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  1. README for libpng version 1.6.10 - March 6, 2014 (shared library 16.0)
  2. See the note about version numbers near the top of png.h
  3. See INSTALL for instructions on how to install libpng.
  4. Libpng comes in several distribution formats. Get libpng-*.tar.gz or
  5. libpng-*.tar.xz or if you want UNIX-style line endings in the text files,
  6. or lpng*.7z or lpng*.zip if you want DOS-style line endings.
  7. Version 0.89 was the first official release of libpng. Don't let the
  8. fact that it's the first release fool you. The libpng library has been in
  9. extensive use and testing since mid-1995. By late 1997 it had
  10. finally gotten to the stage where there hadn't been significant
  11. changes to the API in some time, and people have a bad feeling about
  12. libraries with versions < 1.0. Version 1.0.0 was released in
  13. March 1998.
  14. ****
  15. Note that some of the changes to the png_info structure render this
  16. version of the library binary incompatible with libpng-0.89 or
  17. earlier versions if you are using a shared library. The type of the
  18. "filler" parameter for png_set_filler() has changed from png_byte to
  19. png_uint_32, which will affect shared-library applications that use
  20. this function.
  21. To avoid problems with changes to the internals of png_info_struct,
  22. new APIs have been made available in 0.95 to avoid direct application
  23. access to info_ptr. These functions are the png_set_<chunk> and
  24. png_get_<chunk> functions. These functions should be used when
  25. accessing/storing the info_struct data, rather than manipulating it
  26. directly, to avoid such problems in the future.
  27. It is important to note that the APIs do not make current programs
  28. that access the info struct directly incompatible with the new
  29. library. However, it is strongly suggested that new programs use
  30. the new APIs (as shown in example.c and pngtest.c), and older programs
  31. be converted to the new format, to facilitate upgrades in the future.
  32. ****
  33. Additions since 0.90 include the ability to compile libpng as a
  34. Windows DLL, and new APIs for accessing data in the info struct.
  35. Experimental functions include the ability to set weighting and cost
  36. factors for row filter selection, direct reads of integers from buffers
  37. on big-endian processors that support misaligned data access, faster
  38. methods of doing alpha composition, and more accurate 16->8 bit color
  39. conversion.
  40. The additions since 0.89 include the ability to read from a PNG stream
  41. which has had some (or all) of the signature bytes read by the calling
  42. application. This also allows the reading of embedded PNG streams that
  43. do not have the PNG file signature. As well, it is now possible to set
  44. the library action on the detection of chunk CRC errors. It is possible
  45. to set different actions based on whether the CRC error occurred in a
  46. critical or an ancillary chunk.
  47. The changes made to the library, and bugs fixed are based on discussions
  48. on the PNG-implement mailing list and not on material submitted
  49. privately to Guy, Andreas, or Glenn. They will forward any good
  50. suggestions to the list.
  51. For a detailed description on using libpng, read libpng-manual.txt. For
  52. examples of libpng in a program, see example.c and pngtest.c. For usage
  53. information and restrictions (what little they are) on libpng, see
  54. png.h. For a description on using zlib (the compression library used by
  55. libpng) and zlib's restrictions, see zlib.h
  56. I have included a general makefile, as well as several machine and
  57. compiler specific ones, but you may have to modify one for your own needs.
  58. You should use zlib 1.0.4 or later to run this, but it MAY work with
  59. versions as old as zlib 0.95. Even so, there are bugs in older zlib
  60. versions which can cause the output of invalid compression streams for
  61. some images. You will definitely need zlib 1.0.4 or later if you are
  62. taking advantage of the MS-DOS "far" structure allocation for the small
  63. and medium memory models. You should also note that zlib is a
  64. compression library that is useful for more things than just PNG files.
  65. You can use zlib as a drop-in replacement for fread() and fwrite() if
  66. you are so inclined.
  67. zlib should be available at the same place that libpng is, or at zlib.net.
  68. You may also want a copy of the PNG specification. It is available
  69. as an RFC, a W3C Recommendation, and an ISO/IEC Standard. You can find
  70. these at http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/documents/
  71. This code is currently being archived at libpng.sf.net in the
  72. [DOWNLOAD] area, and at ftp://ftp.simplesystems.org. If you can't find it
  73. in any of those places, e-mail me, and I'll help you find it.
  74. If you have any code changes, requests, problems, etc., please e-mail
  75. them to me. Also, I'd appreciate any make files or project files,
  76. and any modifications you needed to make to get libpng to compile,
  77. along with a #define variable to tell what compiler/system you are on.
  78. If you needed to add transformations to libpng, or wish libpng would
  79. provide the image in a different way, drop me a note (and code, if
  80. possible), so I can consider supporting the transformation.
