NAME

       zlib - compression/decompression library

SYNOPSIS

       [see zlib.h for full description]

DESCRIPTION

       The  zlib  library is a general purpose data compression library.  The code is thread safe, assuming that
       the standard library functions used are thread safe, such as memory allocation routines.  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 may  be
       added later with the same stream interface.

       Compression can be done in a single step if the buffers are large enough 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.

       The  library also supports reading and writing files in gzip(1) (.gz) format with an interface similar to
       that of stdio.

       The library does not install any signal handler.  The decoder checks the consistency  of  the  compressed
       data, so the library should never crash even in the case of corrupted input.

       All  functions  of  the  compression  library are documented in the file zlib.h.  The distribution source
       includes examples of use of the library in the files test/example.c and test/minigzip.c, as well as other
       examples in the examples/ directory.

       Changes to this version are documented in the file ChangeLog that accompanies the source.

       zlib  is  built  in  to  many languages and operating systems, including but not limited to Java, Python,
       .NET, PHP, Perl, Ruby, Swift, and Go.

       An experimental package to read and write files in the .zip format, written on  top  of  zlib  by  Gilles
       Vollant (info@winimage.com), is available at:

              http://www.winimage.com/zLibDll/minizip.html and also in the contrib/minizip directory of the main
              zlib source distribution.

SEE ALSO

       The zlib web site can be found at:

              http://zlib.net/

       The data format used by the zlib library is described by RFC (Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952  in  the
       files:

              http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1950 (for the zlib header and trailer format)
              http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1951 (for the deflate compressed data format)
              http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1952 (for the gzip header and trailer format)

       Mark  Nelson  wrote  an  article about zlib for the Jan. 1997 issue of  Dr. Dobb's Journal; a copy of the
       article is available at:

              http://marknelson.us/1997/01/01/zlib-engine/

REPORTING PROBLEMS

       Before reporting a problem, please check the zlib web site to verify that you have the latest version  of
       zlib; otherwise, obtain the latest version and see if the problem still exists.  Please read the zlib FAQ
       at:

              http://zlib.net/zlib_faq.html

       before asking for help.  Send questions and/or  comments  to  zlib@gzip.org,  or  (for  the  Windows  DLL
       version) to Gilles Vollant (info@winimage.com).

AUTHORS AND LICENSE

       Version 1.2.11

       Copyright (C) 1995-2017 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.edu

       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; who are too numerous to cite here.

       UNIX manual page by R. P. C. Rodgers, U.S. National Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov).

                                                   15 Jan 2017                                           ZLIB(3)