Zlib(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Zlib(3)NAMECompress::Zlib - Interface to zlib compression library
SYNOPSIS
use Compress::Zlib ;
($d, $status) = deflateInit( [OPT] ) ;
($out, $status) = $d->deflate($buffer) ;
$status = $d->deflateParams([OPT]) ;
($out, $status) = $d->flush() ;
$d->dict_adler() ;
$d->total_in() ;
$d->total_out() ;
$d->msg() ;
($i, $status) = inflateInit( [OPT] ) ;
($out, $status) = $i->inflate($buffer) ;
$status = $i->inflateSync($buffer) ;
$i->dict_adler() ;
$i->total_in() ;
$i->total_out() ;
$i->msg() ;
$dest = compress($source, [$level]) ;
$dest = uncompress($source) ;
$gz = gzopen($filename or filehandle, $mode) ;
$bytesread = $gz->gzread($buffer [,$size]) ;
$bytesread = $gz->gzreadline($line) ;
$byteswritten = $gz->gzwrite($buffer) ;
$status = $gz->gzflush($flush) ;
$status = $gz->gzclose() ;
$status = $gz->gzeof() ;
$status = $gz->gzsetparams($level, $strategy) ;
$errstring = $gz->gzerror() ;
$gzerrno
$dest = Compress::Zlib::memGzip($buffer) ;
$dest = Compress::Zlib::memGunzip($buffer) ;
$crc = adler32($buffer [,$crc]) ;
$crc = crc32($buffer [,$crc]) ;
ZLIB_VERSION
DESCRIPTION
The Compress::Zlib module provides a Perl interface to the zlib com‐
pression library (see "AUTHOR" for details about where to get zlib).
Most of the functionality provided by zlib is available in Com‐
press::Zlib.
The module can be split into two general areas of functionality, namely
in-memory compression/decompression and read/write access to gzip
files. Each of these areas will be discussed separately below.
DEFLATE
The interface Compress::Zlib provides to the in-memory deflate (and
inflate) functions has been modified to fit into a Perl model.
The main difference is that for both inflation and deflation, the Perl
interface will always consume the complete input buffer before return‐
ing. Also the output buffer returned will be automatically grown to fit
the amount of output available.
Here is a definition of the interface available:
($d, $status) = deflateInit( [OPT] )
Initialises a deflation stream.
It combines the features of the zlib functions deflateInit,
deflateInit2 and deflateSetDictionary.
If successful, it will return the initialised deflation stream, $d and
$status of "Z_OK" in a list context. In scalar context it returns the
deflation stream, $d, only.
If not successful, the returned deflation stream ($d) will be undef and
$status will hold the exact zlib error code.
The function optionally takes a number of named options specified as
"-Name=>value" pairs. This allows individual options to be tailored
without having to specify them all in the parameter list.
For backward compatibility, it is also possible to pass the parameters
as a reference to a hash containing the name=>value pairs.
The function takes one optional parameter, a reference to a hash. The
contents of the hash allow the deflation interface to be tailored.
Here is a list of the valid options:
-Level
Defines the compression level. Valid values are 0 through 9,
"Z_NO_COMPRESSION", "Z_BEST_SPEED", "Z_BEST_COMPRESSION", and
"Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION".
The default is "-Level =>Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION".
-Method
Defines the compression method. The only valid value at present
(and the default) is "-Method =>Z_DEFLATED".
-WindowBits
For a definition of the meaning and valid values for WindowBits
refer to the zlib documentation for deflateInit2.
Defaults to "-WindowBits =>MAX_WBITS".
-MemLevel
For a definition of the meaning and valid values for MemLevel
refer to the zlib documentation for deflateInit2.
Defaults to "-MemLevel =>MAX_MEM_LEVEL".
-Strategy
Defines the strategy used to tune the compression. The valid val‐
ues are "Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY", "Z_FILTERED" and "Z_HUFFMAN_ONLY".
The default is "-Strategy =>Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY".
-Dictionary
When a dictionary is specified Compress::Zlib will automatically
call deflateSetDictionary directly after calling deflateInit. The
Adler32 value for the dictionary can be obtained by calling the
method "$d-"dict_adler()>.
The default is no dictionary.
