Zip Lianja Reference Documentation

Zip

Current Version: 11.4.0

The Chilkat.Zip class provides methods and properties for creating, reading, modifying, and extracting ZIP archives. It supports adding files from the local filesystem, adding data directly from memory, extracting selected or matching entries, working with encrypted ZIP files, and writing ZIP output to disk or memory.

ZIP archives can be built incrementally by adding file references, strings, binary data, empty entries, or entries from another ZIP archive, and then finalized by calling one of the Write* methods. The class also supports ZIP64 for large archives, ZIPX compression, legacy Zip 2.0 password protection, WinZip-compatible AES encryption, and Windows self-extracting EXE creation.

For a higher-level introduction and overview, see: Chilkat Zip Class Overview

Object Creation

loObject = createobject("CkZip")

Properties

AbortCurrent
AbortCurrent As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Stops the currently executing operation when set to .T..

  • Used to cancel long-running operations such as compression or extraction.
  • Can be triggered from another thread.
  • Automatically resets to .F. after the operation stops.

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AppendFromDir
AppendFromDir As Character

Specifies a base directory when adding files to the ZIP.

  • This portion of the path is not included in stored ZIP entry paths.
  • Useful for controlling relative paths inside the archive.

For example, to add all files under c:/abc/123/myAppDir, this property could be set to c:/abc/123, and myAppDir/* would be passed to AppendFiles.

The path stored in the ZIP would begin with myAppDir/.

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AutoRun
AutoRun As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Specifies the name of an executable inside a self-extracting EXE that runs automatically after extraction.

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AutoRunParams
AutoRunParams As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Command-line arguments passed to the AutoRun executable.

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AutoTemp
AutoTemp As Boolean

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

If .T., the EXE being created will automatically select and create a temporary directory for unzipping.

This property is often used together with AutoRun to create a self-extracting EXE that automatically unzips to a temporary directory and runs a setup program, such as setup.exe, without user interaction.

Note: To create a self-extracting EXE with no user interaction, set the following properties:

ExeSilentProgress = .F.
ExeNoInterface = .T.
ExeFinishNotifier = .F.

The default value is .F..

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CaseSensitive
CaseSensitive As Boolean

Controls whether filename matching is case-sensitive.

  • Affects methods such as EntryMatching and UnzipMatching.
  • Default: .F.

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ClearArchiveAttribute
ClearArchiveAttribute As Boolean

(Windows only)

If .T., clears the Windows archive attribute after files are successfully added to the ZIP.

The archive attribute indicates that a file has changed since the last backup.

The default value is .F..

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ClearReadOnlyAttr
ClearReadOnlyAttr As Boolean

If .T., removes the read-only attribute from extracted files.

If .F., the read-only attribute remains unchanged.

The default value is .F..

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Comment
Comment As Character

Sets or retrieves the global ZIP file comment.

The default value is the empty string.

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DebugLogFilePath
DebugLogFilePath As Character

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

More Information and Examples
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DecryptPassword
DecryptPassword As Character

Password used to extract encrypted ZIP archives.

  • Required to unzip encrypted entries.
  • Encrypted ZIP files may still be opened without a password, but their contents cannot be extracted until the correct password is provided.

The default value is the empty string.

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DiscardPaths
DiscardPaths As Boolean

If .T., removes all directory path information when adding files.

Only filenames are stored in the ZIP.

The default value is .F..

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Encryption
Encryption As Numeric

Specifies encryption mode:

  • 0 → No encryption
  • 4 → WinZip-compatible AES encryption

Important: Encryption and PasswordProtect are mutually exclusive.

If PasswordProtect = .T., then Encryption should be 0.

The default value is 0.

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EncryptKeyLength
EncryptKeyLength As Numeric

Specifies the AES encryption key length.

  • Valid values: 128, 192, or 256

The default value is 128.

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EncryptPassword
EncryptPassword As Character

Password used when creating encrypted ZIP archives.

The default value is the empty string.

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ExeDefaultDir
ExeDefaultDir As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Default extraction directory shown in the self-extracting EXE user interface.

The default value is the empty string.

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ExeFinishNotifier
ExeFinishNotifier As Boolean

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

If .T., displays a completion dialog after extraction finishes.

