ZIP(5)

📦 version 1.11.4, in arch rolling, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 ZIP(5) — the zip archive structure, bestie 💖

okay so real talk: this is the manual page for zip, the zip archive structure, and it lives in the File Formats Manual section of your man pages. yes it's giving "why is a struct in section 5" energy but that's just how it is, and honestly? iconic.

✨ LIBRARY ✨

you get this from libzip, and when you're linking you literally just do:

-lzip

that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

okay so before you can do literally anything you gotta pull in the header, like:

#include <zip.h>

and then boom, the star of the show, the main character herself:

zip_t *archive;

that's your archive handle. she's the whole point. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so. a zip represents an open zip archive, and it's used for all the functions that access and modify archives. like, every single one. she's the passport, the backstage pass, the whole key to the building. 🔑

she gets created with one of these three besties:

and when you're done with her, you close her one of two ways — and bestie, you gotta choose wisely because these two do NOT do the same thing:

  • zip_close(3) — this one keeps your changes. she saves. she commits. she's a keeper. 💾
  • zip_discard(3) — this one discards your changes. all that work? gone. bye. throwing it in the void. 🗑️
⚠️ now the important part, and I need you to actually read this one: all objects that represent parts of an archive (like zip_file_t) are only valid while the archive remains open. so the second you close or discard the archive, all those little objects? expired. done. don't touch them. don't look at them. they're ghosts now. 👻

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

go read these, i'm obsessed with all of them:

👑 AUTHORS 👑

these two literally built this and we owe them everything:

  • Dieter Baron <dillo@nih.at>
  • Thomas Klausner <wiz@gatalith.at>

and that's the page!! this version came from the Debian packaging, and it's dated May 5, 2025 — so yeah, it's fresh, it's current, it ate and left no crumbs. 💖✨🦋 periodt.

📦 where this page comes from