228 lines
9.5 KiB
ReStructuredText
228 lines
9.5 KiB
ReStructuredText
:mod:`zlib` --- Compression compatible with :program:`gzip`
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===========================================================
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.. module:: zlib
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:synopsis: Low-level interface to compression and decompression routines
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compatible with gzip.
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For applications that require data compression, the functions in this module
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allow compression and decompression, using the zlib library. The zlib library
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has its own home page at http://www.zlib.net. There are known
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incompatibilities between the Python module and versions of the zlib library
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earlier than 1.1.3; 1.1.3 has a security vulnerability, so we recommend using
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1.1.4 or later.
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zlib's functions have many options and often need to be used in a particular
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order. This documentation doesn't attempt to cover all of the permutations;
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consult the zlib manual at http://www.zlib.net/manual.html for authoritative
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information.
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For reading and writing ``.gz`` files see the :mod:`gzip` module. For
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other archive formats, see the :mod:`bz2`, :mod:`zipfile`, and
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:mod:`tarfile` modules.
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The available exception and functions in this module are:
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.. exception:: error
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Exception raised on compression and decompression errors.
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.. function:: adler32(data[, value])
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Computes a Adler-32 checksum of *data*. (An Adler-32 checksum is almost as
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reliable as a CRC32 but can be computed much more quickly.) If *value* is
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present, it is used as the starting value of the checksum; otherwise, a fixed
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default value is used. This allows computing a running checksum over the
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concatenation of several inputs. The algorithm is not cryptographically
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strong, and should not be used for authentication or digital signatures. Since
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the algorithm is designed for use as a checksum algorithm, it is not suitable
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for use as a general hash algorithm.
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Always returns an unsigned 32-bit integer.
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.. note::
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To generate the same numeric value across all Python versions and
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platforms use adler32(data) & 0xffffffff. If you are only using
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the checksum in packed binary format this is not necessary as the
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return value is the correct 32bit binary representation
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regardless of sign.
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.. function:: compress(string[, level])
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Compresses the data in *string*, returning a string contained compressed data.
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*level* is an integer from ``1`` to ``9`` controlling the level of compression;
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``1`` is fastest and produces the least compression, ``9`` is slowest and
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produces the most. The default value is ``6``. Raises the :exc:`error`
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exception if any error occurs.
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.. function:: compressobj([level])
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Returns a compression object, to be used for compressing data streams that won't
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fit into memory at once. *level* is an integer from ``1`` to ``9`` controlling
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the level of compression; ``1`` is fastest and produces the least compression,
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``9`` is slowest and produces the most. The default value is ``6``.
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.. function:: crc32(data[, value])
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.. index::
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single: Cyclic Redundancy Check
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single: checksum; Cyclic Redundancy Check
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Computes a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) checksum of *data*. If *value* is
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present, it is used as the starting value of the checksum; otherwise, a fixed
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default value is used. This allows computing a running checksum over the
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concatenation of several inputs. The algorithm is not cryptographically
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strong, and should not be used for authentication or digital signatures. Since
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the algorithm is designed for use as a checksum algorithm, it is not suitable
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for use as a general hash algorithm.
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Always returns an unsigned 32-bit integer.
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.. note::
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To generate the same numeric value across all Python versions and
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platforms use crc32(data) & 0xffffffff. If you are only using
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the checksum in packed binary format this is not necessary as the
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return value is the correct 32bit binary representation
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regardless of sign.
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.. function:: decompress(string[, wbits[, bufsize]])
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Decompresses the data in *string*, returning a string containing the
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uncompressed data. The *wbits* parameter controls the size of the window
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buffer, and is discussed further below.
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If *bufsize* is given, it is used as the initial size of the output
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buffer. Raises the :exc:`error` exception if any error occurs.
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The absolute value of *wbits* is the base two logarithm of the size of the
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history buffer (the "window size") used when compressing data. Its absolute
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value should be between 8 and 15 for the most recent versions of the zlib
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library, larger values resulting in better compression at the expense of greater
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memory usage. When decompressing a stream, *wbits* must not be smaller
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than the size originally used to compress the stream; using a too-small
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value will result in an exception. The default value is therefore the
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highest value, 15. When *wbits* is negative, the standard
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:program:`gzip` header is suppressed.
