path: root/doc/lzlib.info

This is lzlib.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.13 from
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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 Manual
************

This manual is for Lzlib (version 0.9, 10 February 2010).

* Menu:

* Introduction::		Purpose and features of Lzlib
* Library Version::		Checking library version
* Buffering::			Sizes of Lzlib's buffers
* Parameter Limits::		Min / max values for some parameters
* Compression Functions::	Descriptions of the compression functions
* Decompression Functions::	Descriptions of the decompression functions
* Error Codes::			Meaning of codes returned by functions
* Error Messages::		Error messages corresponding to error codes
* 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, 2010 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.

   Compression/decompression is done when the read function is called.
This means the value returned by the position functions will not be
updated until some data is read, even if you write a lot of data. If
you want the data to be compressed in advance, just call the read
function with a SIZE equal to 0.

   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: Parameter Limits,  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 in the header of the
     member currently being decompressed or 64KiB, whichever is larger.


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

4 Parameter Limits
******************

These functions provide minimum and maximum values for some parameters.
Current values are shown in square brackets.

 -- Function: int LZ_min_dictionary_bits ( void )
     Returns the base 2 logarithm of the smallest valid dictionary size
     [12].

 -- Function: int LZ_min_dictionary_size ( void )
     Returns the smallest valid dictionary size [4KiB].

 -- Function: int LZ_max_dictionary_bits ( void )
     Returns the base 2 logarithm of the largest valid dictionary size
     [29].

 -- Function: int LZ_max_dictionary_size ( void )
     Returns the largest valid dictionary size [512MiB].

 -- Function: int LZ_min_match_len_limit ( void )
     Returns the smallest valid match length limit [5].

 -- Function: int LZ_max_match_len_limit ( void )
     Returns the largest valid match length limit [273].


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

5 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: struct LZ_Encoder * 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, or a null pointer if the encoder
     could not be allocated.

     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_close ( struct LZ_Encoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder * const
          ENCODER )
     Use this function to tell `lzlib' that all the data for this member
     has already been written (with the `LZ_compress_write' function).
     After all the produced compressed data has been read with
     `LZ_compress_read' and `LZ_compress_member_finished' returns 1, a
     new member can be started with `LZ_compress_restart_member'.

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_restart_member ( struct LZ_Encoder *
          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_sync_flush ( struct LZ_Encoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder *
          const ENCODER )
     Returns the current error code for ENCODER (*note Error Codes::)

 -- Function: int LZ_compress_finished ( struct LZ_Encoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder *
          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 ( struct LZ_Encoder *
          const ENCODER )
     Returns the number of input bytes already compressed in the current
     member.

 -- Function: long long LZ_compress_member_position ( struct LZ_Encoder
          * 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 ( struct LZ_Encoder *
          const ENCODER )
     Returns the total number of input bytes already compressed.

 -- Function: long long LZ_compress_total_out_size ( struct LZ_Encoder
          * 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

6 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: struct LZ_Decoder * 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, or a null pointer if the
     decoder could not be allocated.

     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 ( struct LZ_Decoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Decoder * 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_reset ( struct LZ_Decoder * const
          DECODER )
     Resets the internal state of DECODER as it was just after opening
     it with the `LZ_decompress_open' function. Data stored in the
     internal buffers is discarded. Position counters are set to 0.

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_sync_to_member ( struct LZ_Decoder *
          const DECODER )
     Resets the error state of DECODER and enters a search state that
     lasts until a new member header (or the end of the stream) is
     found.  After a successful call to `LZ_decompress_sync_to_member',
     data written with `LZ_decompress_write' will be consumed and
     `LZ_decompress_read' will return 0 until a header is found.

     This function is useful to discard any data preceding the first
     member, or to discard the rest of the current member, for example
     in case of a data error. If the decoder is already at the
     beginning of a member, this function does nothing.

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_read ( struct LZ_Decoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Decoder * 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: int LZ_decompress_write_size ( struct LZ_Decoder * const
          DECODER )
     The `LZ_decompress_write_size' function returns the maximum number
     of bytes that can be inmediately written through the
     `LZ_decompress_write' function.

