path: root/doc/lzlib.texinfo

\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename lzlib.info
@settitle Lzlib Manual
@finalout
@c %**end of header

@set UPDATED 20 October 2009
@set VERSION 0.7

@dircategory Data Compression
@direntry
* Lzlib: (lzlib).               A compression library for lzip files
@end direntry


@titlepage
@title Lzlib
@subtitle A compression library for lzip files
@subtitle for Lzlib version @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}
@author by Antonio Diaz Diaz

@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
@end titlepage

@contents

@node Top
@top

This manual is for Lzlib (version @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}).

@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
@end menu

@sp 1
Copyright @copyright{} 2009 Antonio Diaz Diaz.

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


@node Introduction
@chapter Introduction
@cindex 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 @samp{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
@var{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.


@node Library Version
@chapter Library Version
@cindex library version

@deftypefun {const char *} LZ_version ( void )
Returns the library version as a string.
@end deftypefun

@deftypevr Constant {const char *} LZ_version_string
This constant is defined in the header file @samp{lzlib.h}.
@end deftypevr

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 @samp{lzlib.h} header file used by the
application.

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


@node Buffering
@chapter Buffering
@cindex 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:

@itemize @bullet
@item Input compression buffer. Written to by the
@samp{LZ_compress_write} function. Its size is two times the dictionary
size set with the @samp{LZ_compress_open} function or 128KiB, whichever
is larger.

@item Output compression buffer. Read from by the
@samp{LZ_compress_read} function. Its size is 64KiB.

@item Input decompression buffer. Written to by the
@samp{LZ_decompress_write} function. Its size is 64KiB.

@item Output decompression buffer. Read from by the
@samp{LZ_decompress_read} function. Its size is the dictionary size set
with the @samp{LZ_decompress_open} function or 64KiB, whichever is
larger.
@end itemize


@node Compression Functions
@chapter Compression Functions
@cindex compression functions

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


@deftypefun {void *} LZ_compress_open ( const int @var{dictionary_size}, const int @var{match_len_limit}, const long long @var{member_size} )
Initializes the internal stream state for compression and returns a
pointer that can only be used as the @var{encoder} argument for the
other LZ_compress functions.

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

@var{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.

@var{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.

@var{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
@var{member_size} a value larger than the amount of data to be produced,
for example LLONG_MAX.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_restart_member ( void * const @var{encoder}, const long long @var{member_size} )
Use this function to start a new member, in a multimember data stream.
Call this function only after @samp{LZ_compress_member_finished}
indicates that the current member has been fully read (with the
@samp{LZ_compress_read} function).
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_close ( void * const @var{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 @samp{LZ_compress_close}, @var{encoder} can no
more be used as an argument to any LZ_compress function.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_finish ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Use this function to tell @samp{lzlib} that all the data for this stream
has already been written (with the @samp{LZ_compress_write} function).
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_sync_flush ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Use this function to make available to @samp{LZ_compress_read} all the
data already written with the @samp{LZ_compress_write} function.
Repeated use of @samp{LZ_compress_sync_flush} may degrade compression
ratio, so use it only when needed.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_read ( void * const @var{encoder}, uint8_t * const @var{buffer}, const int @var{size} )
The @samp{LZ_compress_read} function reads up to @var{size} bytes from
the stream pointed to by @var{encoder}, storing the results in
@var{buffer}.

The return value is the number of bytes actually read. This might be
less than @var{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
@samp{LZ_compress_write} function. Note that reading less than
@var{size} bytes is not an error.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_write ( void * const @var{encoder}, uint8_t * const @var{buffer}, const int @var{size} )
The @samp{LZ_compress_write} function writes up to @var{size} bytes from
@var{buffer} to the stream pointed to by @var{encoder}.

The return value is the number of bytes actually written. This might be
less than @var{size}. Note that writing less than @var{size} bytes is
not an error.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_write_size ( void * const @var{encoder} )
The @samp{LZ_compress_write_size} function returns the maximum number of
bytes that can be inmediately written through the @samp{LZ_compress_write}
function.

It is guaranteed that an inmediate call to @samp{LZ_compress_write} will
accept a @var{size} up to the returned number of bytes.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {enum LZ_errno} LZ_compress_errno ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns the current error code for @var{encoder} (@pxref{Error Codes})
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_finished ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns 1 if all the data has been read and @samp{LZ_compress_close} can
be safely called. Otherwise it returns 0.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_compress_member_finished ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns 1 if the current member, in a multimember data stream, has been
fully read and @samp{LZ_compress_restart_member} can be safely called.
Otherwise it returns 0.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_compress_data_position ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns the number of input bytes already compressed in the current
member.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_compress_member_position ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns the number of compressed bytes already produced, but perhaps not
yet read, in the current member.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_compress_total_in_size ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns the total number of input bytes already compressed.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_compress_total_out_size ( void * const @var{encoder} )
Returns the total number of compressed bytes already produced, but
perhaps not yet read.
@end deftypefun


@node Decompression Functions
@chapter Decompression Functions
@cindex decompression functions

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


@deftypefun {void *} LZ_decompress_open ( void )
Initializes the internal stream state for decompression and returns a
pointer that can only be used as the @var{decoder} argument for the
other LZ_decompress functions.