The default value is .F..

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ExeIconFile
ExeIconFile As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Path to an .ico file used as the EXE icon.

This feature is only available when the application creating the EXE is 32-bit.

The default value is the empty string.

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ExeNoInterface
ExeNoInterface As Boolean

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

If .T., runs the self-extracting EXE without displaying the main user interface.

The default value is .F..

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ExeSilentProgress
ExeSilentProgress As Boolean

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Controls whether a progress dialog is shown during extraction.

If ExeNoInterface = .F., the progress bar appears within the main dialog and this property has no effect.

The default value is .F..

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ExeTitle
ExeTitle As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Title displayed in the self-extracting EXE dialog.

The default value is the empty string.

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ExeUnzipCaption
ExeUnzipCaption As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Caption text displayed in the self-extracting EXE dialog.

The default value is the empty string.

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ExeUnzipDir
ExeUnzipDir As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Specifies a predefined extraction directory.

  • Supports environment variables such as %TEMP%.
  • UNC paths are not supported.

The default value is the empty string.

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ExeWaitForSetup
ExeWaitForSetup As Boolean

If .T., waits for the AutoRun executable to finish before exiting.

If .F., the self-extracting EXE may exit before the AutoRun executable completes.

The default value is .T..

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ExeXmlConfig
ExeXmlConfig As Character

Allows for an XML config document to be used to specify all possible options for self-extracting EXEs. This property is a string containing the XML config document.

The XML should have this format:

<SfxConfig>
<ErrPwdTitle>Title for incorrect password dialog</ErrPwdTitle>
<ErrPwdCaption>Caption for incorrect password dialog</ErrPwdCaption>
<FinOkBtn>Text on finish notifier button</FinOkBtn>
<PwdOkBtn>Text on password challenge dialog's "OK" button.</PwdOkBtn>
<PwdCancelBtn>Text on password challenge dialog's Cancel button.</PwdCancelBtn>
<ErrInvalidPassword>Incorrect password error message.</ErrInvalidPassword>
<MainUnzipBtn>Text on main dialog's unzip button. Note: The MainUnzipLabel must also be set for this to take effect.</MainUnzipBtn>
<MainCloseBtn>Text on main dialog's quit/exit button. Note: The MainUnzipLabel must also be set for this to take effect.</MainCloseBtn>
<MainBrowseBtn>Text on main dialog's browse-for-directory button. Note: The MainUnzipLabel must also be set for this to take effect.</MainBrowseBtn>
<MainUnzipLabel>Caption displayed in main dialog.</MainUnzipLabel>
<AutoTemp>0 or 1 (Maps to the AutoTemp property)</AutoTemp>
<Cleanup>0 or 1 (If 1, extracted files are deleted after the SetupExe is run.)</Cleanup>
<Debug>0 or 1 (If 1, the EXE will not extract any files.)</Debug>
<Verbose>0 or 1 (If 1, verbose information is written to the log.)</Verbose>
<ShowFin>0 or 1 (Maps to the ExeFinishNotifier property)</ShowFin>
<ShowMain>0 or 1 (Maps to the ExeNoInterface property)</ShowMain>
<ShowProgress>0 or 1 (Maps to the ExeSilentProgress property)</ShowProgress>
<WaitForSetup>0 or 1 (Maps to the ExeWaitForSetup property)</WaitForSetup>
<Encryption>0 or 1 (1 = Yes, 0 = No)</Encryption>
<KeyLength>128|192|256</KeyLength>
<SetupExe>EXE to run after extracting. (Maps to the AutoRun property)</SetupExe>
<UnzipDir>Pre-defined unzip directory. (Maps to the ExeUnzipDir property. UNC paths, such as \\servername\path, are not supported.)</UnzipDir>
<DefaultDir>Default unzip directory to appear in the main dialog. (Maps to the ExeDefaultDir property)</DefaultDir>
<IconFile>Icon file to be used (Maps to the ExeIconFile property)</IconFile>
<MainTitle>Maps to the ExeTitle property.</MainTitle>
<MainCaption>Maps to the ExeUnzipCaption property.</MainCaption>
<FinTitle>Title for the finish notifier dialog.</FinTitle>
<FinCaption>Caption for the finish notifier dialog.</FinCaption>
<ProgressTitle>Title for the progress dialog.</ProgressTitle>
<ProgressCaption>Caption for the progress dialog.</ProgressCaption>
<PwTitle>Title for the password challenge dialog.</PwTitle>
<PwCaption>Caption for the password challenge dialog.</PwCaption>
</SfxConfig>

A self-extracting EXE can be run from the command line with the -log {logFilePath} option to create a log with information for debugging.