  81. Finally, if you get any warning messages when compiling libpng
  82. (note: not zlib), and they are easy to fix, I'd appreciate the
  83. fix. Please mention "libpng" somewhere in the subject line. Thanks.
  84. This release was created and will be supported by myself (of course
  85. based in a large way on Guy's and Andreas' earlier work), and the PNG
  86. development group.
  87. Send comments/corrections/commendations to png-mng-implement at
  88. lists.sourceforge.net (subscription required; visit
  89. https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-implement
  90. to subscribe) or to glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
  91. You can't reach Guy, the original libpng author, at the addresses
  92. given in previous versions of this document. He and Andreas will
  93. read mail addressed to the png-implement list, however.
  94. Please do not send general questions about PNG. Send them to
  95. png-mng-misc at lists.sf.net (subscription required; visit
  96. https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-misc to
  97. subscribe). If you have a question about something
  98. in the PNG specification that is related to using libpng, send it
  99. to me. Send me any questions that start with "I was using libpng,
  100. and ...". If in doubt, send questions to me. I'll bounce them
  101. to others, if necessary.
  102. Please do not send suggestions on how to change PNG. We have
  103. been discussing PNG for nineteen years now, and it is official and
  104. finished. If you have suggestions for libpng, however, I'll
  105. gladly listen. Even if your suggestion is not used immediately,
  106. it may be used later.
  107. Files in this distribution:
  108. ANNOUNCE => Announcement of this version, with recent changes
  109. CHANGES => Description of changes between libpng versions
  110. KNOWNBUG => List of known bugs and deficiencies
  111. LICENSE => License to use and redistribute libpng
  112. README => This file
  113. TODO => Things not implemented in the current library
  114. Y2KINFO => Statement of Y2K compliance
  115. example.c => Example code for using libpng functions
  116. libpng.3 => manual page for libpng (includes libpng-manual.txt)
  117. libpng-manual.txt => Description of libpng and its functions
  118. libpngpf.3 => manual page for libpng's private functions
  119. png.5 => manual page for the PNG format
  120. png.c => Basic interface functions common to library
  121. png.h => Library function and interface declarations (public)
  122. pngpriv.h => Library function and interface declarations (private)
  123. pngconf.h => System specific library configuration (public)
  124. pngstruct.h => png_struct declaration (private)
  125. pnginfo.h => png_info struct declaration (private)
  126. pngdebug.h => debugging macros (private)
  127. pngerror.c => Error/warning message I/O functions
  128. pngget.c => Functions for retrieving info from struct
  129. pngmem.c => Memory handling functions
  130. pngbar.png => PNG logo, 88x31
  131. pngnow.png => PNG logo, 98x31
  132. pngpread.c => Progressive reading functions
  133. pngread.c => Read data/helper high-level functions
  134. pngrio.c => Lowest-level data read I/O functions
  135. pngrtran.c => Read data transformation functions
  136. pngrutil.c => Read data utility functions
  137. pngset.c => Functions for storing data into the info_struct
  138. pngtest.c => Library test program
  139. pngtest.png => Library test sample image
  140. pngtrans.c => Common data transformation functions
  141. pngwio.c => Lowest-level write I/O functions
  142. pngwrite.c => High-level write functions
  143. pngwtran.c => Write data transformations
  144. pngwutil.c => Write utility functions
  145. arm => Contains optimized code for the ARM platform
  146. contrib => Contributions
  147. examples => Example programs
  148. gregbook => source code for PNG reading and writing, from
  149. Greg Roelofs' "PNG: The Definitive Guide",
  150. O'Reilly, 1999
  151. libtests => Test programs
  152. pngminim => Minimal decoder, encoder, and progressive decoder
  153. programs demonstrating use of pngusr.dfa
  154. pngminus => Simple pnm2png and png2pnm programs
  155. pngsuite => Test images
  156. tools => Various tools
  157. visupng => Contains a MSVC workspace for VisualPng
  158. projects => Contains project files and workspaces for
  159. building a DLL
  160. owatcom => Contains a WATCOM project for building libpng
  161. visualc71 => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)
  162. workspace for building libpng and zlib
  163. vstudio => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)
  164. workspace for building libpng and zlib
  165. scripts => Directory containing scripts for building libpng:
  166. (see scripts/README.txt for the list of scripts)
  167. Good luck, and happy coding.
  168. -Glenn Randers-Pehrson (current maintainer, since 1998)
  169. Internet: glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
  170. -Andreas Eric Dilger (former maintainer, 1996-1997)
  171. Internet: adilger at enel.ucalgary.ca
  172. Web: http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/
  173. -Guy Eric Schalnat (original author and former maintainer, 1995-1996)
  174. (formerly of Group 42, Inc)
  175. Internet: gschal at infinet.com