-Bufsize
Sets the initial size for the deflation buffer. If the buffer has
to be reallocated to increase the size, it will grow in increments
of Bufsize.
The default is 4096.
Here is an example of using the deflateInit optional parameter list to
override the default buffer size and compression level. All other
options will take their default values.
deflateInit( -Bufsize => 300,
-Level => Z_BEST_SPEED ) ;
($out, $status) = $d->deflate($buffer)
Deflates the contents of $buffer. The buffer can either be a scalar or
a scalar reference. When finished, $buffer will be completely pro‐
cessed (assuming there were no errors). If the deflation was successful
it returns the deflated output, $out, and a status value, $status, of
"Z_OK".
On error, $out will be undef and $status will contain the zlib error
code.
In a scalar context deflate will return $out only.
As with the deflate function in zlib, it is not necessarily the case
that any output will be produced by this method. So don't rely on the
fact that $out is empty for an error test.
($out, $status) = $d->flush([flush_type])
Typically used to finish the deflation. Any pending output will be
returned via $out. $status will have a value "Z_OK" if successful.
In a scalar context flush will return $out only.
Note that flushing can seriously degrade the compression ratio, so it
should only be used to terminate a decompression (using "Z_FINISH") or
when you want to create a full flush point (using "Z_FULL_FLUSH").
By default the "flush_type" used is "Z_FINISH". Other valid values for
"flush_type" are "Z_NO_FLUSH", "Z_PARTIAL_FLUSH", "Z_SYNC_FLUSH" and
"Z_FULL_FLUSH". It is strongly recommended that you only set the
"flush_type" parameter if you fully understand the implications of what
it does. See the "zlib" documentation for details.
$status = $d->deflateParams([OPT])
Change settings for the deflate stream $d.
The list of the valid options is shown below. Options not specified
will remain unchanged.
-Level
Defines the compression level. Valid values are 0 through 9,
"Z_NO_COMPRESSION", "Z_BEST_SPEED", "Z_BEST_COMPRESSION", and
"Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION".
-Strategy
Defines the strategy used to tune the compression. The valid val‐
ues are "Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY", "Z_FILTERED" and "Z_HUFFMAN_ONLY".
$d->dict_adler()
Returns the adler32 value for the dictionary.
$d->msg()
Returns the last error message generated by zlib.
$d->total_in()
Returns the total number of bytes uncompressed bytes input to deflate.
$d->total_out()
Returns the total number of compressed bytes output from deflate.
Example
Here is a trivial example of using deflate. It simply reads standard
input, deflates it and writes it to standard output.
use strict ;
use warnings ;
use Compress::Zlib ;
binmode STDIN;
binmode STDOUT;
my $x = deflateInit()
or die "Cannot create a deflation stream\n" ;
my ($output, $status) ;
while (<>)
{
($output, $status) = $x->deflate($_) ;
$status == Z_OK
or die "deflation failed\n" ;
print $output ;
}
($output, $status) = $x->flush() ;
$status == Z_OK
or die "deflation failed\n" ;
print $output ;
INFLATE
Here is a definition of the interface:
($i, $status) = inflateInit()
Initialises an inflation stream.
In a list context it returns the inflation stream, $i, and the zlib
status code ($status). In a scalar context it returns the inflation
stream only.
If successful, $i will hold the inflation stream and $status will be
"Z_OK".
If not successful, $i will be undef and $status will hold the zlib
error code.
The function optionally takes a number of named options specified as
"-Name=>value" pairs. This allows individual options to be tailored
without having to specify them all in the parameter list.
For backward compatibility, it is also possible to pass the parameters
as a reference to a hash containing the name=>value pairs.
The function takes one optional parameter, a reference to a hash. The
contents of the hash allow the deflation interface to be tailored.
Here is a list of the valid options:
-WindowBits
For a definition of the meaning and valid values for WindowBits
refer to the zlib documentation for inflateInit2.
Defaults to "-WindowBits =>MAX_WBITS".
-Bufsize
Sets the initial size for the inflation buffer. If the buffer has
to be reallocated to increase the size, it will grow in increments
of Bufsize.
Default is 4096.
-Dictionary
The default is no dictionary.