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FileCount
FileCount As Numeric (read-only)

Number of files in the ZIP, excluding directory entries.

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FileName
FileName As Character

Path of the ZIP file to be written or overwritten.

The default value is the empty string.

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HasZipFormatErrors
HasZipFormatErrors As Boolean (read-only)

Indicates whether minor ZIP format problems were detected when opening the ZIP archive.

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IgnoreAccessDenied
IgnoreAccessDenied As Boolean

If .T., files that cannot be read, written, or created due to filesystem permission errors are skipped.

If .F., any access-denied error causes the ZIP operation to fail.

The default value is .T..

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LastErrorHtml
LastErrorHtml As Character (read-only)

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorText
LastErrorText As Character (read-only)

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorXml
LastErrorXml As Character (read-only)

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastMethodSuccess
LastMethodSuccess As Boolean

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: .T. means success, .F. means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.

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MaxDate
MaxDate As Character
Introduced in version 10.0.0

Maximum last-modified timestamp for files processed during add or extract operations.

Files having modification timestamps later than this value are skipped.

Supports ISO 8601 date/time formats, including:

  • YYYY-MM-DD
    Example: 2024-07-31
  • YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS±HH:MM
    Example: 2024-07-31T12:34:56+02:00
  • YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
    Example: 2024-07-31T12:34:56Z

The default value is the empty string, meaning no maximum date restriction.

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MaxUncompressSize
MaxUncompressSize As Numeric
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Prevents extraction of files larger than the specified uncompressed size.

A value of 0 means no size limit.

The default value is 0.

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MinDate
MinDate As Character
Introduced in version 10.0.0

Minimum last-modified timestamp for files processed during add or extract operations.

Supports ISO 8601 date/time formats, including:

  • YYYY-MM-DD
    Example: 2024-07-31
  • YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS±HH:MM
    Example: 2024-07-31T12:34:56+02:00
  • YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
    Example: 2024-07-31T12:34:56Z

The default value is the empty string, meaning no minimum date restriction.

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NumEntries
NumEntries As Numeric (read-only)

Total number of entries in the ZIP, including both files and directories.

More Information and Examples
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OemCodePage
OemCodePage As Numeric

Specifies the OEM code page used for ZIP filename encoding.

Defaults to the OEM code page of the current computer.

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OverwriteExisting
OverwriteExisting As Boolean

If .T., existing files are overwritten during extraction.

The default value is .T..

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PasswordProtect
PasswordProtect As Boolean

Indicates whether the ZIP uses legacy Zip 2.0 password protection.

This property is set automatically when a ZIP archive is opened by any of the Open* methods, such as OpenZip, OpenFromMemory, OpenBd, and related methods.

Important: PasswordProtect and Encryption are mutually exclusive.

If PasswordProtect = .T., then Encryption should be 0.

The default value is .F..

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PathPrefix
PathPrefix As Character

Gets or sets a path prefix that is prepended to ZIP entry paths for files appended from the local filesystem.

This is useful when you want all extracted files to appear under a specific subdirectory.

This property affects only the following methods:

  • AppendFiles
  • AppendFilesEx
  • AddFile
  • AppendOneFileOrDir

The PathPrefix value is prepended to the stored ZIP path for each appended filesystem file.

For example, set PathPrefix to subdir/ so that files are stored in the ZIP with subdir/ prepended to their paths. When extracted, the files will be placed under the subdir directory.

This property does not affect entries added entirely from memory, such as entries added using:

  • AddString
  • AddData
  • AddBd
  • AddSb

For in-memory entries, the ZIP entry path is determined solely by the filename/path argument passed to the method.

The default value is the empty string.

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PwdProtCharset
PwdProtCharset As Character
Introduced in version 9.5.0.73

Specifies the character encoding used to convert the decrypt password into its binary byte representation for legacy password-protected ZIP archives that use Zip 2.0 encryption.

