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DecompressLibrary - A General Library to Decompress a zip, gz, or tar.gz File into a Memory Buffer

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21 Feb 2018CPOL1 min read 103.8K   4.7K   98   20
A library that provides an easy to use class (CDecompressLibrary) that will detect and decompress into memory buffers an archive file (zip, gz, tar.gz).

Introduction

I developed this class because I needed a general class that will detect internally if a file is an archive, and then read the compressed files contained in the archive. For Zip and gz archives, I found the source code on CodeProject, in the articles of Hans Dietrich and Jonathan de Halleux.

I also implemented in the class the possibility of detecting & reading from tar files.

Using the Code

The class provides methods for: detecting and opening an archive, returning the number of files in an archive, and reading files from archives based on file position. In the header file, we have the methods and their description.

/***********************************************************************
Open a compressed file.
Parameters
    pszCompressedFile - name of the file
Return values:
    TRUE - file opened
    FALSE - file could not be opened 
            (use GetErrorText() to find the error)\
Note:
    The archive file must have one of these extensions:
    - .zip
    - .gz
    - .tar.gz
    - .tgz
***********************************************************************/
BOOL    OpenArchive(IN const char* pszArchiveFile);

/***********************************************************************
Closes the archive, destroys all the internal objects
***********************************************************************/
void    CloseArchive();

/***********************************************************************
Get number of files in the archive
Return values:
    Number of files in the archive.
    -1 if there are errors.
***********************************************************************/
int        GetCompressedFilesCount();

/***********************************************************************
Get a buffer that contain the file in archive at a specific position
Params:
    nFileIndex - file position in archive
    pszFileBuffer - buffer containing the file data
    nFileSize - file size
    fIsFile - TRUE if this is a regular file, 
              FALSE otherwise (directory, link, etc)
    szFileName - name of the file
Return values:
    TRUE - file found and buffer filled correctly
    FALSE - some error (use GetErrorText() to find the error)
Note:
    All data buffers will be allocated/deleted internally in this class,
    they should not be changed from outside !
***********************************************************************/
BOOL    GetArchiveFile( IN int nFileIndex, 
                        OUT char** pszFileBuffer, 
                        OUT int& nFileSize,
                        OUT BOOL& fIsFile,
                        OUT CString& szFileName);


/***********************************************************************
Get last error if there were any problems
***********************************************************************/
CString    GetErrorText();
BOOL    OpenArchive(IN const char* pszArchiveFile);

How to Use

Include the DecompressLibrary project in your workspace. Next, include the DecompressClass.h header file. Sample usage:

C++
CDecompressClass testObj;
// open archive
testObj.OpenArchive("archivefile.zip");
// if we opened ok, read each file from the archive
for (int i=0; i < testObj.GetCompressedFilesCount(); i++)
{
    // will contain the file buffer
    char* pszFileBuffer;
    // will contain the file length
    int nFileLength;
    // will contain the file name
    CString szFileName;
    // flag if is a file or not (directory, link, etc)
    BOOL fIsFile;
    
    testObj.GetArchiveFile(i,    /*position in archive*/
                &pszFileBuffer,  /*will point to the memory buffer 
                                   containing the file content*/
                nFileLength,     /*will contain the file length*/
                fIsFile,         /*will show if it's a file or not*/
                szFileName       /*name of the file*/
                );            
}

History

  • Version 1.0 - 2005 Nov 14, first implementation of the class

Demo App

You will find a test dialog used to test the class:

TestDlg

Usage

This software is created by Marius Daniel Ciorecan at https://elapseit.com and is released into the public domain. You are free to use it in any way you like. If you modify it or extend it, please consider posting new code here for everyone to share. This software is provided "as is" with no expressed or implied warranty. I accept no liability for any damage or loss of business that this software may cause.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Founder elapseit
Romania Romania
Old time developer, now managing partner at elapseit (https://elapseit.com)

Comments and Discussions

 
Questionvery good job! Pin
skyformat99@gmail.com14-Mar-18 17:01
skyformat99@gmail.com14-Mar-18 17:01 
Bugbug when parsing extended timestamp [with fix] Pin
Member 1103698726-Aug-14 2:31
Member 1103698726-Aug-14 2:31 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
skyformat99@gmail.com21-Nov-13 21:26
skyformat99@gmail.com21-Nov-13 21:26 
GeneralThank you ! Pin
fanmhai14-Apr-11 5:43
fanmhai14-Apr-11 5:43 
GeneralProblem with tar files Pin
vshany14-Oct-07 4:55
vshany14-Oct-07 4:55 
GeneralRe: Problem with tar files Pin
robertbiro9-Dec-11 14:35
robertbiro9-Dec-11 14:35 
GeneralRe: Problem with tar files Pin
Le@rner12-Dec-11 22:34
Le@rner12-Dec-11 22:34 
GeneralRe: Problem with tar files Pin
chauchauvoi8-May-14 22:35
chauchauvoi8-May-14 22:35 
Generali have a problem Pin
josip cagalj29-Apr-07 23:13
josip cagalj29-Apr-07 23:13 
Generala url path Pin
dreamwj12-Oct-06 16:49
dreamwj12-Oct-06 16:49 
GeneralRe: a url path Pin
Marius Daniel Ciorecan13-Oct-06 4:13
Marius Daniel Ciorecan13-Oct-06 4:13 
GeneralNeed a little help compiling... Pin
stretchcoder5-Sep-06 5:00
stretchcoder5-Sep-06 5:00 
GeneralRe: Need a little help compiling... Pin
Marius Daniel Ciorecan6-Sep-06 1:35
Marius Daniel Ciorecan6-Sep-06 1:35 
GeneralThank you very much ^_^ Pin
rexarrds15-Jul-06 22:48
rexarrds15-Jul-06 22:48 
GeneralGood example when using zlib and XZip Pin
C-codist27-Nov-05 8:02
C-codist27-Nov-05 8:02 
Generalgood job Pin
Maze26-Nov-05 6:54
Maze26-Nov-05 6:54 
GeneralRe: good job Pin
Marius Daniel Ciorecan27-Nov-05 6:56
Marius Daniel Ciorecan27-Nov-05 6:56 
GeneralExcellent staff Pin
Mircea Puiu22-Nov-05 10:18
Mircea Puiu22-Nov-05 10:18 
GeneralRe: Excellent staff Pin
Marius Daniel Ciorecan22-Nov-05 19:50
Marius Daniel Ciorecan22-Nov-05 19:50 
GeneralRe: Excellent staff Pin
kla_boot23-Nov-05 22:29
kla_boot23-Nov-05 22:29 

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