Here is an example of using the inflateInit optional parameter to over‐
ride the default buffer size.
inflateInit( -Bufsize => 300 ) ;
($out, $status) = $i->inflate($buffer)
Inflates the complete contents of $buffer. The buffer can either be a
scalar or a scalar reference.
Returns "Z_OK" if successful and "Z_STREAM_END" if the end of the com‐
pressed data has been successfully reached. If not successful, $out
will be undef and $status will hold the zlib error code.
The $buffer parameter is modified by "inflate". On completion it will
contain what remains of the input buffer after inflation. This means
that $buffer will be an empty string when the return status is "Z_OK".
When the return status is "Z_STREAM_END" the $buffer parameter will
contains what (if anything) was stored in the input buffer after the
deflated data stream.
This feature is useful when processing a file format that encapsulates
a compressed data stream (e.g. gzip, zip).
$status = $i->inflateSync($buffer)
Scans $buffer until it reaches either a full flush point or the end of
the buffer.
If a full flush point is found, "Z_OK" is returned and $buffer will be
have all data up to the flush point removed. This can then be passed to
the "deflate" method.
Any other return code means that a flush point was not found. If more
data is available, "inflateSync" can be called repeatedly with more
compressed data until the flush point is found.
$i->dict_adler()
Returns the adler32 value for the dictionary.
$i->msg()
Returns the last error message generated by zlib.
$i->total_in()
Returns the total number of bytes compressed bytes input to inflate.
$i->total_out()
Returns the total number of uncompressed bytes output from inflate.
Example
Here is an example of using inflate.
use strict ;
use warnings ;
use Compress::Zlib ;
my $x = inflateInit()
or die "Cannot create a inflation stream\n" ;
my $input = '' ;
binmode STDIN;
binmode STDOUT;
my ($output, $status) ;
while (read(STDIN, $input, 4096))
{
($output, $status) = $x->inflate(\$input) ;
print $output
if $status == Z_OK or $status == Z_STREAM_END ;
last if $status != Z_OK ;
}
die "inflation failed\n"
unless $status == Z_STREAM_END ;
COMPRESS/UNCOMPRESS
Two high-level functions are provided by zlib to perform in-memory com‐
pression/uncompression of RFC1950 data streams. They are called com‐
press and uncompress.
The two Perl subs defined below provide the equivalent functionality.
$dest = compress($source [, $level] ) ;
Compresses $source. If successful it returns the compressed data.
Otherwise it returns undef.
The source buffer can either be a scalar or a scalar reference.
The $level paramter defines the compression level. Valid values
are 0 through 9, "Z_NO_COMPRESSION", "Z_BEST_SPEED", "Z_BEST_COM‐
PRESSION", and "Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION". If $level is not speci‐
fied "Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION" will be used.
$dest = uncompress($source) ;
Uncompresses $source. If successful it returns the uncompressed
data. Otherwise it returns undef.
The source buffer can either be a scalar or a scalar reference.
Please note: the two functions defined above are not compatible with
the Unix commands of the same name.
GZIP INTERFACE
A number of functions are supplied in zlib for reading and writing gzip
files. This module provides an interface to most of them. In general
the interface provided by this module operates identically to the func‐
tions provided by zlib. Any differences are explained below.
$gz = gzopen(filename or filehandle, mode)
This function operates identically to the zlib equivalent except
that it returns an object which is used to access the other gzip
methods.
As with the zlib equivalent, the mode parameter is used to specify
both whether the file is opened for reading or writing and to
optionally specify a a compression level. Refer to the zlib docu‐
mentation for the exact format of the mode parameter.
If a reference to an open filehandle is passed in place of the
filename, gzdopen will be called behind the scenes. The third
example at the end of this section, gzstream, uses this feature.
$bytesread = $gz->gzread($buffer [, $size]) ;
Reads $size bytes from the compressed file into $buffer. If $size
is not specified, it will default to 4096. If the scalar $buffer
is not large enough, it will be extended automatically.
Returns the number of bytes actually read. On EOF it returns 0 and
in the case of an error, -1.
$bytesread = $gz->gzreadline($line) ;
Reads the next line from the compressed file into $line.
Returns the number of bytes actually read. On EOF it returns 0 and
in the case of an error, -1.
