libzip(3) Library Functions Manual libzip(3)
NAME
libzip - library for manipulating zip archives
LIBRARY
libzip (-lzip)
SYNOPSIS
#include <zip.h>
DESCRIPTION
libzip is a library for reading, creating, and modifying zip archives.
The main design criteria for libzip were:
o Maintain a stable API without breaking backwards compatibility.
o Do not create corrupt files, even in case of errors.
o Do not delete data.
o Be efficient.
For this reason, when modifying zip archives, libzip writes to a
temporary file and replaces the original zip archive atomically.
GENERAL NOTES
When adding files to an archive, the file data is only read when the new
archive is written. Therefore all files added must remain valid until
the archive is closed with zip_close(3) or zip_discard(3).
Unless explicitly documented, functions should not be passed NULL
pointers as arguments.
DATA TYPES
These data types correspond to central concepts in libzip. Most of them
are private, meaning you can't allocate them or access their members
directly. This allows extending the structures in the future without
breaking compatibility.
zip_t
This type represents an opened archive. See zip(5).
zip_file_t
This type represents a file from an archive that has been opened for
reading. See zip_file(5).
zip_source_t
This type represents a source (or destination) of data. It is used in
libzip for providing data when adding or replacing files, accessing data
from a file inside an archive, and the data for the archive as a whole.
See zip_source(5).
zip_error_t
This type represents information about an error. Its type can be checked
against pre-defined constants and it can be converted to a human readable
string. See zip_error(5).
FILE NAMES
Encoding
Names of files in the host file system are expected in UTF-8 encoding.
On Windows, variants for ASCII and UTF-16 are also available.
Names of files inside archives are by default expected in UTF-8 encoding.
Other encodings can be requested by using the flags ZIP_FL_ENC_CP437 and
ZIP_FL_ENC_RAW.
For details see the relevant man pages.
Directory Separator
The zip format requires the use of forward slash (`/') as directory
separator. Since backslash (`\') can be part of a valid file name on
Unix systems, libzip does not automatically convert them, even on
Windows. It is the responsibility of the programmer to ensure that all
directory separators are passed as forward slashes to libzip.
THREAD SAFETY
In general, different zip archives opened by libzip are independent of
each other and can be used by parallel-running threads without locking.
If you want to use an archive from multiple threads, you have to
synchronize access to it yourself. If you use an archive as a source for
zip_file_add(3) or zip_file_replace(3), access to the target archive must
be synchronized with access to the source archive as well.
READING ZIP ARCHIVES
Open Archive
o zip_open(3)
o zip_open_from_source(3)
o zip_fdopen(3)
Get Archive Attributes
o zip_get_archive_comment(3)
o zip_get_archive_flag(3)
o zip_get_num_entries(3)
Find Files
o zip_name_locate(3)
Read Files
o zip_fopen(3)
o zip_fopen_encrypted(3)
o zip_fopen_index(3)
o zip_fopen_index_encrypted(3)
o zip_fread(3)
o zip_file_is_seekable(3)
o zip_fseek(3) (uncompressed files only)
o zip_ftell(3)
o zip_fclose(3)
Close Archive
o zip_close(3)
Get File Attributes
o zip_stat(3)
o zip_file_get_comment(3)
o zip_file_get_external_attributes(3)
o zip_get_name(3)
Miscellaneous
o zip_compression_method_supported(3)
o zip_encryption_method_supported(3)
o zip_set_default_password(3)
CREATING/MODIFYING ZIP ARCHIVES
Create/Open Archive
o zip_open(3)
Add/Change Files and Directories
o zip_dir_add(3)
o zip_file_add(3)
o zip_file_replace(3)
o zip_file_set_comment(3)
o zip_file_set_dostime(3)
o zip_file_set_external_attributes(3)
o zip_file_set_encryption(3)
o zip_file_set_mtime(3)
o zip_set_file_compression(3)
o zip_source_buffer(3)
o zip_source_file(3)
o zip_source_filep(3)
o zip_source_zip(3)
Rename Files
o zip_rename(3)
Delete Files
o zip_delete(3)
Revert Changes
o zip_unchange(3)
o zip_unchange_all(3)
o zip_unchange_archive(3)
Read/Modify Extra Fields
o zip_file_extra_field_delete(3)
o zip_file_extra_field_delete_by_id(3)
o zip_file_extra_field_get(3)
o zip_file_extra_field_get_by_id(3)
o zip_file_extra_field_set(3)
o zip_file_extra_fields_count(3)
o zip_file_extra_fields_count_by_id(3)
Close Archive (Writing)
o zip_close(3)
o zip_discard(3)
Miscellaneous (Writing)
o zip_file_attributes_init(3)
o zip_libzip_version(3)
o zip_register_cancel_callback_with_state(3)
o zip_register_progress_callback_with_state(3)
o zip_set_archive_comment(3)
o zip_set_archive_flag(3)
o zip_source(5)
SOURCES
Create Source
o zip_source_buffer(3)
o zip_source_file(3)
o zip_source_filep(3)
o zip_source_function(3)
o zip_source_layered(3)
o zip_source_zip(3)
Using Source
o zip_file_add(3)
o zip_file_replace(3)
o zip_open_from_source(3)
Implementing Source
o zip_source_pass_to_lower_layer(3)
Source Life Cycle
o zip_source_free(3)
o zip_source_keep(3)
ERROR HANDLING
o zip_error_strerror(3)
o zip_strerror(3)
o zip_file_strerror(3)
o zip_file_get_error(3)
o zip_get_error(3)
o zip_error_init_with_code(3)
o zip_error_set(3)
o zip_error_set_from_source(3)
o zip_error_system_type(3)
o zip_errors(3)
AUTHORS
Dieter Baron <dillo@nih.at> and Thomas Klausner <wiz@gatalith.at>
macOS 15.6 May 5, 2025 macOS 15.6
libzip 1.11.4 - Generated Mon Aug 4 04:39:53 CDT 2025