ZLIB DATA COMPRESSION LIBRARYzlib 1.2.3 is a general purpose data compression library.  All the code isthread safe.  The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFCs(Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the fileshttp://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1950.txt (zlib format), rfc1951.txt (deflate format)and rfc1952.txt (gzip format). These documents are also available in otherformats from ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.htmlAll functions of the compression library are documented in the file zlib.h(volunteer to write man pages welcome, contact zlib@gzip.org). A usage exampleof the library is given in the file example.c which also tests that the libraryis working correctly. Another example is given in the file minigzip.c. Thecompression library itself is composed of all source files except example.c andminigzip.c.To compile all files and run the test program, follow the instructions given atthe top of Makefile. In short "make test; make install" should work for mostmachines. For Unix: "./configure; make test; make install". For MSDOS, use oneof the special makefiles such as Makefile.msc. For VMS, use make_vms.com.Questions about zlib should be sent to <zlib@gzip.org>, or to Gilles Vollant<info@winimage.com> for the Windows DLL version. The zlib home page ishttp://www.zlib.org or http://www.gzip.org/zlib/ Before reporting a problem,please check this site to verify that you have the latest version of zlib;otherwise get the latest version and check whether the problem still exists ornot.PLEASE read the zlib FAQ http://www.gzip.org/zlib/zlib_faq.html before askingfor help.Mark Nelson <markn@ieee.org> wrote an article about zlib for the Jan. 1997issue of  Dr. Dobb's Journal; a copy of the article is available inhttp://dogma.net/markn/articles/zlibtool/zlibtool.htmThe changes made in version 1.2.3 are documented in the file ChangeLog.Unsupported third party contributions are provided in directory "contrib".A Java implementation of zlib is available in the Java Development Kithttp://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/zip/package-summary.htmlSee the zlib home page http://www.zlib.org for details.A Perl interface to zlib written by Paul Marquess <pmqs@cpan.org> is in theCPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) siteshttp://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Compress/A Python interface to zlib written by A.M. Kuchling <amk@amk.ca> isavailable in Python 1.5 and later versions, seehttp://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-zlib.htmlA zlib binding for TCL written by Andreas Kupries <a.kupries@westend.com> isavaillable at http://www.oche.de/~akupries/soft/trf/trf_zip.htmlAn experimental package to read and write files in .zip format, written on topof zlib by Gilles Vollant <info@winimage.com>, is available in thecontrib/minizip directory of zlib.Notes for some targets:- For Windows DLL versions, please see win32/DLL_FAQ.txt- For 64-bit Irix, deflate.c must be compiled without any optimization. With  -O, one libpng test fails. The test works in 32 bit mode (with the -n32  compiler flag). The compiler bug has been reported to SGI.- zlib doesn't work with gcc 2.6.3 on a DEC 3000/300LX under OSF/1 2.1 it works  when compiled with cc.- On Digital Unix 4.0D (formely OSF/1) on AlphaServer, the cc option -std1 is  necessary to get gzprintf working correctly. This is done by configure.- zlib doesn't work on HP-UX 9.05 with some versions of /bin/cc. It works with  other compilers. Use "make test" to check your compiler.- gzdopen is not supported on RISCOS, BEOS and by some Mac compilers.- For PalmOs, see http://palmzlib.sourceforge.net/- When building a shared, i.e. dynamic library on Mac OS X, the library must be  installed before testing (do "make install" before "make test"), since the  library location is specified in the library.Acknowledgments:  The deflate format used by zlib was defined by Phil Katz. The deflate  and zlib specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch. Thanks to all the  people who reported problems and suggested various improvements in zlib;  they are too numerous to cite here.Copyright notice: (C) 1995-2004 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler  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.  Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,  including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it  freely, subject to the following restrictions:  1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not     claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software     in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be     appreciated but is not required.  2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be     misrepresented as being the original software.  3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.  Jean-loup Gailly        Mark Adler  jloup@gzip.org          madler@alumni.caltech.eduIf you use the zlib library in a product, we would appreciate *not*receiving lengthy legal documents to sign. The sources are providedfor free but without warranty of any kind.  The library has beenentirely written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler; it does notinclude third-party code.If you redistribute modified sources, we would appreciate that you includein the file ChangeLog history information documenting your changes. Pleaseread the FAQ for more information on the distribution of modified sourceversions.