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  1. README for libpng version 1.6.20 - December 3, 2015 (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 did not make current programs
  28. that access the info struct directly incompatible with the new
  29. library, through libpng-1.2.x. In libpng-1.4.x, which was meant to
  30. be a transitional release, members of the png_struct and the
  31. info_struct can still be accessed, but the compiler will issue a
  32. warning about deprecated usage. Since libpng-1.5.0, direct access
  33. to these structs is not allowed, and the definitions of the structs
  34. reside in private pngstruct.h and pnginfo.h header files that are not
  35. accessible to applications. It is strongly suggested that new
  36. programs use the new APIs (as shown in example.c and pngtest.c), and
  37. older programs be converted to the new format, to facilitate upgrades
  38. in the future.
  39. ****
  40. Additions since 0.90 include the ability to compile libpng as a
  41. Windows DLL, and new APIs for accessing data in the info struct.
  42. Experimental functions include the ability to set weighting and cost
  43. factors for row filter selection, direct reads of integers from buffers
  44. on big-endian processors that support misaligned data access, faster
  45. methods of doing alpha composition, and more accurate 16->8 bit color
  46. conversion.
  47. The additions since 0.89 include the ability to read from a PNG stream
  48. which has had some (or all) of the signature bytes read by the calling
  49. application. This also allows the reading of embedded PNG streams that
  50. do not have the PNG file signature. As well, it is now possible to set
  51. the library action on the detection of chunk CRC errors. It is possible
  52. to set different actions based on whether the CRC error occurred in a
  53. critical or an ancillary chunk.
  54. The changes made to the library, and bugs fixed are based on discussions
  55. on the PNG-implement mailing list and not on material submitted
  56. privately to Guy, Andreas, or Glenn. They will forward any good
  57. suggestions to the list.
  58. For a detailed description on using libpng, read libpng-manual.txt. For
  59. examples of libpng in a program, see example.c and pngtest.c. For usage
  60. information and restrictions (what little they are) on libpng, see
  61. png.h. For a description on using zlib (the compression library used by
  62. libpng) and zlib's restrictions, see zlib.h
  63. I have included a general makefile, as well as several machine and
  64. compiler specific ones, but you may have to modify one for your own needs.
  65. You should use zlib 1.0.4 or later to run this, but it MAY work with
  66. versions as old as zlib 0.95. Even so, there are bugs in older zlib
  67. versions which can cause the output of invalid compression streams for
  68. some images. You will definitely need zlib 1.0.4 or later if you are
  69. taking advantage of the MS-DOS "far" structure allocation for the small
  70. and medium memory models. You should also note that zlib is a
  71. compression library that is useful for more things than just PNG files.
  72. You can use zlib as a drop-in replacement for fread() and fwrite() if
  73. you are so inclined.
  74. zlib should be available at the same place that libpng is, or at zlib.net.
  75. You may also want a copy of the PNG specification. It is available
  76. as an RFC, a W3C Recommendation, and an ISO/IEC Standard. You can find
  77. these at http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/documents/
  78. This code is currently being archived at libpng.sf.net in the
  79. [DOWNLOAD] area, and at ftp://ftp.simplesystems.org. If you can't find it
  80. in any of those places, e-mail me, and I'll help you find it.
  81. I am not a lawyer, but I believe that the Export Control Classification
  82. Number (ECCN) for libpng is EAR99, which means not subject to export
  83. controls or International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) because it
  84. is open source, publicly available software, that does not contain any
  85. encryption software. See the EAR, paragraphs 734.3(b)(3) and 734.7(b).
  86. If you have any code changes, requests, problems, etc., please e-mail
  87. them to me. Also, I'd appreciate any make files or project files,
  88. and any modifications you needed to make to get libpng to compile,
  89. along with a #define variable to tell what compiler/system you are on.
  90. If you needed to add transformations to libpng, or wish libpng would
  91. provide the image in a different way, drop me a note (and code, if
  92. possible), so I can consider supporting the transformation.
  93. Finally, if you get any warning messages when compiling libpng
  94. (note: not zlib), and they are easy to fix, I'd appreciate the
  95. fix. Please mention "libpng" somewhere in the subject line. Thanks.
  96. This release was created and will be supported by myself (of course
  97. based in a large way on Guy's and Andreas' earlier work), and the PNG
  98. development group.