The default value is ansi.

Other possible values include:

  • cp850
  • cp437
  • Any supported Windows or OEM code page listed at the link below.

This property applies only to older Zip 2.0 password protection and is not used for AES-encrypted ZIP archives.

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TempDir
TempDir As Character

Directory used for temporary files during ZIP operations.

When overwriting an existing ZIP file, a temporary file is used to avoid corrupting the original ZIP if an error occurs.

The default value depends on the runtime environment.

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UncommonOptions
UncommonOptions As Character
Introduced in version 9.5.0.84

Advanced options for uncommon scenarios.

  • ForceZip64 → Forces ZIP64 format even when not required.

The default value is the empty string.

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VerboseLogging
VerboseLogging As Boolean

If set to .T., then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is .F.. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
Version As Character (read-only)

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

More Information and Examples
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Zipx
Zipx As Boolean

If .T., creates ZIPX archives using the most appropriate compression method for each file.

The default value is .F..

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ZipxDefaultAlg
ZipxDefaultAlg As Character

Default compression algorithm used when creating ZIPX archives.

  • Possible values include:
    • deflate
    • ppmd
    • lzma
    • bzip2
    • deflate64

The default value is deflate.

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Methods

AddBd
AddBd(pathInZip As Character, bd As CkBinData) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Adds the contents of a BinData object as a new entry in the ZIP archive.

  • pathInZip specifies the filename and optional directory path stored within the ZIP.
  • The bytes contained in bd become the contents of the ZIP entry.
  • The entry is added to the in-memory ZIP object and is not written to disk until WriteZip, WriteZipAndClose, WriteBd, or WriteToMemory is called.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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AddEmpty
AddEmpty(isDir As Boolean, pathInZip As Character) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Adds an empty file or directory entry to the ZIP archive.

  • If isDir = .T., an empty directory entry is created.
  • If isDir = .F., an empty file entry is created.
  • pathInZip specifies the path stored in the ZIP archive.

This method is useful when directory structure entries must exist even if no files are present.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AddEncoded
AddEncoded(pathInZip As Character, encoding As Character, data As Character) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Adds encoded binary data as a ZIP entry.

  • encoding specifies how data is encoded.
  • Common encodings include base64 and hex.
  • The decoded binary bytes become the contents of the ZIP entry.

This method is useful when binary data already exists in textual encoded form.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AddFile
AddFile(localPath As Character, saveExtraPath As Boolean) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Adds a file or directory from the local filesystem to the ZIP archive.

  • If localPath is an absolute path and saveExtraPath = .T., the stored ZIP path includes the relative directory structure.
  • If saveExtraPath = .F., only the filename is stored.
  • If localPath is already relative, the relative path is stored as-is regardless of saveExtraPath.

This method adds a reference to the file or directory in the local filesystem. The file data is not immediately read or compressed.

The actual file contents are consumed only when a Write* method is called, such as:

  • WriteZip
  • WriteZipAndClose
  • WriteBd
  • WriteToMemory

This allows files and data entries to be accumulated in the in-memory ZIP object prior to writing the final ZIP archive.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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AddNoCompressExtension
AddNoCompressExtension(fileExtension As Character)

Adds a file extension to the internal "no-compression" list.

Files having these extensions are stored without compression because they are already compressed or because compression would provide little benefit.

For example:

  • .zip
  • .jpg
  • .png
  • .gz

The extension may be specified with or without the leading dot.

Additional extensions remain active for the lifetime of the Zip object unless removed with RemoveNoCompressExtension.

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AddSb
AddSb(pathInZip As Character, sb As CkStringBuilder, charset As Character) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Adds the contents of a StringBuilder object as a text entry in the ZIP archive.

  • The text is converted to bytes using the specified charset.
  • pathInZip specifies the filename stored in the ZIP.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AddString
AddString(pathInZip As Character, content As Character, charset As Character) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Adds a string as a text file entry in the ZIP archive.

  • The string is converted to bytes using the specified charset.
  • pathInZip specifies the path stored within the ZIP archive.

This method is useful for dynamically generating text files directly in memory.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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AppendFiles
AppendFiles(filePattern As Character, recurse As Boolean) As Boolean

Adds one or more files matching a wildcard pattern.

