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INFO-DIR-SECTION Data Compression
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Lzlib: (lzlib).               A compression library for lzip files
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Introduction,  Up: (dir)

Lzlib
*****

This manual is for Lzlib (version 0.4, 3 June 2009).

* Menu:

* Introduction::		Purpose and features of Lzlib
* Library Version::		Checking library version
* Buffering::			Sizes of Lzlib's buffers
* Compression Functions::	Descriptions of the compression functions
* Decompression Functions::	Descriptions of the decompression functions
* Error Codes::			Meaning of codes returned by functions
* Data Format::			Detailed format of the compressed data
* Examples::			A small tutorial with examples
* Problems::			Reporting bugs
* Concept Index::		Index of concepts


   Copyright (C) 2009 Antonio Diaz Diaz.

   This manual is free documentation: you have unlimited permission to
copy, distribute and modify it.


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Introduction,  Next: Library Version,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 Introduction
**************

Lzlib is a data compression library providing in-memory LZMA compression
and decompression functions, including integrity checking of the
uncompressed data. The compressed data format used by the library is the
lzip format.

   The functions and variables forming the interface of the compression
library are declared in the file `lzlib.h'. An usage example of the
library is given in the file main.cc.

   Compression/decompression is done by repeteadly calling a couple of
read/write functions until all the data has been processed by the
library. This interface is safer and less error prone than the
traditional zlib interface.

   Lzlib will correctly decompress a data stream which is the
concatenation of two or more compressed data streams. The result is the
concatenation of the corresponding uncompressed data streams. Integrity
testing of concatenated compressed data streams is also supported.

   All the library functions are thread safe. 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 case of
corrupted input.

   Lzlib implements a simplified version of the LZMA (Lempel-Ziv-Markov
chain-Algorithm) algorithm. The original LZMA algorithm was designed by
Igor Pavlov. For a description of the LZMA algorithm, see the Lzip
manual.


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Library Version,  Next: Buffering,  Prev: Introduction,  Up: Top

2 Library Version
*****************

 -- Function: const char * LZ_version ( void )
     Returns the library version as a string.

 -- Constant: const char * LZ_version_string
     This constant is defined in the header file `lzlib.h'.

   The application should compare LZ_version and LZ_version_string for
consistency. If the first character differs, the library code actually
used may be incompatible with the `lzlib.h' header file used by the
application.

     if( LZ_version()[0] != LZ_version_string[0] )
       error( "bad library version" );


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Buffering,  Next: Compression Functions,  Prev: Library Version,  Up: Top

3 Buffering
***********

Lzlib internal functions need access to a memory chunk at least as large
as the dictionary size (sliding window). For efficiency reasons, the
input buffer for compression is twice as large as the dictionary size.
Finally, for security reasons, lzlib uses two more internal buffers.

   These are the four buffers used by lzlib, and their guaranteed
minimum sizes:

   * Input compression buffer. Written to by the `LZ_compress_write'
     function. Its size is two times the dictionary size set with the
     `LZ_compress_open' function or 128KiB, whichever is larger.

   * Output compression buffer. Read from by the `LZ_compress_read'
     function. Its size is 64KiB.

   * Input decompression buffer. Written to by the
     `LZ_decompress_write' function. Its size is 64KiB.

   * Output decompression buffer. Read from by the `LZ_decompress_read'
     function. Its size is the dictionary size set with the
     `LZ_decompress_open' function or 64KiB, whichever is larger.


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Compression Functions,  Next: Decompression Functions,  Prev: Buffering,  Up: Top

4 Compression Functions
***********************

These are the functions used to compress data. In case of error, all of
them return -1, except `LZ_compress_open' whose return value must be
verified by calling `LZ_compress_errno' before using it.

 -- Function: void * LZ_compress_open ( const int DICTIONARY_SIZE,
          const int MATCH_LEN_LIMIT, const long long MEMBER_SIZE )
     Initializes the internal stream state for compression and returns a
     pointer that can only be used as the ENCODER argument for the
     other LZ_compress functions.

     The returned pointer must be verified by calling
     `LZ_compress_errno' before using it. If `LZ_compress_errno' does
     not return `LZ_ok', the returned pointer must not be used and
     should be freed with `LZ_compress_close' to avoid memory leaks.

