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)