It is legal to intermix calls to gzread and gzreadline.
At this time gzreadline ignores the variable $/
($INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR or $RS when "English" is in use). The end
of a line is denoted by the C character '\n'.
$byteswritten = $gz->gzwrite($buffer) ;
Writes the contents of $buffer to the compressed file. Returns the
number of bytes actually written, or 0 on error.
$status = $gz->gzflush($flush) ;
Flushes all pending output to the compressed file. Works identi‐
cally to the zlib function it interfaces to. Note that the use of
gzflush can degrade compression.
Returns "Z_OK" if $flush is "Z_FINISH" and all output could be
flushed. Otherwise the zlib error code is returned.
Refer to the zlib documentation for the valid values of $flush.
$status = $gz->gzeof() ;
Returns 1 if the end of file has been detected while reading the
input file, otherwise returns 0.
$gz->gzclose
Closes the compressed file. Any pending data is flushed to the
file before it is closed.
$gz->gzsetparams($level, $strategy
Change settings for the deflate stream $gz.
The list of the valid options is shown below. Options not speci‐
fied will remain unchanged.
Note: This method is only available if you are running zlib 1.0.6
or better.
$level
Defines the compression level. Valid values are 0 through 9,
"Z_NO_COMPRESSION", "Z_BEST_SPEED", "Z_BEST_COMPRESSION", and
"Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION".
$strategy
Defines the strategy used to tune the compression. The valid
values are "Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY", "Z_FILTERED" and "Z_HUFF‐
MAN_ONLY".
$gz->gzerror
Returns the zlib error message or number for the last operation
associated with $gz. The return value will be the zlib error num‐
ber when used in a numeric context and the zlib error message when
used in a string context. The zlib error number constants, shown
below, are available for use.
Z_OK
Z_STREAM_END
Z_ERRNO
Z_STREAM_ERROR
Z_DATA_ERROR
Z_MEM_ERROR
Z_BUF_ERROR
$gzerrno
The $gzerrno scalar holds the error code associated with the most
recent gzip routine. Note that unlike gzerror(), the error is not
associated with a particular file.
As with gzerror() it returns an error number in numeric context
and an error message in string context. Unlike gzerror() though,
the error message will correspond to the zlib message when the
error is associated with zlib itself, or the UNIX error message
when it is not (i.e. zlib returned "Z_ERRORNO").
As there is an overlap between the error numbers used by zlib and
UNIX, $gzerrno should only be used to check for the presence of an
error in numeric context. Use gzerror() to check for specific zlib
errors. The gzcat example below shows how the variable can be used
safely.
Examples
Here is an example script which uses the interface. It implements a
gzcat function.
use strict ;
use warnings ;
use Compress::Zlib ;
die "Usage: gzcat file...\n"
unless @ARGV ;
my $file ;
foreach $file (@ARGV) {
my $buffer ;
my $gz = gzopen($file, "rb")
or die "Cannot open $file: $gzerrno\n" ;
print $buffer while $gz->gzread($buffer) > 0 ;
die "Error reading from $file: $gzerrno" . ($gzerrno+0) . "\n"
if $gzerrno != Z_STREAM_END ;
$gz->gzclose() ;
}
Below is a script which makes use of gzreadline. It implements a very
simple grep like script.
use strict ;
use warnings ;
use Compress::Zlib ;
die "Usage: gzgrep pattern file...\n"
unless @ARGV >= 2;
my $pattern = shift ;
my $file ;
foreach $file (@ARGV) {
my $gz = gzopen($file, "rb")
or die "Cannot open $file: $gzerrno\n" ;
while ($gz->gzreadline($_) > 0) {
print if /$pattern/ ;
}
die "Error reading from $file: $gzerrno\n"
if $gzerrno != Z_STREAM_END ;
$gz->gzclose() ;
}
This script, gzstream, does the opposite of the gzcat script above. It
reads from standard input and writes a gzip file to standard output.
use strict ;
use warnings ;
use Compress::Zlib ;
binmode STDOUT; # gzopen only sets it on the fd
my $gz = gzopen(\*STDOUT, "wb")
or die "Cannot open stdout: $gzerrno\n" ;
while (<>) {
$gz->gzwrite($_)
or die "error writing: $gzerrno\n" ;
}
$gz->gzclose ;
Compress::Zlib::memGzip
This function is used to create an in-memory gzip file. It creates a
minimal gzip header.
