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 Network Working Group                                         P. Deutsch | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Request for Comments: 1950                           Aladdin Enterprises | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Category: Informational                                      J-L. Gailly | 
 
 
 
 
 
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                                                                 Info-ZIP | 
 
 
 
 
 
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                                                                 May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification version 3.3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Status of This Memo | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    this memo is unlimited. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 IESG Note: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    The IESG takes no position on the validity of any Intellectual | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Property Rights statements contained in this document. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Notices | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Copyright (c) 1996 L. Peter Deutsch and Jean-Loup Gailly | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Permission is granted to copy and distribute this document for any | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    purpose and without charge, including translations into other | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    languages and incorporation into compilations, provided that the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    copyright notice and this notice are preserved, and that any | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    substantive changes or deletions from the original are clearly | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    marked. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    A pointer to the latest version of this and related documentation in | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    HTML format can be found at the URL | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    <ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-index.html>. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Abstract | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    This specification defines a lossless compressed data format.  The | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    data can be produced or consumed, even for an arbitrarily long | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    sequentially presented input data stream, using only an a priori | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    bounded amount of intermediate storage.  The format presently uses | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    the DEFLATE compression method but can be easily extended to use | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    other compression methods.  It can be implemented readily in a manner | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    not covered by patents.  This specification also defines the ADLER-32 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    checksum (an extension and improvement of the Fletcher checksum), | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    used for detection of data corruption, and provides an algorithm for | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    computing it. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 1] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Table of Contents | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1. Introduction ................................................... 2 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       1.1. Purpose ................................................... 2 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       1.2. Intended audience ......................................... 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       1.3. Scope ..................................................... 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       1.4. Compliance ................................................ 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       1.5.  Definitions of terms and conventions used ................ 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       1.6. Changes from previous versions ............................ 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    2. Detailed specification ......................................... 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       2.1. Overall conventions ....................................... 3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       2.2. Data format ............................................... 4 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       2.3. Compliance ................................................ 7 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    3. References ..................................................... 7 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    4. Source code .................................................... 8 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    5. Security Considerations ........................................ 8 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    6. Acknowledgements ............................................... 8 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    7. Authors' Addresses ............................................. 8 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    8. Appendix: Rationale ............................................ 9 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    9. Appendix: Sample code ..........................................10 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 1. Introduction | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1.1. Purpose | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The purpose of this specification is to define a lossless | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       compressed data format that: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           * Is independent of CPU type, operating system, file system, | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             and character set, and hence can be used for interchange; | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           * Can be produced or consumed, even for an arbitrarily long | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             sequentially presented input data stream, using only an a | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             priori bounded amount of intermediate storage, and hence can | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             be used in data communications or similar structures such as | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             Unix filters; | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           * Can use a number of different compression methods; | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           * Can be implemented readily in a manner not covered by | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             patents, and hence can be practiced freely. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The data format defined by this specification does not attempt to | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       allow random access to compressed data. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 2] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1.2. Intended audience | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       This specification is intended for use by implementors of software | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       to compress data into zlib format and/or decompress data from zlib | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       format. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The text of the specification assumes a basic background in | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       programming at the level of bits and other primitive data | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       representations. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1.3. Scope | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The specification specifies a compressed data format that can be | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       used for in-memory compression of a sequence of arbitrary bytes. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1.4. Compliance | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       Unless otherwise indicated below, a compliant decompressor must be | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       able to accept and decompress any data set that conforms to all | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       the specifications presented here; a compliant compressor must | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       produce data sets that conform to all the specifications presented | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       here. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1.5.  Definitions of terms and conventions used | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       byte: 8 bits stored or transmitted as a unit (same as an octet). | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       (For this specification, a byte is exactly 8 bits, even on | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       machines which store a character on a number of bits different | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       from 8.) See below, for the numbering of bits within a byte. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1.6. Changes from previous versions | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       Version 3.1 was the first public release of this specification. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       In version 3.2, some terminology was changed and the Adler-32 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       sample code was rewritten for clarity.  In version 3.3, the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       support for a preset dictionary was introduced, and the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       specification was converted to RFC style. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 2. Detailed specification | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    2.1. Overall conventions | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       In the diagrams below, a box like this: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |   | <-- the vertical bars might be missing | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 3] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       represents one byte; a box like this: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +==============+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |              | | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +==============+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       represents a variable number of bytes. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       Bytes stored within a computer do not have a "bit order", since | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       they are always treated as a unit.  However, a byte considered as | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       an integer between 0 and 255 does have a most- and least- | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       significant bit, and since we write numbers with the most- | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       significant digit on the left, we also write bytes with the most- | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       significant bit on the left.  In the diagrams below, we number the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       bits of a byte so that bit 0 is the least-significant bit, i.e., | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       the bits are numbered: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +--------+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |76543210| | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +--------+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       Within a computer, a number may occupy multiple bytes.  All | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       multi-byte numbers in the format described here are stored with | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       the MOST-significant byte first (at the lower memory address). | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       For example, the decimal number 520 is stored as: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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              0     1 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +--------+--------+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |00000010|00001000| | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +--------+--------+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           ^        ^ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           |        | | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           |        + less significant byte = 8 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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           + more significant byte = 2 x 256 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    2.2. Data format | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       A zlib stream has the following structure: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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            0   1 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +---+---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |CMF|FLG|   (more-->) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +---+---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 4] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       (if FLG.FDICT set) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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            0   1   2   3 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +---+---+---+---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |     DICTID    |   (more-->) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +---+---+---+---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +=====================+---+---+---+---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          |...compressed data...|    ADLER32    | | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          +=====================+---+---+---+---+ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       Any data which may appear after ADLER32 are not part of the zlib | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       stream. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       CMF (Compression Method and flags) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          This byte is divided into a 4-bit compression method and a 4- | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          bit information field depending on the compression method. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             bits 0 to 3  CM     Compression method | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             bits 4 to 7  CINFO  Compression info | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       CM (Compression method) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          This identifies the compression method used in the file. CM = 8 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          denotes the "deflate" compression method with a window size up | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          to 32K.  This is the method used by gzip and PNG (see | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          references [1] and [2] in Chapter 3, below, for the reference | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          documents).  CM = 15 is reserved.  It might be used in a future | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          version of this specification to indicate the presence of an | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          extra field before the compressed data. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       CINFO (Compression info) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          For CM = 8, CINFO is the base-2 logarithm of the LZ77 window | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          size, minus eight (CINFO=7 indicates a 32K window size). Values | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          of CINFO above 7 are not allowed in this version of the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          specification.  CINFO is not defined in this specification for | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          CM not equal to 8. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       FLG (FLaGs) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          This flag byte is divided as follows: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             bits 0 to 4  FCHECK  (check bits for CMF and FLG) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             bit  5       FDICT   (preset dictionary) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             bits 6 to 7  FLEVEL  (compression level) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          The FCHECK value must be such that CMF and FLG, when viewed as | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          a 16-bit unsigned integer stored in MSB order (CMF*256 + FLG), | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          is a multiple of 31. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 5] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       FDICT (Preset dictionary) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          If FDICT is set, a DICT dictionary identifier is present | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          immediately after the FLG byte. The dictionary is a sequence of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          bytes which are initially fed to the compressor without | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          producing any compressed output. DICT is the Adler-32 checksum | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          of this sequence of bytes (see the definition of ADLER32 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          below).  The decompressor can use this identifier to determine | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          which dictionary has been used by the compressor. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       FLEVEL (Compression level) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          These flags are available for use by specific compression | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          methods.  The "deflate" method (CM = 8) sets these flags as | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          follows: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             0 - compressor used fastest algorithm | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             1 - compressor used fast algorithm | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             2 - compressor used default algorithm | 
 