     DICTIONARY_SIZE sets the dictionary size to be used, in bytes.
     Valid values range from 4KiB to 512MiB. Note that dictionary sizes
     are quantized. If the specified size does not match one of the
     valid sizes, it will be rounded upwards.

     MATCH_LEN_LIMIT sets the match length limit in bytes. Valid values
     range from 5 to 273. Larger values usually give better compression
     ratios but longer compression times.

     MEMBER_SIZE sets the member size limit in bytes. Minimum member
     size limit is 100kB. Small member size may degrade compression
     ratio, so use it only when needed. To produce a single member data
     stream, give MEMBER_SIZE a value larger than the amount of data to
     be produced, for example LLONG_MAX.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_restart_member ( void * const ENCODER,
          const long long MEMBER_SIZE )
     Use this function to start a new member, in a multimember data
     stream.  Call this function only after
     `LZ_compress_member_finished' indicates that the current member
     has been fully read (with the `LZ_compress_read' function).

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_close ( void * const ENCODER )
     Frees all dynamically allocated data structures for this stream.
     This function discards any unprocessed input and does not flush
     any pending output. After a call to `LZ_compress_close', ENCODER
     can no more be used as an argument to any LZ_compress function.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_finish ( void * const ENCODER )
     Use this function to tell `lzlib' that all the data for this stream
     has already been written (with the `LZ_compress_write' function).

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_sync_flush ( void * const ENCODER )
     Use this function to make available to `LZ_compress_read' all the
     data already written with the `LZ_compress_write' function.
     Repeated use of `LZ_compress_sync_flush' may degrade compression
     ratio, so use it only when needed.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_read ( void * const ENCODER, uint8_t *
          const BUFFER, const int SIZE )
     The `LZ_compress_read' function reads up to SIZE bytes from the
     stream pointed to by ENCODER, storing the results in BUFFER.

     The return value is the number of bytes actually read. This might
     be less than SIZE; for example, if there aren't that many bytes
     left in the stream or if more bytes have to be yet written with the
     `LZ_compress_write' function. Note that reading less than SIZE
     bytes is not an error.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_write ( void * const ENCODER, uint8_t *
          const BUFFER, const int SIZE )
     The `LZ_compress_write' function writes up to SIZE bytes from
     BUFFER to the stream pointed to by ENCODER.

     The return value is the number of bytes actually written. This
     might be less than SIZE. Note that writing less than SIZE bytes is
     not an error.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_write_size ( void * const ENCODER )
     The `LZ_compress_write_size' function returns the maximum number of
     bytes that can be inmediately written through the
     `LZ_compress_write' function.

     It is guaranteed that an inmediate call to `LZ_compress_write' will
     accept a SIZE up to the returned number of bytes.

 -- Function: enum LZ_errno LZ_compress_errno ( void * const ENCODER )
     Returns the current error code for ENCODER (*note Error Codes::)

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_finished ( void * const ENCODER )
     Returns 1 if all the data has been read and `LZ_compress_close' can
     be safely called. Otherwise it returns 0.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_member_finished ( void * const ENCODER )
     Returns 1 if the current member, in a multimember data stream, has
     been fully read and `LZ_compress_restart_member' can be safely
     called.  Otherwise it returns 0.

 -- Function: long long LZ_compress_data_position ( void * const
          ENCODER )
     Returns the number of input bytes already compressed in the current
     member.

 -- Function: long long LZ_compress_member_position ( void * const
          ENCODER )
     Returns the number of compressed bytes already produced, but
     perhaps not yet read, in the current member.

 -- Function: long long LZ_compress_total_in_size ( void * const
          ENCODER )
     Returns the total number of input bytes already compressed.

 -- Function: long long LZ_compress_total_out_size ( void * const
          ENCODER )
     Returns the total number of compressed bytes already produced, but
     perhaps not yet read.


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Decompression Functions,  Next: Error Codes,  Prev: Compression Functions,  Up: Top

5 Decompression Functions
*************************

These are the functions used to decompress data. In case of error, all
of them return -1, except `LZ_decompress_open' whose return value must
be verified by calling `LZ_decompress_errno' before using it.

 -- Function: void * LZ_decompress_open ( void )
     Initializes the internal stream state for decompression and
     returns a pointer that can only be used as the DECODER argument
     for the other LZ_decompress functions.