  • The wildcard character * matches zero or more characters.
  • If recurse = .T., subdirectories are processed recursively.
  • If recurse = .F., only the current directory is searched.

For example:

AppendFiles("c:/temp/*.txt", .F.)

This method only updates the in-memory ZIP object. The ZIP file itself is not written until a Write* method is called.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AppendFilesAsync (1)
AppendFilesAsync(filePattern As Character, recurse As Boolean) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the AppendFiles method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendFilesEx
AppendFilesEx(filePattern As Character, recurse As Boolean, saveExtraPath As Boolean, archiveOnly As Boolean, includeHidden As Boolean, includeSystem As Boolean) As Boolean

Advanced version of AppendFiles with additional filtering and path options.

  • saveExtraPath controls whether the extra leading path information from the filePattern is preserved in the ZIP.
  • archiveOnly applies only on Windows and limits processing to files having the archive attribute set.
  • includeHidden controls whether hidden files are included.
  • includeSystem controls whether files with the System attribute are included.

This method adds references to files in the in-memory ZIP object. No ZIP file is written until a Write* method is called.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AppendFilesExAsync (1)
AppendFilesExAsync(filePattern As Character, recurse As Boolean, saveExtraPath As Boolean, archiveOnly As Boolean, includeHidden As Boolean, includeSystem As Boolean) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the AppendFilesEx method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendZip
AppendZip(zipPath As Character) As Boolean

Note: This method is currently not working and will be fixed in v11.5.0

Adds all entries from another existing ZIP archive into the current ZIP object.

The zipPath argument specifies the path of a ZIP file located in the local filesystem.

All entries from the specified ZIP archive are appended to the current in-memory ZIP object.

The ZIP archive itself is not rewritten until a Write* method is called.

This method is useful for merging the contents of multiple ZIP archives into a single ZIP.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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CloseZip
CloseZip()

Closes the currently open ZIP archive and clears all entries from the Zip object.

This method has the same effect as calling NewZip without specifying a filename.

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DeleteEntry
DeleteEntry(entry As CkZipEntry) As Boolean

Removes a ZIP entry from the current ZIP object.

The ZIP file itself is not rewritten until a Write* method is called.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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EntryAt
EntryAt(index As Numeric, entry As CkZipEntry) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Retrieves the ZIP entry at the specified zero-based index.

  • The first entry is at index 0.
  • The matching entry is returned in the supplied ZipEntry object.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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EntryById
EntryById(id As Numeric, entry As CkZipEntry) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Finds a ZIP entry by its unique EntryID.

The matching entry is returned in the supplied ZipEntry object.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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EntryMatching
EntryMatching(pattern As Character, entry As CkZipEntry) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Finds the first ZIP entry whose stored path matches a wildcard pattern.

  • The wildcard character * matches zero or more characters.
  • The comparison is performed against the full stored ZIP path.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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EntryOf
EntryOf(pathInZip As Character, entry As CkZipEntry) As Boolean
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Finds a ZIP entry whose stored path exactly matches pathInZip.

The matching entry is returned in the supplied ZipEntry object.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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ExcludeDir
ExcludeDir(dirName As Character)

Adds a directory name to the exclusion list used by recursive append operations.

  • All directories having the specified name are skipped.
  • The comparison is case-insensitive.
  • Call multiple times to exclude multiple directory names.

This affects methods such as AppendFiles and AppendFilesEx.

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ExtractExe
ExtractExe(exePath As Character, dirPath As Character) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.44

Extracts files from a Chilkat-created self-extracting EXE.

  • Files are extracted into dirPath.
  • Subdirectories are automatically created as needed.
  • If the EXE is encrypted, DecryptPassword must be set before extraction.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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ExtractExeAsync (1)
ExtractExeAsync(exePath As Character, dirPath As Character) As CkTask
Introduced in version 9.5.0.44

Creates an asynchronous task to call the ExtractExe method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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GetDirectoryAsXML
GetDirectoryAsXML() As Character

Returns the ZIP directory structure as an XML document.

The returned XML contains information about the entries currently contained within the ZIP archive, including files and directories.

This method is useful for inspecting ZIP contents without extracting files.