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

 -- Function: enum LZ_Errno LZ_decompress_errno ( struct LZ_Decoder *
          const DECODER )
     Returns the current error code for DECODER (*note Error Codes::)

 -- Function: int LZ_decompress_finished ( struct LZ_Decoder * 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 ( struct LZ_Decoder
          * 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 ( struct
          LZ_Decoder * const DECODER )
     Returns the number of input bytes already decompressed in the
     current member.

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

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


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

7 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: Error Messages,  Next: Data Format,  Prev: Error Codes,  Up: Top

8 Error Messages
****************

 -- Function: const char * LZ_strerror ( const enum LZ_Errno LZ_ERRNO )
     Returns the standard error message for a given error code. The
     messages are fairly short; there are no multi-line messages or
     embedded newlines.  This function makes it easy for your program
     to report informative error messages about the failure of a
     library call.

     The value of LZ_ERRNO normally comes from a call to
     `LZ_(de)compress_errno'.


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

9 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

10 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_finished returns 1
     8) LZ_compress_close


Example 2: Normal compression using LZ_compress_write_size.

     1) LZ_compress_open
     2) go to step 5 if LZ_compress_write_size returns 0
     3) LZ_compress_write
     4) if no more data to write, call LZ_compress_finish
     5) LZ_compress_read
     6) go back to step 2 until LZ_compress_finished returns 1
     7) LZ_compress_close


Example 3: 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_finished returns 1
     8) LZ_decompress_close


Example 4: Decompression using LZ_decompress_write_size.

     1) LZ_decompress_open
     2) go to step 5 if LZ_decompress_write_size returns 0
     3) LZ_decompress_write
     4) if no more data to write, call LZ_decompress_finish
     5) LZ_decompress_read
     6) go back to step 2 until LZ_decompress_finished returns 1
     7) LZ_decompress_close


Example 5: Multimember compression (MEMBER_SIZE < total output).

      1) LZ_compress_open
      2) go to step 5 if LZ_compress_write_size returns 0
      3) LZ_compress_write
      4) if no more data to write, call LZ_compress_finish
      5) LZ_compress_read
      6) go back to step 2 until LZ_compress_member_finished returns 1
      7) go to step 10 if LZ_compress_finished() returns 1
      8) LZ_compress_restart_member
      9) go back to step 2
     10) LZ_compress_close


Example 6: Multimember compression (user-restarted members).

      1) LZ_compress_open
      2) LZ_compress_write
      3) LZ_compress_read
      4) go back to step 2 until member termination is desired
      5) LZ_compress_finish
      6) LZ_compress_read
      7) go back to step 6 until LZ_compress_member_finished returns 1
      8) verify that LZ_compress_finished returns 1
      9) go to step 12 if all input data has been written
     10) LZ_compress_restart_member
     11) go back to step 2
     12) LZ_compress_close


Example 7: Decompression with automatic removal of leading garbage.

     1) LZ_decompress_open
     2) LZ_decompress_sync_to_member
     3) go to step 6 if LZ_decompress_write_size returns 0
     4) LZ_decompress_write
     5) if no more data to write, call LZ_decompress_finish
     6) LZ_decompress_read
     7) go back to step 3 until LZ_decompress_finished returns 1
     8) LZ_decompress_close


Example 8: Streamed decompression with automatic resynchronization to
next member in case of data error.

     1) LZ_decompress_open
     2) go to step 5 if LZ_decompress_write_size returns 0
     3) LZ_decompress_write
     4) if no more data to write, call LZ_decompress_finish
     5) if LZ_decompress_read produces LZ_header_error or LZ_data_error,
        call LZ_decompress_sync_to_member
     6) go back to step 2 until LZ_decompress_finished returns 1
     7) LZ_decompress_close


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

11 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)
* error messages:                        Error Messages.        (line 6)
* examples:                              Examples.              (line 6)
* getting help:                          Problems.              (line 6)
* introduction:                          Introduction.          (line 6)
* library version:                       Library Version.       (line 6)
* parameter limits:                      Parameter Limits.      (line 6)



Tag Table:
Node: Top219
Node: Introduction1158
Node: Library Version2933
Node: Buffering3578
Node: Parameter Limits4698
Node: Compression Functions5655
Node: Decompression Functions11701
Node: Error Codes16763
Node: Error Messages18702
Node: Data Format19281
Node: Examples21251
Node: Problems24827
Node: Concept Index25399

End Tag Table