How to Use the Zlib Library with C++
A library with portability for any operating system.
zlib is a cross-platform data compression library written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler as a generalization of the DEFLATE algorithm used in their gzip data compression program.
The first public version, originally intended for use in the libpng library, was released on May 1, 1995. zlib is distributed under an open-source license, the zlib license.
Currently, zlib is a de facto standard for compressing data in portable documents. Hundreds of applications for Unix and similar operating systems (like Linux) use it and its use is increasing in other systems (like Microsoft Windows and Palm OS).
Due to its high portability and its low memory requirements, zlib is also used in many embedded devices.
On Zlib’s official website you can find all documentation on how to implement it in your code. However, the examples are done using C language and the basic example is done using stdin and stdout.
But in this case I created a code in C++ with classes and you can use it without stdin and stdout, just invoke it like this:
Installation
First of all you need to have it (the library) on your system, most likely there will already be, but if not you can install it as follows:
Example of systems using APT.
sudo apt install zlib1g-devUse
To COMPACT just run the generated binary and the file you want to compress:
The
.Z(uppercase Z) extension file will be generated
./zpipe file.txtJust check in the directory that ran the binary that there will be a file named: compressed file.txt.Z.
To UNZIP, just run the generated binary and the file you want to unzip with a .Z extension: The content will be extracted and will generate the:
file.txt
./zpipe -d file.txt.ZI actually modified and adapted this example which is a minizip and the most important parts are commented out, but it’s easy to understand. I organized it into 4 files that are:
zpipe.hpp
#ifndef ZPIPE_H
#define ZPIPE_H
#define SET_BINARY_MODE(file)
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
#include <cassert>
#include "zlib.h"
class Zpipe {
public:
const long int CHUNK = {16384};
int def( FILE *, FILE *, int ); // compress
int inf( FILE *, FILE * ); // decompress
void zerr( int );
void usage( char ** );
};
#endifzpipe.cpp
#include "zpipe.hpp"
int Zpipe::def(FILE *source, FILE *dest, int level){
int ret, flush;
unsigned have;
z_stream strm;
unsigned char in[CHUNK];
unsigned char out[CHUNK];
strm.zalloc = Z_NULL;
strm.zfree = Z_NULL;
strm.opaque = Z_NULL;
ret = deflateInit(&strm, level);
if (ret != Z_OK)
return ret;
do {
strm.avail_in = fread(in, 1, CHUNK, source);
if (ferror(source)) {
(void)deflateEnd(&strm);
return Z_ERRNO;
}
flush = feof(source) ? Z_FINISH : Z_NO_FLUSH;
strm.next_in = in;
do {
strm.avail_out = CHUNK;
strm.next_out = out;
ret = deflate(&strm, flush); /* anyone error value */
assert(ret != Z_STREAM_ERROR);
have = CHUNK - strm.avail_out;
if (fwrite(out, 1, have, dest) != have || ferror(dest)) {
(void)deflateEnd(&strm);
return Z_ERRNO;
}
} while (strm.avail_out == 0);
assert(strm.avail_in == 0);
} while (flush != Z_FINISH);
assert(ret == Z_STREAM_END);
/* limpar e retornar */
(void)deflateEnd(&strm);
return Z_OK;
}
int Zpipe::inf(FILE *source, FILE *dest){
int ret;
unsigned have;
z_stream strm;
unsigned char in[CHUNK];
unsigned char out[CHUNK];
strm.zalloc = Z_NULL;
strm.zfree = Z_NULL;
strm.opaque = Z_NULL;
strm.avail_in = 0;
strm.next_in = Z_NULL;
ret = inflateInit(&strm);
if (ret != Z_OK)
return ret;
do {
strm.avail_in = fread(in, 1, CHUNK, source);
if (ferror(source)) {
(void)inflateEnd(&strm);
return Z_ERRNO;
}
if (strm.avail_in == 0)
break;
strm.next_in = in;
do {
strm.avail_out = CHUNK;
strm.next_out = out;
ret = inflate(&strm, Z_NO_FLUSH);
assert(ret != Z_STREAM_ERROR);
switch (ret) {
case Z_NEED_DICT:
ret = Z_DATA_ERROR;
case Z_DATA_ERROR:
case Z_MEM_ERROR:
(void)inflateEnd(&strm);
return ret;
}
have = CHUNK - strm.avail_out;
if (fwrite(out, 1, have, dest) != have || ferror(dest)) {
(void)inflateEnd(&strm);
return Z_ERRNO;
}
} while (strm.avail_out == 0);
} while (ret != Z_STREAM_END);
(void)inflateEnd(&strm);
return ret == Z_STREAM_END ? Z_OK : Z_DATA_ERROR;
}
void Zpipe::zerr(int ret) {
std::cerr << "zpipe: ";
switch (ret) {
case Z_ERRNO:
if (ferror(stdin)){
std::cerr << "Error to read stdin . " << '\n';
}else if (ferror(stdout)){
std::cerr << "Error to writing stdout." << '\n';
}
break;
case Z_STREAM_ERROR:
std::cerr << "Invalid compression level . " << '\n';
break;
case Z_DATA_ERROR:
std::cerr << "Empty data, invalid or incomplete. " << '\n';
break;
case Z_MEM_ERROR:
std::cerr << "No memory. " << '\n';
break;
case Z_VERSION_ERROR:
std::cerr << "zlib version is incompatible. " << '\n';
}
}
void Zpipe::usage( char ** argv ){
std::cout << "Compress: " << argv[0] << " file.txt # Generate: file.txt.Z " << '\n';
std::cout << "Decompress: " << argv[0] << " -d file.txt.Z # Generate: file.txt " << '\n';
}main.cpp
#include "zpipe.hpp"
int main(int argc, char ** argv){
Zpipe zpipe;
int ret;
FILE *filename, *zipped;
std::string s;
if( argc == 2 ){
filename = fopen( argv[1] , "rb");
s = argv[1];
s = s + ".Z";
zipped = fopen( &s[0], "w" );
ret = zpipe.def( filename, zipped, Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION);
if (ret != Z_OK){
zpipe.zerr(ret);
}
return ret;
} else if (argc == 3 && strcmp(argv[1], "-d") == 0 ) {
zipped = fopen( argv[2], "rb");
s = argv[2];
s = s.substr( 0, s.length() - 2 );
filename = fopen( &s[0], "w" );
ret = zpipe.inf(zipped, filename);
if (ret != Z_OK){
zpipe.zerr(ret);
}
return ret;
} else {
zpipe.usage( argv );
return 1;
}
}And finally a Makefile for us to compile by running only the make command.
TARGET=zpipe
CC=g++
DEBUG=-g
OPT=-O2
WARN=-Wall
LZ=-lz
CCFLAGS=$(DEBUG) $(OPT) $(WARN)
LD=g++
OBJS= main.o zpipe.o
all: $(OBJS)
$(LD) -o $(TARGET) $(OBJS) $(LZ)
@rm -f *.o
main.o: main.cpp
$(CC) -c $(CCFLAGS) $(LZ) main.cpp -o main.o
zpipe.o: zpipe.cpp
$(CC) -c $(CCFLAGS) $(LZ) zpipe.cpp -o zpipe.oWell, simple, right?! This is just an example for single files, for more details see the documentation:
Comments