rawdeflate $input_filename_or_reference => $output_filename_or_reference [, OPTS]

The $input_filename_or_reference parameter

The parameter, $input_filename_or_reference, is used to define the source of the uncompressed data.

It can take one of the following forms:

A filename

If the $input_filename_or_reference parameter is a simple scalar, it is assumed to be a filename. This file will be opened for reading and the input data will be read from it.

A filehandle

If the $input_filename_or_reference parameter is a filehandle, the input data will be read from it. The string '-' can be used as an alias for standard input.

A scalar reference

If $input_filename_or_reference is a scalar reference, the input data will be read from $$input_filename_or_reference.

An array reference

If $input_filename_or_reference is an array reference, each element in the array must be a filename.

The input data will be read from each file in turn.

The complete array will be walked to ensure that it only contains valid filenames before any data is compressed.

An Input FileGlob string

If $input_filename_or_reference is a string that is delimited by the characters "<" and ">" "rawdeflate" will assume that it is an input fileglob string. The input is the list of files that match the fileglob.

See File::GlobMapper for more details.

If the $input_filename_or_reference parameter is any other type, "undef" will be returned.

The $output_filename_or_reference parameter

The parameter $output_filename_or_reference is used to control the destination of the compressed data. This parameter can take one of these forms.

A filename

If the $output_filename_or_reference parameter is a simple scalar, it is assumed to be a filename. This file will be opened for writing and the compressed data will be written to it.

A filehandle

If the $output_filename_or_reference parameter is a filehandle, the compressed data will be written to it. The string '-' can be used as an alias for standard output.

A scalar reference

If $output_filename_or_reference is a scalar reference, the compressed data will be stored in $$output_filename_or_reference.

An Array Reference

If $output_filename_or_reference is an array reference, the compressed data will be pushed onto the array.

An Output FileGlob

If $output_filename_or_reference is a string that is delimited by the characters "<" and ">" "rawdeflate" will assume that it is an output fileglob string. The output is the list of files that match the fileglob.

When $output_filename_or_reference is an fileglob string, $input_filename_or_reference must also be a fileglob string. Anything else is an error.

See File::GlobMapper for more details.

If the $output_filename_or_reference parameter is any other type, "undef" will be returned.

Notes

Optional Parameters

"AutoClose => 0|1"

This option applies to any input or output data streams to "rawdeflate" that are filehandles.

If "AutoClose" is specified, and the value is true, it will result in all input and/or output filehandles being closed once "rawdeflate" has completed.

This parameter defaults to 0.

"BinModeIn => 0|1"

This option is now a no-op. All files will be read in binmode.

"Append => 0|1"

The behaviour of this option is dependent on the type of output data stream.

Examples

Streaming

This very simple command line example demonstrates the streaming capabilities of the module. The code reads data from STDIN, compresses it, and writes the compressed data to STDOUT.

    $ echo hello world | perl -MIO::Compress::RawDeflate=rawdeflate -e 'rawdeflate \*STDIN => \*STDOUT' >output.1951

The special filename "-" can be used as a standin for both "\*STDIN" and "\*STDOUT", so the above can be rewritten as

    $ echo hello world | perl -MIO::Compress::RawDeflate=rawdeflate -e 'rawdeflate "-" => "-"' >output.1951

Compressing a file from the filesystem

To read the contents of the file "file1.txt" and write the compressed data to the file "file1.txt.1951".

    use strict ;
    use warnings ;
    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(rawdeflate $RawDeflateError) ;

    my $input = "file1.txt";
    rawdeflate $input => "$input.1951"
        or die "rawdeflate failed: $RawDeflateError\n";

Reading from a Filehandle and writing to an in-memory buffer

To read from an existing Perl filehandle, $input, and write the compressed data to a buffer, $buffer.

    use strict ;
    use warnings ;
    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(rawdeflate $RawDeflateError) ;
    use IO::File ;

    my $input = IO::File->new( "<file1.txt" )
        or die "Cannot open 'file1.txt': $!\n" ;
    my $buffer ;
    rawdeflate $input => \$buffer
        or die "rawdeflate failed: $RawDeflateError\n";

Compressing multiple files

To compress all files in the directory "/my/home" that match "*.txt" and store the compressed data in the same directory

    use strict ;
    use warnings ;
    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(rawdeflate $RawDeflateError) ;

    rawdeflate '</my/home/*.txt>' => '<*.1951>'
        or die "rawdeflate failed: $RawDeflateError\n";

and if you want to compress each file one at a time, this will do the trick

    use strict ;
    use warnings ;
    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(rawdeflate $RawDeflateError) ;

    for my $input ( glob "/my/home/*.txt" )
    {
        my $output = "$input.1951" ;
        rawdeflate $input => $output
            or die "Error compressing '$input': $RawDeflateError\n";
    }

Constructor

    my $z = IO::Compress::RawDeflate->new( $output [,OPTS] )
        or die "IO::Compress::RawDeflate failed: $RawDeflateError\n";

It returns an "IO::Compress::RawDeflate" object on success and undef on failure. The variable $RawDeflateError will contain an error message on failure.

If you are running Perl 5.005 or better the object, $z, returned from IO::Compress::RawDeflate can be used exactly like an IO::File filehandle. This means that all normal output file operations can be carried out with $z. For example, to write to a compressed file/buffer you can use either of these forms

    $z->print("hello world\n");
    print $z "hello world\n";

The mandatory parameter $output is used to control the destination of the compressed data. This parameter can take one of these forms.

A filename

If the $output parameter is a simple scalar, it is assumed to be a filename. This file will be opened for writing and the compressed data will be written to it.

