README
1This is a modified version of the ZLIB 1.2.8 data compression library.
2
3ZLIB DATA COMPRESSION LIBRARY
4
5zlib 1.2.8 is a general purpose data compression library. All the code is
6thread safe. The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFCs
7(Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files
8http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1950 (zlib format), rfc1951 (deflate format) and
9rfc1952 (gzip format).
10
11All functions of the compression library are documented in the file zlib.h
12(volunteer to write man pages welcome, contact zlib@gzip.org). A usage example
13of the library is given in the file test/example.c which also tests that
14the library is working correctly. Another example is given in the file
15test/minigzip.c. The compression library itself is composed of all source
16files in the root directory.
17
18To compile all files and run the test program, follow the instructions given at
19the top of Makefile.in. In short "./configure; make test", and if that goes
20well, "make install" should work for most flavors of Unix. For Windows, use
21one of the special makefiles in win32/ or contrib/vstudio/ . For VMS, use
22make_vms.com.
23
24Questions about zlib should be sent to <zlib@gzip.org>, or to Gilles Vollant
25<info@winimage.com> for the Windows DLL version. The zlib home page is
26http://zlib.net/ . Before reporting a problem, please check this site to
27verify that you have the latest version of zlib; otherwise get the latest
28version and check whether the problem still exists or not.
29
30PLEASE read the zlib FAQ http://zlib.net/zlib_faq.html before asking for help.
31
32Mark Nelson <markn@ieee.org> wrote an article about zlib for the Jan. 1997
33issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal; a copy of the article is available at
34http://marknelson.us/1997/01/01/zlib-engine/ .
35
36The changes made in version 1.2.8 are documented in the file ChangeLog.
37
38Unsupported third party contributions are provided in directory contrib/ .
39
40zlib is available in Java using the java.util.zip package, documented at
41http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/compression/ .
42
43A Perl interface to zlib written by Paul Marquess <pmqs@cpan.org> is available
44at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) sites, including
45http://search.cpan.org/~pmqs/IO-Compress-Zlib/ .
46
47A Python interface to zlib written by A.M. Kuchling <amk@amk.ca> is
48available in Python 1.5 and later versions, see
49http://docs.python.org/library/zlib.html .
50
51zlib is built into tcl: http://wiki.tcl.tk/4610 .
52
53An experimental package to read and write files in .zip format, written on top
54of zlib by Gilles Vollant <info@winimage.com>, is available in the
55contrib/minizip directory of zlib.
56
57
58Notes for some targets:
59
60- For Windows DLL versions, please see win32/DLL_FAQ.txt
61
62- For 64-bit Irix, deflate.c must be compiled without any optimization. With
63 -O, one libpng test fails. The test works in 32 bit mode (with the -n32
64 compiler flag). The compiler bug has been reported to SGI.
65
66- zlib doesn't work with gcc 2.6.3 on a DEC 3000/300LX under OSF/1 2.1 it works
67 when compiled with cc.
68
69- On Digital Unix 4.0D (formely OSF/1) on AlphaServer, the cc option -std1 is
70 necessary to get gzprintf working correctly. This is done by configure.
71
72- zlib doesn't work on HP-UX 9.05 with some versions of /bin/cc. It works with
73 other compilers. Use "make test" to check your compiler.
74
75- gzdopen is not supported on RISCOS or BEOS.
76
77- For PalmOs, see http://palmzlib.sourceforge.net/
78
79
80Acknowledgments:
81
82 The deflate format used by zlib was defined by Phil Katz. The deflate and
83 zlib specifications were written by L. Peter Deutsch. Thanks to all the
84 people who reported problems and suggested various improvements in zlib; they
85 are too numerous to cite here.
86
87Copyright notice:
88
89 (C) 1995-2013 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler
90
91 This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
92 warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
93 arising from the use of this software.
94
95 Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
96 including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
97 freely, subject to the following restrictions:
98
99 1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
100 claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
101 in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
102 appreciated but is not required.
103 2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
104 misrepresented as being the original software.
105 3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
106
107 Jean-loup Gailly Mark Adler
108 jloup@gzip.org madler@alumni.caltech.edu
109
110If you use the zlib library in a product, we would appreciate *not* receiving
111lengthy legal documents to sign. The sources are provided for free but without
112warranty of any kind. The library has been entirely written by Jean-loup
113Gailly and Mark Adler; it does not include third-party code.
114
115If you redistribute modified sources, we would appreciate that you include in
116the file ChangeLog history information documenting your changes. Please read
117the FAQ for more information on the distribution of modified source versions.
118