     The returned pointer must be verified by calling
     `LZ_decompress_errno' before using it. If `LZ_decompress_errno'
     does not return `LZ_ok', the returned pointer must not be used and
     should be freed with `LZ_decompress_close' to avoid memory leaks.

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_close ( void * const DECODER )
     Frees all dynamically allocated data structures for this stream.
     This function discards any unprocessed input and does not flush
     any pending output. After a call to `LZ_decompress_close', DECODER
     can no more be used as an argument to any LZ_decompress function.

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_finish ( void * const DECODER )
     Use this function to tell `lzlib' that all the data for this stream
     has already been written (with the `LZ_decompress_write' function).

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_read ( void * const DECODER, uint8_t *
          const BUFFER, const int SIZE )
     The `LZ_decompress_read' function reads up to SIZE bytes from the
     stream pointed to by DECODER, storing the results in BUFFER.

     The return value is the number of bytes actually read. This might
     be less than SIZE; for example, if there aren't that many bytes
     left in the stream or if more bytes have to be yet written with the
     `LZ_decompress_write' function. Note that reading less than SIZE
     bytes is not an error.

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_write ( void * const DECODER, uint8_t *
          const BUFFER, const int SIZE )
     The `LZ_decompress_write' function writes up to SIZE bytes from
     BUFFER to the stream pointed to by DECODER.

     The return value is the number of bytes actually written. This
     might be less than SIZE. Note that writing less than SIZE bytes is
     not an error.

 -- Function: enum LZ_errno LZ_decompress_errno ( void * const DECODER )
     Returns the current error code for DECODER (*note Error Codes::)

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_finished ( void * const DECODER )
     Returns 1 if all the data has been read and `LZ_decompress_close'
     can be safely called. Otherwise it returns 0.

 -- Function: long long LZ_decompress_data_position ( void * const
          DECODER )
     Returns the number of decompressed bytes already produced, but
     perhaps not yet read, in the current member.

 -- Function: long long LZ_decompress_member_position ( void * const
          DECODER )
     Returns the number of input bytes already decompressed in the
     current member.

 -- Function: long long LZ_decompress_total_in_size ( void * const
          DECODER )
     Returns the total number of input bytes already decompressed.

 -- Function: long long LZ_decompress_total_out_size ( void * const
          DECODER )
     Returns the total number of decompressed bytes already produced,
     but perhaps not yet read.


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Error Codes,  Next: Data Format,  Prev: Decompression Functions,  Up: Top

6 Error Codes
*************

Most library functions return -1 to indicate that they have failed. But
this return value only tells you that an error has occurred. To find out
what kind of error it was, you need to verify the error code by calling
`LZ_(de)compress_errno'.

   Library functions do not change the value returned by
`LZ_(de)compress_errno' when they succeed; thus, the value returned by
`LZ_(de)compress_errno' after a successful call is not necessarily
LZ_ok, and you should not use `LZ_(de)compress_errno' to determine
whether a call failed. If the call failed, then you can examine
`LZ_(de)compress_errno'.

   The error codes are defined in the header file `lzlib.h'.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_ok
     The value of this constant is 0 and is used to indicate that there
     is no error.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_bad_argument
     At least one of the arguments passed to the library function was
     invalid.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_mem_error
     No memory available. The system cannot allocate more virtual memory
     because its capacity is full.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_sequence_error
     A library function was called in the wrong order. For example
     `LZ_compress_restart_member' was called before
     `LZ_compress_member_finished' indicates that the current member is
     finished.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_header_error
     Reading of member header failed. If this happens at the end of the
     data stream it may indicate trailing garbage.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_unexpected_eof
     The end of the data stream was reached in the middle of a member.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_data_error
     The data stream is corrupt.

 -- Constant: enum LZ_errno LZ_library_error
     A bug was detected in the library. Please, report it (*note
     Problems::).


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Data Format,  Next: Examples,  Prev: Error Codes,  Up: Top

7 Data Format
*************

In the diagram below, a box like this:
+---+
|   | <-- the vertical bars might be missing
+---+

   represents one byte; a box like this:
+==============+
|              |
+==============+

   represents a variable number of bytes.