A filehandle

If the $output parameter is a filehandle, the compressed data will be written to it. The string '-' can be used as an alias for standard output.

A scalar reference

If $output is a scalar reference, the compressed data will be stored in $$output.

If the $output parameter is any other type, "IO::Compress::RawDeflate"::new will return undef.

Constructor Options

"AutoClose => 0|1"

This option is only valid when the $output parameter is a filehandle. If specified, and the value is true, it will result in the $output being closed once either the "close" method is called or the "IO::Compress::RawDeflate" object is destroyed.

This parameter defaults to 0.

"Append => 0|1"

Opens $output in append mode.

The behaviour of this option is dependent on the type of $output.

"Merge => 0|1"

This option is used to compress input data and append it to an existing compressed data stream in $output. The end result is a single compressed data stream stored in $output.

It is a fatal error to attempt to use this option when $output is not an RFC 1951 data stream.

There are a number of other limitations with the "Merge" option:

-Level

Defines the compression level used by zlib. The value should either be a number between 0 and 9 (0 means no compression and 9 is maximum compression), or one of the symbolic constants defined below.

   Z_NO_COMPRESSION
   Z_BEST_SPEED
   Z_BEST_COMPRESSION
   Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION
    

The default is Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION.

Note, these constants are not imported by "IO::Compress::RawDeflate" by default.

    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(:strategy);
    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(:constants);
    use IO::Compress::RawDeflate qw(:all);
    

-Strategy

Defines the strategy used to tune the compression. Use one of the symbolic constants defined below.

   Z_FILTERED
   Z_HUFFMAN_ONLY
   Z_RLE
   Z_FIXED
   Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY
    

The default is Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY.

"Strict => 0|1"

This is a placeholder option.

Examples

print

    $z->print($data)
    print $z $data

Compresses and outputs the contents of the $data parameter. This has the same behaviour as the "print" built-in.

Returns true if successful.

printf

    $z->printf($format, $data)
    printf $z $format, $data

Compresses and outputs the contents of the $data parameter.

Returns true if successful.

syswrite

    $z->syswrite $data
    $z->syswrite $data, $length
    $z->syswrite $data, $length, $offset

Compresses and outputs the contents of the $data parameter.

Returns the number of uncompressed bytes written, or "undef" if unsuccessful.

write

    $z->write $data
    $z->write $data, $length
    $z->write $data, $length, $offset

Compresses and outputs the contents of the $data parameter.

Returns the number of uncompressed bytes written, or "undef" if unsuccessful.

flush

    $z->flush;
    $z->flush($flush_type);

Flushes any pending compressed data to the output file/buffer.

This method takes an optional parameter, $flush_type, that controls how the flushing will be carried out. By default the $flush_type used is "Z_FINISH". Other valid values for $flush_type are "Z_NO_FLUSH", "Z_SYNC_FLUSH", "Z_FULL_FLUSH" and "Z_BLOCK". It is strongly recommended that you only set the "flush_type" parameter if you fully understand the implications of what it does - overuse of "flush" can seriously degrade the level of compression achieved. See the "zlib" documentation for details.

Returns true on success.

tell

    $z->tell()
    tell $z

Returns the uncompressed file offset.

eof

    $z->eof();
    eof($z);

Returns true if the "close" method has been called.

seek

    $z->seek($position, $whence);
    seek($z, $position, $whence);

Provides a sub-set of the "seek" functionality, with the restriction that it is only legal to seek forward in the output file/buffer. It is a fatal error to attempt to seek backward.

Empty parts of the file/buffer will have NULL (0x00) bytes written to them.

The $whence parameter takes one the usual values, namely SEEK_SET, SEEK_CUR or SEEK_END.

Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

binmode

    $z->binmode
    binmode $z ;

This is a noop provided for completeness.

opened

    $z->opened()

Returns true if the object currently refers to a opened file/buffer.

autoflush

    my $prev = $z->autoflush()
    my $prev = $z->autoflush(EXPR)

If the $z object is associated with a file or a filehandle, this method returns the current autoflush setting for the underlying filehandle. If "EXPR" is present, and is non-zero, it will enable flushing after every write/print operation.

If $z is associated with a buffer, this method has no effect and always returns "undef".

Note that the special variable $| cannot be used to set or retrieve the autoflush setting.

input_line_number

    $z->input_line_number()
    $z->input_line_number(EXPR)

This method always returns "undef" when compressing.

fileno

    $z->fileno()
    fileno($z)

If the $z object is associated with a file or a filehandle, "fileno" will return the underlying file descriptor. Once the "close" method is called "fileno" will return "undef".

If the $z object is associated with a buffer, this method will return "undef".

close

    $z->close() ;
    close $z ;

Flushes any pending compressed data and then closes the output file/buffer.

For most versions of Perl this method will be automatically invoked if the IO::Compress::RawDeflate object is destroyed (either explicitly or by the variable with the reference to the object going out of scope). The exceptions are Perl versions 5.005 through 5.00504 and 5.8.0. In these cases, the "close" method will be called automatically, but not until global destruction of all live objects when the program is terminating.

Therefore, if you want your scripts to be able to run on all versions of Perl, you should call "close" explicitly and not rely on automatic closing.

Returns true on success, otherwise 0.

If the "AutoClose" option has been enabled when the IO::Compress::RawDeflate object was created, and the object is associated with a file, the underlying file will also be closed.

newStream([OPTS])

    $z->newStream( [OPTS] )

Closes the current compressed data stream and starts a new one.

OPTS consists of any of the options that are available when creating the $z object.

See the "Constructor Options" section for more details.

deflateParams

    $z->deflateParams

TODO

Apache::GZip Revisited

Working with Net::FTP