 
 
 
 
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             3 - compressor used maximum compression, slowest algorithm | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          The information in FLEVEL is not needed for decompression; it | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          is there to indicate if recompression might be worthwhile. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       compressed data | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          For compression method 8, the compressed data is stored in the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          deflate compressed data format as described in the document | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          "DEFLATE Compressed Data Format Specification" by L. Peter | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          Deutsch. (See reference [3] in Chapter 3, below) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          Other compressed data formats are not specified in this version | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          of the zlib specification. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       ADLER32 (Adler-32 checksum) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          This contains a checksum value of the uncompressed data | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          (excluding any dictionary data) computed according to Adler-32 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          algorithm. This algorithm is a 32-bit extension and improvement | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          of the Fletcher algorithm, used in the ITU-T X.224 / ISO 8073 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          standard. See references [4] and [5] in Chapter 3, below) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          Adler-32 is composed of two sums accumulated per byte: s1 is | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          the sum of all bytes, s2 is the sum of all s1 values. Both sums | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          are done modulo 65521. s1 is initialized to 1, s2 to zero.  The | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          Adler-32 checksum is stored as s2*65536 + s1 in most- | 
 
 
 
 
 
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          significant-byte first (network) order. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 6] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    2.3. Compliance | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 344 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       A compliant compressor must produce streams with correct CMF, FLG | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       and ADLER32, but need not support preset dictionaries.  When the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       zlib data format is used as part of another standard data format, | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       the compressor may use only preset dictionaries that are specified | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       by this other data format.  If this other format does not use the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       preset dictionary feature, the compressor must not set the FDICT | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       flag. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       A compliant decompressor must check CMF, FLG, and ADLER32, and | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       provide an error indication if any of these have incorrect values. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       A compliant decompressor must give an error indication if CM is | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       not one of the values defined in this specification (only the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       value 8 is permitted in this version), since another value could | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       indicate the presence of new features that would cause subsequent | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       data to be interpreted incorrectly.  A compliant decompressor must | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       give an error indication if FDICT is set and DICTID is not the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       identifier of a known preset dictionary.  A decompressor may | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       ignore FLEVEL and still be compliant.  When the zlib data format | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       is being used as a part of another standard format, a compliant | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       decompressor must support all the preset dictionaries specified by | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       the other format. When the other format does not use the preset | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       dictionary feature, a compliant decompressor must reject any | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       stream in which the FDICT flag is set. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 3. References | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    [1] Deutsch, L.P.,"GZIP Compressed Data Format Specification", | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 372 | 
        available in ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/doc/ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 374 | 
    [2] Thomas Boutell, "PNG (Portable Network Graphics) specification", | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 375 | 
        available in ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/ | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 376 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    [3] Deutsch, L.P.,"DEFLATE Compressed Data Format Specification", | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 378 | 
        available in ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/doc/ | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 379 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 380 | 
    [4] Fletcher, J. G., "An Arithmetic Checksum for Serial | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 381 | 
        Transmissions," IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. COM-30, | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 382 | 
        No. 1, January 1982, pp. 247-252. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 383 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 384 | 
    [5] ITU-T Recommendation X.224, Annex D, "Checksum Algorithms," | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 385 | 
        November, 1993, pp. 144, 145. (Available from | 
 
 
 
 
 
