1.TH ZLIB 3 "28 Apr 2013"
  2.SH NAME
  3zlib \- compression/decompression library
  4.SH SYNOPSIS
  5[see
  6.I zlib.h
  7for full description]
  8.SH DESCRIPTION
  9The
 10.I zlib
 11library is a general purpose data compression library.
 12The code is thread safe, assuming that the standard library functions
 13used are thread safe, such as memory allocation routines.
 14It provides in-memory compression and decompression functions,
 15including integrity checks of the uncompressed data.
 16This version of the library supports only one compression method (deflation)
 17but other algorithms may be added later
 18with the same stream interface.
 19.LP
 20Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large enough
 21or can be done by repeated calls of the compression function.
 22In the latter case,
 23the application must provide more input and/or consume the output
 24(providing more output space) before each call.
 25.LP
 26The library also supports reading and writing files in
 27.IR gzip (1)
 28(.gz) format
 29with an interface similar to that of stdio.
 30.LP
 31The library does not install any signal handler.
 32The decoder checks the consistency of the compressed data,
 33so the library should never crash even in the case of corrupted input.
 34.LP
 35All functions of the compression library are documented in the file
 36.IR zlib.h .
 37The distribution source includes examples of use of the library
 38in the files
 39.I test/example.c
 40and
 41.IR test/minigzip.c,
 42as well as other examples in the
 43.IR examples/
 44directory.
 45.LP
 46Changes to this version are documented in the file
 47.I ChangeLog
 48that accompanies the source.
 49.LP
 50.I zlib
 51is available in Java using the java.util.zip package:
 52.IP
 53http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/compression/
 54.LP
 55A Perl interface to
 56.IR zlib ,
 57written by Paul Marquess (pmqs@cpan.org),
 58is available at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites,
 59including:
 60.IP
 61http://search.cpan.org/~pmqs/IO-Compress-Zlib/
 62.LP
 63A Python interface to
 64.IR zlib ,
 65written by A.M. Kuchling (amk@magnet.com),
 66is available in Python 1.5 and later versions:
 67.IP
 68http://docs.python.org/library/zlib.html
 69.LP
 70.I zlib
 71is built into
 72.IR tcl:
 73.IP
 74http://wiki.tcl.tk/4610
 75.LP
 76An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format,
 77written on top of
 78.I zlib
 79by Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com),
 80is available at:
 81.IP
 82http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/minizip.html
 83and also in the
 84.I contrib/minizip
 85directory of the main
 86.I zlib
 87source distribution.
 88.SH "SEE ALSO"
 89The
 90.I zlib
 91web site can be found at:
 92.IP
 93http://zlib.net/
 94.LP
 95The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC
 96(Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:
 97.IP
 98http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1950 (for the zlib header and trailer format)
 99.br
100http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1951 (for the deflate compressed data format)
101.br
102http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1952 (for the gzip header and trailer format)
103.LP
104Mark Nelson wrote an article about
105.I zlib
106for the Jan. 1997 issue of  Dr. Dobb's Journal;
107a copy of the article is available at:
108.IP
109http://marknelson.us/1997/01/01/zlib-engine/
110.SH "REPORTING PROBLEMS"
111Before reporting a problem,
112please check the
113.I zlib
114web site to verify that you have the latest version of
115.IR zlib ;
116otherwise,
117obtain the latest version and see if the problem still exists.
118Please read the
119.I zlib
120FAQ at:
121.IP
122http://zlib.net/zlib_faq.html
123.LP
124before asking for help.
125Send questions and/or comments to zlib@gzip.org,
126or (for the Windows DLL version) to Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com).
127.SH AUTHORS
128Version 1.2.8
129Copyright (C) 1995-2013 Jean-loup Gailly (jloup@gzip.org)
130and Mark Adler (madler@alumni.caltech.edu).
131.LP
132This software is provided "as-is,"
133without any express or implied warranty.
134In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
135arising from the use of this software.
136See the distribution directory with respect to requirements
137governing redistribution.
138The deflate format used by
139.I zlib
140was defined by Phil Katz.
141The deflate and
142.I zlib
143specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch.
144Thanks to all the people who reported problems and suggested various
145improvements in
146.IR zlib ;
147who are too numerous to cite here.
148.LP
149UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers,
150U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov).
151.\" end of man page