Sharpziplib Extract ZIP C# (How It Works For Developers)

In today's digital landscape, where data management is paramount, having efficient tools for compression and decompression is crucial. One such tool that stands out in the .NET ecosystem is SharpZipLib. In this article, we'll take a deep dig at SharpZipLib, exploring its features, applications, and how to integrate it into your .NET projects.

What is SharpZipLib?

SharpZipLib is a feature-rich, open-source compression library for .NET, written entirely in C#. It provides comprehensive support for various compression formats, including ZIP, GZip, and Tar. Developed by a dedicated community, SharpZipLib offers a wide range of functionalities for compressing and decompressing files efficiently.

Features and Capabilities

1. Support for Multiple Compression Formats: SharpZipLib supports popular compression formats like ZIP, GZip, and Tar, catering to diverse use cases and requirements.
2. Stream-Based Operations: The library operates on streams, enabling developers to work with data from various sources, including files, memory streams, or network streams. This flexibility facilitates seamless integration into different parts of an application.
3. Compression Levels: Developers can fine-tune compression levels to balance between compression ratio and processing speed, based on their specific needs.
4. Password Protection: SharpZipLib allows the creation of password-protected ZIP archives, ensuring data security by encrypting contents with a specified password.
5. Error Handling and Recovery: Robust error handling mechanisms enable developers to gracefully handle exceptions during compression and decompression operations. Additionally, SharpZipLib supports recovery from corrupt archives, enhancing reliability.

Use Cases

1. File Compression and Archiving: SharpZipLib is ideal for applications that require compressing and archiving files, such as backup utilities, file management tools, or data export functionalities
2. Web Services and APIs: Web services dealing with file transfers or data exchange often benefit from compression to reduce bandwidth usage. SharpZipLib can be seamlessly integrated into such services to compress outgoing data or decompress incoming payloads efficiently
3. Desktop Applications: Desktop applications dealing with large datasets or resource files can leverage SharpZipLib to compress files for storage or distribution. This is particularly useful for software installers or data synchronization tools.
4. Data Backup and Storage: Applications requiring periodic backups or storage of data in compressed format can automate the backup process and conserve storage space effectively using SharpZipLib.

Advantages of SharpZipLib

1. Open Source: As an open-source library, SharpZipLib encourages collaboration and community contributions, ensuring continuous improvement and adaptability to evolving needs.
2. Cross-Platform Compatibility: SharpZipLib, being written in C# and targeting the .NET framework, is compatible with various platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, enhancing its versatility
3. Lightweight and Efficient: SharpZipLib is designed to be lightweight and efficient, minimizing resource consumption while delivering high-performance compression and decompression capabilities
4. Extensive Documentation and Support: Comprehensive documentation and community support make it easier for developers to integrate and troubleshoot issues when using SharpZipLib.

Create C# Visual Studio Project

1. Open Visual Studio and click on the "Create a new project" option.

2. Choose the appropriate project template based on your requirements (e.g., Console Application, Windows Forms Application).

   

3. Specify the project name and location, then click "Next".

   

4. From Additional Information, select the latest .NET Framework. Click "Create" to create the project.

Installation Process

To integrate SharpZipLib into your .NET project:

1. In your Visual Studio C# ConsoleApp, right-click on your project in Solution Explorer and select "Manage NuGet Packages..."

2. In the NuGet Package Manager window, search for "SharpZipLib".

   

3. Select "SharpZipLib" from the search results and click on the "Install" button.
4. NuGet will download and add the necessary dependencies to your project automatically.

Code Example

Here's a simplified example demonstrating how to use SharpZipLib to compress and decompress files:

using ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Zip;
using System;
using System.IO;
namespace SharpZipLibExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string sourceDirectory = @"C:\SourceDirectory";
            string zipFilePath = @"C:\OutputDirectory\compressed.zip";
            // Compress files
            CompressDirectory(sourceDirectory, zipFilePath);
            Console.WriteLine("Files compressed successfully.");
            string extractPath = @"C:\OutputDirectory\extracted";
            // Decompress files
            Decompress(zipFilePath, extractPath);
            Console.WriteLine("Files decompressed successfully.");
        }
        static void CompressDirectory(string sourceDirectory, string zipFilePath)
        {
            using (var zipOutputStream = new ZipOutputStream(File.Create(zipFilePath)))
            {
                zipOutputStream.SetLevel(5); // Compression level (0-9)
                // Recursively add files in the source directory to the ZIP file
                AddDirectoryFilesToZip(sourceDirectory, zipOutputStream);
                zipOutputStream.Finish();
                zipOutputStream.Close();
            }
        }
        static void AddDirectoryFilesToZip(string sourceDirectory, ZipOutputStream zipOutputStream)
        {
            string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDirectory);
            foreach (string file in files)
            {
                var entry = new ZipEntry(Path.GetFileName(file));
                zipOutputStream.PutNextEntry(entry);
                using (var fileStream = File.OpenRead(file))
                {
                    byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
                    int sourceBytes;
                    while ((sourceBytes = fileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                    {
                        zipOutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, sourceBytes);
                    }
                }
            }
            string[] subdirectories = Directory.GetDirectories(sourceDirectory);
            foreach (string subdirectory in subdirectories)
            {
                AddDirectoryFilesToZip(subdirectory, zipOutputStream);
            }
        }
        static void Decompress(string zipFilePath, string extractPath)
        {
            using (var zipInputStream = new ZipInputStream(File.OpenRead(zipFilePath)))
            {
                ZipEntry entry;
                while ((entry = zipInputStream.GetNextEntry()) != null)
                {
                    string entryPath = Path.Combine(extractPath, entry.Name);
                    if (entry.IsFile)
                    {
                        string directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(entryPath);
                        if (!Directory.Exists(directoryName))
                            Directory.CreateDirectory(directoryName);
                        using (var fileStream = File.Create(entryPath))
                        {
                            byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
                            int bytesRead;
                            while ((bytesRead = zipInputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                            {
                                fileStream.Write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    else if (entry.IsDirectory)
                    {
                        Directory.CreateDirectory(entryPath);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

using ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Zip;
using System;
using System.IO;
namespace SharpZipLibExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string sourceDirectory = @"C:\SourceDirectory";
            string zipFilePath = @"C:\OutputDirectory\compressed.zip";
            // Compress files
            CompressDirectory(sourceDirectory, zipFilePath);
            Console.WriteLine("Files compressed successfully.");
            string extractPath = @"C:\OutputDirectory\extracted";
            // Decompress files
            Decompress(zipFilePath, extractPath);
            Console.WriteLine("Files decompressed successfully.");
        }
        static void CompressDirectory(string sourceDirectory, string zipFilePath)
        {
            using (var zipOutputStream = new ZipOutputStream(File.Create(zipFilePath)))
            {
                zipOutputStream.SetLevel(5); // Compression level (0-9)
                // Recursively add files in the source directory to the ZIP file
                AddDirectoryFilesToZip(sourceDirectory, zipOutputStream);
                zipOutputStream.Finish();
                zipOutputStream.Close();
            }
        }
        static void AddDirectoryFilesToZip(string sourceDirectory, ZipOutputStream zipOutputStream)
        {
            string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDirectory);
            foreach (string file in files)
            {
                var entry = new ZipEntry(Path.GetFileName(file));
                zipOutputStream.PutNextEntry(entry);
                using (var fileStream = File.OpenRead(file))
                {
                    byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
                    int sourceBytes;
                    while ((sourceBytes = fileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                    {
                        zipOutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, sourceBytes);
                    }
                }
            }
            string[] subdirectories = Directory.GetDirectories(sourceDirectory);
            foreach (string subdirectory in subdirectories)
            {
                AddDirectoryFilesToZip(subdirectory, zipOutputStream);
            }
        }
        static void Decompress(string zipFilePath, string extractPath)
        {
            using (var zipInputStream = new ZipInputStream(File.OpenRead(zipFilePath)))
            {
                ZipEntry entry;
                while ((entry = zipInputStream.GetNextEntry()) != null)
                {
                    string entryPath = Path.Combine(extractPath, entry.Name);
                    if (entry.IsFile)
                    {
                        string directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(entryPath);
                        if (!Directory.Exists(directoryName))
                            Directory.CreateDirectory(directoryName);
                        using (var fileStream = File.Create(entryPath))
                        {
                            byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
                            int bytesRead;
                            while ((bytesRead = zipInputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                            {
                                fileStream.Write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    else if (entry.IsDirectory)
                    {
                        Directory.CreateDirectory(entryPath);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Zip
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Namespace SharpZipLibExample
	Friend Class Program
		Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
			Dim sourceDirectory As String = "C:\SourceDirectory"
			Dim zipFilePath As String = "C:\OutputDirectory\compressed.zip"
			' Compress files
			CompressDirectory(sourceDirectory, zipFilePath)
			Console.WriteLine("Files compressed successfully.")
			Dim extractPath As String = "C:\OutputDirectory\extracted"
			' Decompress files
			Decompress(zipFilePath, extractPath)
			Console.WriteLine("Files decompressed successfully.")
		End Sub
		Private Shared Sub CompressDirectory(ByVal sourceDirectory As String, ByVal zipFilePath As String)
			Using zipOutputStream As New ZipOutputStream(File.Create(zipFilePath))
				zipOutputStream.SetLevel(5) ' Compression level (0-9)
				' Recursively add files in the source directory to the ZIP file
				AddDirectoryFilesToZip(sourceDirectory, zipOutputStream)
				zipOutputStream.Finish()
				zipOutputStream.Close()
			End Using
		End Sub
		Private Shared Sub AddDirectoryFilesToZip(ByVal sourceDirectory As String, ByVal zipOutputStream As ZipOutputStream)
			Dim files() As String = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDirectory)
			For Each file As String In files
				Dim entry = New ZipEntry(Path.GetFileName(file))
				zipOutputStream.PutNextEntry(entry)
				Using fileStream = System.IO.File.OpenRead(file)
					Dim buffer(4095) As Byte
					Dim sourceBytes As Integer
					sourceBytes = fileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
'INSTANT VB WARNING: An assignment within expression was extracted from the following statement:
'ORIGINAL LINE: while ((sourceBytes = fileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
					Do While sourceBytes > 0
						zipOutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, sourceBytes)
						sourceBytes = fileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
					Loop
				End Using
			Next file
			Dim subdirectories() As String = Directory.GetDirectories(sourceDirectory)
			For Each subdirectory As String In subdirectories
				AddDirectoryFilesToZip(subdirectory, zipOutputStream)
			Next subdirectory
		End Sub
		Private Shared Sub Decompress(ByVal zipFilePath As String, ByVal extractPath As String)
			Using zipInputStream As New ZipInputStream(File.OpenRead(zipFilePath))
				Dim entry As ZipEntry
				entry = zipInputStream.GetNextEntry()
'INSTANT VB WARNING: An assignment within expression was extracted from the following statement:
'ORIGINAL LINE: while ((entry = zipInputStream.GetNextEntry()) != null)
				Do While entry IsNot Nothing
					Dim entryPath As String = Path.Combine(extractPath, entry.Name)
					If entry.IsFile Then
						Dim directoryName As String = Path.GetDirectoryName(entryPath)
						If Not Directory.Exists(directoryName) Then
							Directory.CreateDirectory(directoryName)
						End If
						Using fileStream = File.Create(entryPath)
							Dim buffer(4095) As Byte
							Dim bytesRead As Integer
							bytesRead = zipInputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
'INSTANT VB WARNING: An assignment within expression was extracted from the following statement:
'ORIGINAL LINE: while ((bytesRead = zipInputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
							Do While bytesRead > 0
								fileStream.Write(buffer, 0, bytesRead)
								bytesRead = zipInputStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
							Loop
						End Using
					ElseIf entry.IsDirectory Then
						Directory.CreateDirectory(entryPath)
					End If
					entry = zipInputStream.GetNextEntry()
				Loop
			End Using
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace

SharpZipLib has long been a staple in the .NET language development community, providing essential functionality for working with compressed archives such as ZIP, GZip, Tar, and BZip2. However, as technology evolves and developers seek more advanced solutions, certain limitations of SharpZipLib have become apparent.

Limitations of SharpZipLib

1. Complexity: SharpZipLib's API can be cumbersome and verbose, requiring developers to write lengthy code to perform simple tasks such as creating or extracting ZIP archives.
2. Lack of Modern Features: SharpZipLib lacks support for modern .NET features and platforms, making it less suitable for contemporary development environments.
3. Limited Documentation: While SharpZipLib has been around for a long time, its documentation is often sparse and outdated, making it challenging for developers to get started or troubleshoot issues.
4. Performance: SharpZipLib's performance may not always meet the expectations of developers, especially when dealing with large or complex archives.

IronZIP: Bridging the Gap

IronZIP, developed by Iron Software, is a modern and efficient solution for managing ZIP archives in .NET applications. With its intuitive API, developers can easily create, read, and manipulate ZIP files. IronZIP offers advanced features like customizable compression levels and password protection, ensuring flexibility and data security. Compatible with the latest .NET versions and optimized for performance, IronZIP streamlines archive management tasks with ease and efficiency.

