.TH ZLIB 3 "17 November 2003".SH NAMEzlib \- compression/decompression library.SH SYNOPSIS[see.I zlib.hfor full description].SH DESCRIPTIONThe.I zliblibrary 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 laterand will have the same stream interface..LPCompression 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..LPThe library also supports reading and writing files in.IR gzip (1)(.gz) formatwith an interface similar to that of stdio..LPThe 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..LPAll functions of the compression library are documented in the file.IR zlib.h .The distribution source includes examples of use of the libraryin the files.I example.cand.IR minigzip.c ..LPChanges to this version are documented in the file.I ChangeLogthat accompanies the source,and are concerned primarily with bug fixes and portability enhancements..LPA Java implementation of.I zlibis available in the Java Development Kit 1.1:.IPhttp://www.javasoft.com/products/JDK/1.1/docs/api/Package-java.util.zip.html.LPA Perl interface to.IR zlib ,written by Paul Marquess (pmqs@cpan.org),is available at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites,including:.IPhttp://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Compress/.LPA Python interface to.IR zlib ,written by A.M. Kuchling (amk@magnet.com),is available in Python 1.5 and later versions:.IPhttp://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-zlib.html.LPA.I zlibbinding for.IR tcl (1),written by Andreas Kupries (a.kupries@westend.com),is availlable at:.IPhttp://www.westend.com/~kupries/doc/trf/man/man.html.LPAn experimental package to read and write files in .zip format,written on top of.I zlibby Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com),is available at:.IPhttp://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/unzip.htmland also in the.I contrib/minizipdirectory of the main.I zlibweb site..SH "SEE ALSO"The.I zlibweb site can be found at either of these locations:.IPhttp://www.zlib.org.brhttp://www.gzip.org/zlib/.LPThe data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC(Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:.IPhttp://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1950.txt (concerning zlib format).brhttp://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1951.txt (concerning deflate format).brhttp://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1952.txt (concerning gzip format).LPThese documents are also available in other formats from:.IPftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.html.LPMark Nelson (markn@ieee.org) wrote an article about.I zlibfor the Jan. 1997 issue of  Dr. Dobb's Journal;a copy of the article is available at:.IPhttp://dogma.net/markn/articles/zlibtool/zlibtool.htm.SH "REPORTING PROBLEMS"Before reporting a problem,please check the.I zlibweb 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 zlibFAQ at:.IPhttp://www.gzip.org/zlib/zlib_faq.html.LPbefore 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 AUTHORSVersion 1.2.1Copyright (C) 1995-2003 Jean-loup Gailly (jloup@gzip.org)and Mark Adler (madler@alumni.caltech.edu)..LPThis software is provided "as-is,"without any express or implied warranty.In no event will the authors be held liable for any damagesarising from the use of this software.See the distribution directory with respect to requirementsgoverning redistribution.The deflate format used by.I zlibwas defined by Phil Katz.The deflate and.I zlibspecifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch.Thanks to all the people who reported problems and suggested variousimprovements in.IR zlib ;who are too numerous to cite here..LPUNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers,U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov)..\" end of man page