   A lzip data stream consists of a series of "members" (compressed data
sets). The members simply appear one after another in the data stream,
with no additional information before, between, or after them.

   Each member has the following structure:
+--+--+--+--+----+----+=============+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ID string | VN | DS | Lzma stream | CRC32 |   Data size   |  Member size  |
+--+--+--+--+----+----+=============+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   All multibyte values are stored in little endian order.

`ID string'
     A four byte string, identifying the member type, with the value
     "LZIP".

`VN (version number, 1 byte)'
     Just in case something needs to be modified in the future. Valid
     values are 0 and 1. Version 0 files have only one member and lack
     `Member size'.

`DS (coded dictionary size, 1 byte)'
     Bits 4-0 contain the base 2 logarithm of the base dictionary size.
     Bits 7-5 contain the number of "wedges" to substract from the base
     dictionary size to obtain the dictionary size. The size of a wedge
     is (base dictionary size / 16).
     Valid values for dictionary size range from 4KiB to 512MiB.

`Lzma stream'
     The lzma stream, finished by an end of stream marker. Uses default
     values for encoder properties.

`CRC32 (4 bytes)'
     CRC of the uncompressed original data.

`Data size (8 bytes)'
     Size of the uncompressed original data.

`Member size (8 bytes)'
     Total size of the member, including header and trailer. This
     facilitates safe recovery of undamaged members from multimember
     files.



File: lzlib.info,  Node: Examples,  Next: Problems,  Prev: Data Format,  Up: Top

8 A small tutorial with examples
********************************

This chaper shows the order in which the library functions should be
called depending on what kind of data stream you want to compress or
decompress.


Example 1: Normal compression (MEMBER_SIZE > total output).

     1) LZ_compress_open
     2) LZ_compress_write
     3) LZ_compress_read
     4) go back to step 2 until all input data has been written
     5) LZ_compress_finish
     6) LZ_compress_read
     7) go back to step 6 until LZ_compress_read returns 0
     8) LZ_compress_close


Example 2: Decompression.

     1) LZ_decompress_open
     2) LZ_decompress_write
     3) LZ_decompress_read
     4) go back to step 2 until all input data has been written
     5) LZ_decompress_finish
     6) LZ_decompress_read
     7) go back to step 6 until LZ_decompress_read returns 0
     8) LZ_decompress_close


Example 3: Multimember compression (MEMBER_SIZE < total output).

      1) LZ_compress_open
      2) LZ_compress_write
      3) LZ_compress_read
      4) go back to step 2 until LZ_compress_member_finished returns 1
      5) LZ_compress_restart_member
      6) go back to step 2 until all input data has been written
      7) LZ_compress_finish
      8) LZ_compress_read
      9) go back to step 8 until LZ_compress_read returns 0
     10) LZ_compress_close


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Problems,  Next: Concept Index,  Prev: Examples,  Up: Top

9 Reporting Bugs
****************

There are probably bugs in Lzlib. There are certainly errors and
omissions in this manual. If you report them, they will get fixed. If
you don't, no one will ever know about them and they will remain unfixed
for all eternity, if not longer.

   If you find a bug in Lzlib, please send electronic mail to
<lzip-bug@nongnu.org>. Include the version number, which you can find
by running `minilzip --version' or in `LZ_version_string' from
`lzlib.h'.


File: lzlib.info,  Node: Concept Index,  Prev: Problems,  Up: Top

Concept Index
*************

[index]
* Menu:

* buffering:                             Buffering.             (line 6)
* bugs:                                  Problems.              (line 6)
* compression functions:                 Compression Functions. (line 6)
* data format:                           Data Format.           (line 6)
* decompression functions:               Decompression Functions.
                                                                (line 6)
* error codes:                           Error Codes.           (line 6)
* examples:                              Examples.              (line 6)
* getting help:                          Problems.              (line 6)
* introduction:                          Introduction.          (line 6)
* library version:                       Library Version.       (line 6)



Tag Table:
Node: Top219
Node: Introduction1010
Node: Library Version2477
Node: Buffering3122
Node: Compression Functions4229
Node: Decompression Functions9731
Node: Error Codes13169
Node: Data Format15105
Node: Examples17072
Node: Problems18494
Node: Concept Index19064

End Tag Table