ZIP_SOURCE(5)

💖 ZIP_SOURCE(5) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the file formats manual ✨ this is zip_source(5), and it's literally the glow-up your data needs before it goes into a zip archive 🎀

📚 LIBRARY

libzip (-lzip) — that's the one, that's the girlies 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <zip.h>

zip_source_t *source;

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So. A zip_source_t is a data source — or a destination, when you're using it for writing. no cap. libzip(3) uses it to add or replace the contents of a file inside a zip archive. And if your source supports seeking? bestie it can also be used to open zip archives from. it's giving multitasking 👑

Where can the data come from, you ask? obsessed that you asked 💜

• a file on disk — via zip_source_file(3), zip_source_file_create(3), zip_source_filep(3), or zip_source_filep_create(3)
• memory — via zip_source_buffer(3), zip_source_buffer_create(3), zip_source_buffer_fragment(3), or zip_source_buffer_fragment_create(3)
• a file inside an archive — via zip_source_zip(3)
• or whatever a callback function hands you — via zip_source_function(3) or zip_source_function_create(3)

and if you only want part of that data? zip_source_window(3) or zip_source_window_create(3) can restrict access to a chunk of the contained data. slice it, bestie ✂️

It can also act as a filter, processing the data handed over by an underlying zip_source_t — like, say, to compress it or compute a checksum. those get created with zip_source_layered(3) or zip_source_layered_create(3). layering? iconic. 🌈

Sources get freed with zip_source_free(3). periodt.

🫶 Sources must support reading, and can optionally support seeking and writing.

zip_source_t is reference counted, and it's created with a reference count of 1. now listen closely because this part matters fr fr:

• zip_open_from_source(3), zip_file_add(3), and zip_file_replace(3) will take ownership of the source you pass them — meaning they decrement the reference count when they're done using it. so you only need to call zip_source_free(3) when those functions return an error.
• The underlying data (file or buffer) must remain valid until the archive is closed. do not let it wander off 😭
• Use zip_source_keep(3) to bump the reference count up — for example if you need the source after zip_close(3).

👀 SEE ALSO

libzip(3), zip_source_buffer(3), zip_source_file(3), zip_source_filep(3), zip_source_free(3), zip_source_function(3), zip_source_keep(3), zip_source_window(3), zip_source_zip(3)

👑 AUTHORS

Dieter Baron <dillo@nih.at> and Thomas Klausner <wiz@gatalith.at> — the icons who wrote this 🫶

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one came from the Debian build, dated May 5, 2025 💖 go forth and source your zips responsibly, mwah 🎀✨🦋