$dest = Compress::Zlib::memGzip($buffer) ;
If successful, it returns the in-memory gzip file, otherwise it returns
undef.
The buffer parameter can either be a scalar or a scalar reference.
Compress::Zlib::memGunzip
This function is used to uncompress an in-memory gzip file.
$dest = Compress::Zlib::memGunzip($buffer) ;
If successful, it returns the uncompressed gzip file, otherwise it
returns undef.
The buffer parameter can either be a scalar or a scalar reference. The
contents of the buffer parameter are destroyed after calling this func‐
tion.
CHECKSUM FUNCTIONS
Two functions are provided by zlib to calculate a checksum. For the
Perl interface, the order of the two parameters in both functions has
been reversed. This allows both running checksums and one off calcula‐
tions to be done.
$crc = adler32($buffer [,$crc]) ;
$crc = crc32($buffer [,$crc]) ;
The buffer parameters can either be a scalar or a scalar reference.
If the $crc parameters is "undef", the crc value will be reset.
FAQ
Compatibility with Unix compress/uncompress.
Although "Compress::Zlib" has a pair of functions called "compress" and
"uncompress", they are not the same as the Unix programs of the same
name. The "Compress::Zlib" library is not compatable with Unix "com‐
press".
If you have the "uncompress" program available, you can use this to
read compressed files
open F, "uncompress -c $filename ⎪";
while (<F>)
{
...
If you have the "gunzip" program available, you can use this to read
compressed files
open F, "gunzip -c $filename ⎪";
while (<F>)
{
...
and this to write compress files if you have the "compress" program
available
open F, "⎪ compress -c $filename ";
print F "data";
...
close F ;
Accessing .tar.Z files
The "Archive::Tar" module can optionally use "Compress::Zlib" (via the
"IO::Zlib" module) to access tar files that have been compressed with
"gzip". Unfortunately tar files compressed with the Unix "compress"
utility cannot be read by "Compress::Zlib" and so cannot be directly
accesses by "Archive::Tar".
If the "uncompress" or "gunzip" programs are available, you can use one
of these workarounds to read ".tar.Z" files from "Archive::Tar"
Firstly with "uncompress"
use strict;
use warnings;
use Archive::Tar;
open F, "uncompress -c $filename ⎪";
my $tar = Archive::Tar->new(*F);
...
and this with "gunzip"
use strict;
use warnings;
use Archive::Tar;
open F, "gunzip -c $filename ⎪";
my $tar = Archive::Tar->new(*F);
...
Similarly, if the "compress" program is available, you can use this to
write a ".tar.Z" file
use strict;
use warnings;
use Archive::Tar;
use IO::File;
my $fh = newIO::File "⎪ compress -c >$filename";
my $tar = Archive::Tar->new();
...
$tar->write($fh);
$fh->close ;
Accessing ZIP Files
Although it is possible to use this module to access .zip files, there
is a module on CPAN that will do all the hard work for you. Check out
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Archive/Archive-Zip-*.tar.gz
Assuming you don't want to use this module to access zip files there
are a number of undocumented features in the zlib library you need to
be aware of.
1. When calling inflateInit or deflateInit the WindowBits parameter
must be set to "-MAX_WBITS". This disables the creation of the
zlib header.
2. The zlib function inflate, and so the inflate method supplied in
this module, assume that there is at least one trailing byte after
the compressed data stream. Normally this isn't a problem because
both the gzip and zip file formats will guarantee that there is
data directly after the compressed data stream.
CONSTANTS
All the zlib constants are automatically imported when you make use of
Compress::Zlib.
AUTHOR
The Compress::Zlib module was written by Paul Marquess, pmqs@cpan.org.
The latest copy of the module can be found on CPAN in modules/by-mod‐
ule/Compress/Compress-Zlib-x.x.tar.gz.
The primary site for the zlib compression library is
http://www.zlib.org.
MODIFICATION HISTORY
See the Changes file.
perl v5.8.8 2008-05-13 Zlib(3)