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        gopher://info.itu.ch). ITU-T X.244 is also the same as ISO 8073. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 7] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 398 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 399 | 
 4. Source code | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 400 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 401 | 
    Source code for a C language implementation of a "zlib" compliant | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 402 | 
    library is available at ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/zlib/. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 403 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 404 | 
 5. Security Considerations | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 405 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 406 | 
    A decoder that fails to check the ADLER32 checksum value may be | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 407 | 
    subject to undetected data corruption. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 408 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 409 | 
 6. Acknowledgements | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 410 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Trademarks cited in this document are the property of their | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    respective owners. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Jean-Loup Gailly and Mark Adler designed the zlib format and wrote | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 415 | 
    the related software described in this specification.  Glenn | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 416 | 
    Randers-Pehrson converted this document to RFC and HTML format. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 7. Authors' Addresses | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    L. Peter Deutsch | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Aladdin Enterprises | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    203 Santa Margarita Ave. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Menlo Park, CA 94025 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    Phone: (415) 322-0103 (AM only) | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 426 | 
    FAX:   (415) 322-1734 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    EMail: <ghost@aladdin.com> | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 428 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 429 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 430 | 
    Jean-Loup Gailly | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 431 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 432 | 
    EMail: <gzip@prep.ai.mit.edu> | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 433 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 434 | 
    Questions about the technical content of this specification can be | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 435 | 
    sent by email to | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 436 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 437 | 
    Jean-Loup Gailly <gzip@prep.ai.mit.edu> and | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 438 | 
    Mark Adler <madler@alumni.caltech.edu> | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 439 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 440 | 
    Editorial comments on this specification can be sent by email to | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 441 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 442 | 
    L. Peter Deutsch <ghost@aladdin.com> and | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 443 | 
    Glenn Randers-Pehrson <randeg@alumni.rpi.edu> | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 444 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 8] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 452 | 
 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 453 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 454 | 
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 8. Appendix: Rationale | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    8.1. Preset dictionaries | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       A preset dictionary is specially useful to compress short input | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       sequences. The compressor can take advantage of the dictionary | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       context to encode the input in a more compact manner. The | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       decompressor can be initialized with the appropriate context by | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       virtually decompressing a compressed version of the dictionary | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       without producing any output. However for certain compression | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       algorithms such as the deflate algorithm this operation can be | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       achieved without actually performing any decompression. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The compressor and the decompressor must use exactly the same | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       dictionary. The dictionary may be fixed or may be chosen among a | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       certain number of predefined dictionaries, according to the kind | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       of input data. The decompressor can determine which dictionary has | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       been chosen by the compressor by checking the dictionary | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       identifier. This document does not specify the contents of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       predefined dictionaries, since the optimal dictionaries are | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       application specific. Standard data formats using this feature of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       the zlib specification must precisely define the allowed | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       dictionaries. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    8.2. The Adler-32 algorithm | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The Adler-32 algorithm is much faster than the CRC32 algorithm yet | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       still provides an extremely low probability of undetected errors. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       The modulo on unsigned long accumulators can be delayed for 5552 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 485 | 
       bytes, so the modulo operation time is negligible.  If the bytes | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 486 | 
       are a, b, c, the second sum is 3a + 2b + c + 3, and so is position | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       and order sensitive, unlike the first sum, which is just a | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 488 | 
       checksum.  That 65521 is prime is important to avoid a possible | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       large class of two-byte errors that leave the check unchanged. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       (The Fletcher checksum uses 255, which is not prime and which also | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 491 | 
       makes the Fletcher check insensitive to single byte changes 0 <-> | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       255.) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 494 | 
       The sum s1 is initialized to 1 instead of zero to make the length | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       of the sequence part of s2, so that the length does not have to be | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       checked separately. (Any sequence of zeroes has a Fletcher | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       checksum of zero.) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                      [Page 9] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 9. Appendix: Sample code | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    The following C code computes the Adler-32 checksum of a data buffer. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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    It is written for clarity, not for speed.  The sample code is in the | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 515 | 
    ANSI C programming language. Non C users may find it easier to read | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 516 | 
    with these hints: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       &      Bitwise AND operator. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       >>     Bitwise right shift operator. When applied to an | 
 
 
 
 
 
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              unsigned quantity, as here, right shift inserts zero bit(s) | 
 
 
 
 
 
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              at the left. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       <<     Bitwise left shift operator. Left shift inserts zero | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 523 | 
              bit(s) at the right. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       ++     "n++" increments the variable n. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       %      modulo operator: a % b is the remainder of a divided by b. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 527 | 
       #define BASE 65521 /* largest prime smaller than 65536 */ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       /* | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 530 | 
          Update a running Adler-32 checksum with the bytes buf[0..len-1] | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 531 | 
        and return the updated checksum. The Adler-32 checksum should be | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 532 | 
        initialized to 1. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 533 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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        Usage example: | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 535 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 536 | 
          unsigned long adler = 1L; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 537 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 538 | 
          while (read_buffer(buffer, length) != EOF) { | 
 
 
 
 
 
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            adler = update_adler32(adler, buffer, length); | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 540 | 
          } | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 541 | 
          if (adler != original_adler) error(); | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 542 | 
       */ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       unsigned long update_adler32(unsigned long adler, | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 544 | 
          unsigned char *buf, int len) | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 545 | 
       { | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 546 | 
         unsigned long s1 = adler & 0xffff; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 547 | 
         unsigned long s2 = (adler >> 16) & 0xffff; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 548 | 
         int n; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 549 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 550 | 
         for (n = 0; n < len; n++) { | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 551 | 
           s1 = (s1 + buf[n]) % BASE; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 552 | 
           s2 = (s2 + s1)     % BASE; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 553 | 
         } | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 554 | 
         return (s2 << 16) + s1; | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 555 | 
       } | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       /* Return the adler32 of the bytes buf[0..len-1] */ | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                     [Page 10] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 RFC 1950       ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification        May 1996 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 565 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 566 | 
  | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 567 | 
       unsigned long adler32(unsigned char *buf, int len) | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 568 | 
       { | 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 569 | 
         return update_adler32(1L, buf, len); | 
 
 
 
 
 
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       } | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Deutsch & Gailly             Informational                     [Page 11] | 
 
 
 
 
 
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