IronZIP emerges as a robust and modern solution that addresses the shortcomings of SharpZipLib. Here's how IronZIP fills the gaps:

1. Advanced API: IronZIP offers an intuitive and developer-friendly API that simplifies archive management tasks. With IronZIP, developers can accomplish complex operations with just a few lines of code, reducing development time and effort.
2. Full .NET Support: IronZIP fully supports the latest .NET versions, including .NET Core, .NET Standard, and .NET Framework, ensuring compatibility with modern development environments and platforms.
3. Comprehensive Documentation: IronZIP comes with comprehensive documentation and examples, empowering developers to quickly grasp its features and capabilities. The extensive documentation helps streamline the learning curve and facilitates rapid integration into projects.
4. Compression Level Control: IronZIP provides developers with control over the compression level, allowing them to adjust the level of compression based on their requirements. This feature enables developers to balance between file size reduction and compression speed.
5. Password Protection: IronZIP supports password protection for ZIP archives, enhancing security for sensitive data. Developers can easily encrypt ZIP archives with traditional, AES128 and AES256 passwords, ensuring that only authorized users can access the contents of the archive.
6. Performance Optimization: IronZIP is optimized for performance, delivering faster compression and extraction speeds compared to SharpZipLib. This optimization ensures that developers can efficiently handle large volumes of data without compromising on performance.

It also provides a documentation page with how to get started with IronZIP. The ready to use code examples helps you to start without any hassle.

IronZIP Installation

Here are the steps to integrate XDocument with IronPDF:

• Open Visual Studio or your preferred IDE.
• From the Tools menu, navigate to the NuGet Package Manager Console.

• Run the following command to install the IronZIP package:

  Install-Package IronPdf

• Alternatively, you can install it from NuGet Package Manager for Solutions.
• Select IronZIP from NuGet browse tab and click install:

Code Example

The following source code shows how IronZIP efficiently creates a ZIP file with ease and with just a few lines of code. Here, you can add multiple files to the password-protected ZIP archive by providing the filenames in the specified folder. While creating the IronZipArchive object you can also specify the compression level to reduce the space size of the output file.

using IronZip;
using IronZip.Enum;
class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Create an empty ZIP with the highest compression
        using (var archive = new IronZipArchive(9))
        {
            // Password protect the ZIP (Support AES128 & AES256)
            archive.SetPassword("P@ssw0rd", EncryptionMethods.Traditional);
            archive.AddArchiveEntry("./assets/file1.txt");
            archive.AddArchiveEntry("./assets/file2.txt");
            // Export the ZIP
            archive.SaveAs("output.zip");
        }
    }
}

using IronZip;
using IronZip.Enum;
class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Create an empty ZIP with the highest compression
        using (var archive = new IronZipArchive(9))
        {
            // Password protect the ZIP (Support AES128 & AES256)
            archive.SetPassword("P@ssw0rd", EncryptionMethods.Traditional);
            archive.AddArchiveEntry("./assets/file1.txt");
            archive.AddArchiveEntry("./assets/file2.txt");
            // Export the ZIP
            archive.SaveAs("output.zip");
        }
    }
}

Imports IronZip
Imports IronZip.Enum
Friend Class Program
	Shared Sub Main()
		' Create an empty ZIP with the highest compression
		Using archive = New IronZipArchive(9)
			' Password protect the ZIP (Support AES128 & AES256)
			archive.SetPassword("P@ssw0rd", EncryptionMethods.Traditional)
			archive.AddArchiveEntry("./assets/file1.txt")
			archive.AddArchiveEntry("./assets/file2.txt")
			' Export the ZIP
			archive.SaveAs("output.zip")
		End Using
	End Sub
End Class

Output Zip File

Conclusion

SharpZipLib emerges as a powerful compression library for .NET, offering a rich set of features and capabilities for handling compressed files efficiently. Whether it's compressing data for storage, archiving files, or optimizing bandwidth usage in web services, SharpZipLib provides the necessary tools to streamline compression and decompression operations. With its open-source nature, cross-platform compatibility, and robust functionality, SharpZipLib remains a top choice for developers seeking a reliable solution for compression tasks in their .NET applications.

While SharpZipLib has been a reliable choice for working with compressed archives in .NET applications, its limitations have become increasingly apparent in today's development landscape. IronZIP steps in to fill the gaps left by SharpZipLib, offering a modern and feature-rich alternative that prioritizes ease of use, performance, and compatibility. With IronZIP, developers can unlock new possibilities in archive management and streamline their development workflow with advanced capabilities and intuitive API.

IronZIP provides a free trial page. Download the library from this link and give it a try.