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1 | .TH ZLIB 3 "13 Oct 2022" |
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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, assuming that the standard library functions |
13 | used are thread safe, such as memory allocation routines. |
14 | It provides in-memory compression and decompression functions, |
15 | including integrity checks of the uncompressed data. |
16 | This version of the library supports only one compression method (deflation) |
17 | but other algorithms may be added later |
18 | with the same stream interface. |
19 | .LP |
20 | Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large enough |
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 the 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 test/example.c |
40 | and |
41 | .IR test/minigzip.c, |
42 | as well as other examples in the |
43 | .IR examples/ |
44 | directory. |
45 | .LP |
46 | Changes to this version are documented in the file |
47 | .I ChangeLog |
48 | that accompanies the source. |
49 | .LP |
50 | .I zlib |
51 | is built in to many languages and operating systems, including but not limited to |
52 | Java, Python, .NET, PHP, Perl, Ruby, Swift, and Go. |
53 | .LP |
54 | An experimental package to read and write files in the .zip format, |
55 | written on top of |
56 | .I zlib |
57 | by Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com), |
58 | is available at: |
59 | .IP |
60 | http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/minizip.html |
61 | and also in the |
62 | .I contrib/minizip |
63 | directory of the main |
64 | .I zlib |
65 | source distribution. |
66 | .SH "SEE ALSO" |
67 | The |
68 | .I zlib |
69 | web site can be found at: |
70 | .IP |
71 | http://zlib.net/ |
72 | .LP |
73 | The data format used by the |
74 | .I zlib |
75 | library is described by RFC |
76 | (Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files: |
77 | .IP |
78 | http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1950 (for the zlib header and trailer format) |
79 | .br |
80 | http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1951 (for the deflate compressed data format) |
81 | .br |
82 | http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1952 (for the gzip header and trailer format) |
83 | .LP |
84 | Mark Nelson wrote an article about |
85 | .I zlib |
86 | for the Jan. 1997 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal; |
87 | a copy of the article is available at: |
88 | .IP |
89 | http://marknelson.us/1997/01/01/zlib-engine/ |
90 | .SH "REPORTING PROBLEMS" |
91 | Before reporting a problem, |
92 | please check the |
93 | .I zlib |
94 | web site to verify that you have the latest version of |
95 | .IR zlib ; |
96 | otherwise, |
97 | obtain the latest version and see if the problem still exists. |
98 | Please read the |
99 | .I zlib |
100 | FAQ at: |
101 | .IP |
102 | http://zlib.net/zlib_faq.html |
103 | .LP |
104 | before asking for help. |
105 | Send questions and/or comments to zlib@gzip.org, |
106 | or (for the Windows DLL version) to Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com). |
107 | .SH AUTHORS AND LICENSE |
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108 | Version 1.2.13 |
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109 | .LP |
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110 | Copyright (C) 1995-2022 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler |
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111 | .LP |
112 | This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied |
113 | warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages |
114 | arising from the use of this software. |
115 | .LP |
116 | Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, |
117 | including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it |
118 | freely, subject to the following restrictions: |
119 | .LP |
120 | .nr step 1 1 |
121 | .IP \n[step]. 3 |
122 | The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not |
123 | claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software |
124 | in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be |
125 | appreciated but is not required. |
126 | .IP \n+[step]. |
127 | Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be |
128 | misrepresented as being the original software. |
129 | .IP \n+[step]. |
130 | This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution. |
131 | .LP |
132 | Jean-loup Gailly Mark Adler |
133 | .br |
134 | jloup@gzip.org madler@alumni.caltech.edu |
135 | .LP |
136 | The deflate format used by |
137 | .I zlib |
138 | was defined by Phil Katz. |
139 | The deflate and |
140 | .I zlib |
141 | specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch. |
142 | Thanks to all the people who reported problems and suggested various |
143 | improvements in |
144 | .IR zlib ; |
145 | who are too numerous to cite here. |
146 | .LP |
147 | UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers, |
148 | U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov). |
149 | .\" end of man page |