintainer, 1995-1996) | |
256 | (formerly of Group 42, Inc) | |
257 | Internet: gschal at infinet.com |