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*bufsize* is the initial size of the buffer used to hold decompressed data. If
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more space is required, the buffer size will be increased as needed, so you
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don't have to get this value exactly right; tuning it will only save a few calls
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to :cfunc:`malloc`. The default size is 16384.
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.. function:: decompressobj([wbits])
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Returns a decompression object, to be used for decompressing data streams that
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won't fit into memory at once. The *wbits* parameter controls the size of the
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window buffer.
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Compression objects support the following methods:
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.. method:: Compress.compress(string)
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Compress *string*, returning a string containing compressed data for at least
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part of the data in *string*. This data should be concatenated to the output
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produced by any preceding calls to the :meth:`compress` method. Some input may
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be kept in internal buffers for later processing.
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.. method:: Compress.flush([mode])
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All pending input is processed, and a string containing the remaining compressed
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output is returned. *mode* can be selected from the constants
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:const:`Z_SYNC_FLUSH`, :const:`Z_FULL_FLUSH`, or :const:`Z_FINISH`,
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defaulting to :const:`Z_FINISH`. :const:`Z_SYNC_FLUSH` and
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:const:`Z_FULL_FLUSH` allow compressing further strings of data, while
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:const:`Z_FINISH` finishes the compressed stream and prevents compressing any
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more data. After calling :meth:`flush` with *mode* set to :const:`Z_FINISH`,
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the :meth:`compress` method cannot be called again; the only realistic action is
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to delete the object.
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.. method:: Compress.copy()
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Returns a copy of the compression object. This can be used to efficiently
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compress a set of data that share a common initial prefix.
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Decompression objects support the following methods, and two attributes:
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.. attribute:: Decompress.unused_data
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A string which contains any bytes past the end of the compressed data. That is,
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this remains ``""`` until the last byte that contains compression data is
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available. If the whole string turned out to contain compressed data, this is
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``""``, the empty string.
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The only way to determine where a string of compressed data ends is by actually
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decompressing it. This means that when compressed data is contained part of a
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larger file, you can only find the end of it by reading data and feeding it
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followed by some non-empty string into a decompression object's
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:meth:`decompress` method until the :attr:`unused_data` attribute is no longer
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the empty string.
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.. attribute:: Decompress.unconsumed_tail
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A string that contains any data that was not consumed by the last
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:meth:`decompress` call because it exceeded the limit for the uncompressed data
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buffer. This data has not yet been seen by the zlib machinery, so you must feed
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it (possibly with further data concatenated to it) back to a subsequent
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:meth:`decompress` method call in order to get correct output.
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.. method:: Decompress.decompress(string[, max_length])
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Decompress *string*, returning a string containing the uncompressed data
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corresponding to at least part of the data in *string*. This data should be
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concatenated to the output produced by any preceding calls to the
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:meth:`decompress` method. Some of the input data may be preserved in internal
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buffers for later processing.
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If the optional parameter *max_length* is supplied then the return value will be
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no longer than *max_length*. This may mean that not all of the compressed input
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can be processed; and unconsumed data will be stored in the attribute
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:attr:`unconsumed_tail`. This string must be passed to a subsequent call to
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:meth:`decompress` if decompression is to continue. If *max_length* is not
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supplied then the whole input is decompressed, and :attr:`unconsumed_tail` is an
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empty string.
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.. method:: Decompress.flush([length])
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All pending input is processed, and a string containing the remaining
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uncompressed output is returned. After calling :meth:`flush`, the
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:meth:`decompress` method cannot be called again; the only realistic action is
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to delete the object.
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The optional parameter *length* sets the initial size of the output buffer.
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.. method:: Decompress.copy()
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Returns a copy of the decompression object. This can be used to save the state
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of the decompressor midway through the data stream in order to speed up random
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seeks into the stream at a future point.
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.. seealso::
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Module :mod:`gzip`
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Reading and writing :program:`gzip`\ -format files.
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http://www.zlib.net
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The zlib library home page.
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http://www.zlib.net/manual.html
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The zlib manual explains the semantics and usage of the library's many
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functions.
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