The returned pointer must be verified by calling
@samp{LZ_decompress_errno} before using it. If
@samp{LZ_decompress_errno} does not return @samp{LZ_ok}, the returned
pointer must not be used and should be freed with
@samp{LZ_decompress_close} to avoid memory leaks.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_decompress_close ( void * const @var{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 @samp{LZ_decompress_close}, @var{decoder} can no
more be used as an argument to any LZ_decompress function.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_decompress_finish ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Use this function to tell @samp{lzlib} that all the data for this stream
has already been written (with the @samp{LZ_decompress_write} function).
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_decompress_read ( void * const @var{decoder}, uint8_t * const @var{buffer}, const int @var{size} )
The @samp{LZ_decompress_read} function reads up to @var{size} bytes from
the stream pointed to by @var{decoder}, storing the results in
@var{buffer}.

The return value is the number of bytes actually read. This might be
less than @var{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
@samp{LZ_decompress_write} function. Note that reading less than
@var{size} bytes is not an error.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_decompress_write ( void * const @var{decoder}, uint8_t * const @var{buffer}, const int @var{size} )
The @samp{LZ_decompress_write} function writes up to @var{size} bytes from
@var{buffer} to the stream pointed to by @var{decoder}.

The return value is the number of bytes actually written. This might be
less than @var{size}. Note that writing less than @var{size} bytes is
not an error.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {enum LZ_errno} LZ_decompress_errno ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Returns the current error code for @var{decoder} (@pxref{Error Codes})
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun int LZ_decompress_finished ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Returns 1 if all the data has been read and @samp{LZ_decompress_close}
can be safely called. Otherwise it returns 0.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_decompress_data_position ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Returns the number of decompressed bytes already produced, but perhaps
not yet read, in the current member.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_decompress_member_position ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Returns the number of input bytes already decompressed in the current
member.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_decompress_total_in_size ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Returns the total number of input bytes already decompressed.
@end deftypefun


@deftypefun {long long} LZ_decompress_total_out_size ( void * const @var{decoder} )
Returns the total number of decompressed bytes already produced, but
perhaps not yet read.
@end deftypefun


@node Error Codes
@chapter Error Codes
@cindex 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
@samp{LZ_(de)compress_errno}.

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

The error codes are defined in the header file @samp{lzlib.h}.

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_ok
The value of this constant is 0 and is used to indicate that there is no
error.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_bad_argument
At least one of the arguments passed to the library function was
invalid.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_mem_error
No memory available. The system cannot allocate more virtual memory
because its capacity is full.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_sequence_error
A library function was called in the wrong order. For example
@samp{LZ_compress_restart_member} was called before
@samp{LZ_compress_member_finished} indicates that the current member is
finished.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr 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.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_unexpected_eof
The end of the data stream was reached in the middle of a member.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_data_error
The data stream is corrupt.
@end deftypevr

@deftypevr Constant {enum LZ_errno} LZ_library_error
A bug was detected in the library. Please, report it (@pxref{Problems}).
@end deftypevr


@node Data Format
@chapter Data Format
@cindex data format

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

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

represents a variable number of bytes.

@sp 1
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:
@verbatim
+--+--+--+--+----+----+=============+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ID string | VN | DS | Lzma stream | CRC32 |   Data size   |  Member size  |
+--+--+--+--+----+----+=============+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
@end verbatim

All multibyte values are stored in little endian order.

@table @samp
@item ID string
A four byte string, identifying the member type, with the value "LZIP".

@item 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 @samp{Member
size}.

@item 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.

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

@item CRC32 (4 bytes)
CRC of the uncompressed original data.

@item Data size (8 bytes)
Size of the uncompressed original data.

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

@end table


@node Examples
@chapter A small tutorial with examples
@cindex 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.

@sp 1
@noindent
Example 1: Normal compression (@var{member_size} > total output).

@example
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
@end example


@sp 1
@noindent
Example 2: Decompression.

@example
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
@end example


@sp 1
@noindent
Example 3: Multimember compression (@var{member_size} < total output).

@example
 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_finished returns 1
10) LZ_compress_close
@end example


@node Problems
@chapter Reporting Bugs
@cindex bugs
@cindex getting help

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
@email{lzip-bug@@nongnu.org}. Include the version number, which you can
find by running @w{@samp{minilzip --version}} or in
@samp{LZ_version_string} from @samp{lzlib.h}.


@node Concept Index
@unnumbered Concept Index

@printindex cp

@bye