  99. Send comments/corrections/commendations to png-mng-implement at
  100. lists.sourceforge.net (subscription required; visit
  101. https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-implement
  102. to subscribe) or to glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
  103. You can't reach Guy, the original libpng author, at the addresses
  104. given in previous versions of this document. He and Andreas will
  105. read mail addressed to the png-implement list, however.
  106. Please do not send general questions about PNG. Send them to
  107. png-mng-misc at lists.sf.net (subscription required; visit
  108. https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-misc to
  109. subscribe). If you have a question about something
  110. in the PNG specification that is related to using libpng, send it
  111. to me. Send me any questions that start with "I was using libpng,
  112. and ...". If in doubt, send questions to me. I'll bounce them
  113. to others, if necessary.
  114. Please do not send suggestions on how to change PNG. We have
  115. been discussing PNG for twenty years now, and it is official and
  116. finished. If you have suggestions for libpng, however, I'll
  117. gladly listen. Even if your suggestion is not used immediately,
  118. it may be used later.
  119. Files in this distribution:
  120. ANNOUNCE => Announcement of this version, with recent changes
  121. CHANGES => Description of changes between libpng versions
  122. KNOWNBUG => List of known bugs and deficiencies
  123. LICENSE => License to use and redistribute libpng
  124. README => This file
  125. TODO => Things not implemented in the current library
  126. Y2KINFO => Statement of Y2K compliance
  127. example.c => Example code for using libpng functions
  128. libpng.3 => manual page for libpng (includes libpng-manual.txt)
  129. libpng-manual.txt => Description of libpng and its functions
  130. libpngpf.3 => manual page for libpng's private functions
  131. png.5 => manual page for the PNG format
  132. png.c => Basic interface functions common to library
  133. png.h => Library function and interface declarations (public)
  134. pngpriv.h => Library function and interface declarations (private)
  135. pngconf.h => System specific library configuration (public)
  136. pngstruct.h => png_struct declaration (private)
  137. pnginfo.h => png_info struct declaration (private)
  138. pngdebug.h => debugging macros (private)
  139. pngerror.c => Error/warning message I/O functions
  140. pngget.c => Functions for retrieving info from struct
  141. pngmem.c => Memory handling functions
  142. pngbar.png => PNG logo, 88x31
  143. pngnow.png => PNG logo, 98x31
  144. pngpread.c => Progressive reading functions
  145. pngread.c => Read data/helper high-level functions
  146. pngrio.c => Lowest-level data read I/O functions
  147. pngrtran.c => Read data transformation functions
  148. pngrutil.c => Read data utility functions
  149. pngset.c => Functions for storing data into the info_struct
  150. pngtest.c => Library test program
  151. pngtest.png => Library test sample image
  152. pngtrans.c => Common data transformation functions
  153. pngwio.c => Lowest-level write I/O functions
  154. pngwrite.c => High-level write functions
  155. pngwtran.c => Write data transformations
  156. pngwutil.c => Write utility functions
  157. arm => Contains optimized code for the ARM platform
  158. contrib => Contributions
  159. examples => Example programs
  160. gregbook => source code for PNG reading and writing, from
  161. Greg Roelofs' "PNG: The Definitive Guide",
  162. O'Reilly, 1999
  163. libtests => Test programs
  164. pngminim => Minimal decoder, encoder, and progressive decoder
  165. programs demonstrating use of pngusr.dfa
  166. pngminus => Simple pnm2png and png2pnm programs
  167. pngsuite => Test images
  168. tools => Various tools
  169. visupng => Contains a MSVC workspace for VisualPng
  170. projects => Contains project files and workspaces for
  171. building a DLL
  172. owatcom => Contains a WATCOM project for building libpng
  173. visualc71 => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)
  174. workspace for building libpng and zlib
  175. vstudio => Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)
  176. workspace for building libpng and zlib
  177. scripts => Directory containing scripts for building libpng:
  178. (see scripts/README.txt for the list of scripts)
  179. Good luck, and happy coding.
  180. -Glenn Randers-Pehrson (current maintainer, since 1998)
  181. Internet: glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
  182. -Andreas Eric Dilger (former maintainer, 1996-1997)
  183. Internet: adilger at enel.ucalgary.ca
  184. Web: http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/
  185. -Guy Eric Schalnat (original author and former maintainer, 1995-1996)
  186. (formerly of Group 42, Inc)
  187. Internet: gschal at infinet.com