Returns the XML document as a string.

Returns .F. on failure

More Information and Examples
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GetExeConfigParam
GetExeConfigParam(name As Character) As Character

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Returns the value of a configuration parameter embedded within a self-extracting EXE.

The name argument should be one of the XML tag names described in the ExeXmlConfig property documentation.

For example:

  • MainTitle
  • MainCaption
  • SetupExe

Returns the parameter value as a string.

Returns .F. on failure

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GetMaxUncompressedSize
GetMaxUncompressedSize() As Character
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Returns the largest uncompressed file size contained within the ZIP archive.

The size is returned as a string rather than an integer because the value may exceed the range of a 32-bit integer.

This method is useful when:

  • Checking for extremely large files before extraction
  • Estimating required disk space
  • Detecting unusually large compressed entries

Returns the size as a decimal string.

Returns .F. on failure

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IsNoCompressExtension
IsNoCompressExtension(fileExtension As Character) As Boolean

Checks whether a file extension is contained in the internal "no-compression" extension list.

Files having extensions in this list are stored without compression because they are typically already compressed.

The extension may be specified with or without the leading dot.

For example, both of the following are valid:

  • .jpg
  • jpg

Returns .T. if the extension exists in the list, otherwise returns .F..

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IsPasswordProtected
IsPasswordProtected(zipPath As Character) As Boolean

Checks whether a ZIP archive uses legacy Zip 2.0 password protection.

The zipPath argument specifies the path of a ZIP file in the local filesystem.

This method checks only for traditional Zip 2.0 password protection.

Returns .T. if the ZIP archive is password protected, otherwise returns .F..

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LoadTaskCaller
LoadTaskCaller(task As CkTask) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.80

Loads the caller of the task's async method.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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NewZip
NewZip(zipPath As Character) As Boolean

Initializes a new empty ZIP archive.

  • If another ZIP archive is currently open, it is closed.
  • All existing in-memory ZIP entries are discarded.
  • The FileName property is set to zipPath.

No ZIP file is actually created until a Write* method is called.

This method resets the Zip object to a clean empty state.

More Information and Examples
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OpenBd
OpenBd(binData As CkBinData) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.66

Opens a ZIP archive contained entirely within a BinData object.

This method allows ZIP archives to be processed entirely in memory without requiring a filesystem file.

When a ZIP archive is opened:

  • PasswordProtect is automatically set if legacy Zip 2.0 encryption is detected.
  • Encryption is automatically set if strong encryption is detected.
  • A value of 4 for Encryption indicates WinZip-compatible AES encryption.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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OpenEmbedded
OpenEmbedded(exeFilename As Character, resourceName As Character) As Boolean

(Windows only)

Opens a ZIP archive embedded as a resource within a Windows executable.

  • exeFilename specifies the EXE file path.
  • resourceName specifies the embedded resource name containing the ZIP data.

This method is useful when ZIP archives are packaged within Windows applications.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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OpenZip
OpenZip(zipPath As Character) As Boolean

Opens a ZIP archive from the local filesystem.

The zipPath argument specifies the path of the ZIP file to open.

Encrypted ZIP archives may be opened without providing a password, but encrypted entries cannot be extracted until the correct password is provided using DecryptPassword.

When the ZIP archive is opened:

  • PasswordProtect is automatically set if legacy Zip 2.0 encryption is detected.
  • Encryption is automatically set if strong encryption is detected.
  • Encryption = 4 indicates WinZip-compatible AES encryption.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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OpenZipAsync (1)
OpenZipAsync(zipPath As Character) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the OpenZip method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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QuickAppend
QuickAppend(zipPath As Character) As Boolean

Efficiently appends additional entries to an existing ZIP archive.

The zipPath argument specifies the path of an existing ZIP archive in the local filesystem.

This method avoids rewriting existing entries.

  • Existing ZIP entries remain unchanged.
  • New entries are appended to the end of the ZIP archive.
  • The ZIP central directory is updated accordingly.

This method is typically faster than rebuilding the entire ZIP archive.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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QuickAppendAsync (1)
QuickAppendAsync(zipPath As Character) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the QuickAppend method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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RemoveNoCompressExtension
RemoveNoCompressExtension(fileExtension As Character)

Removes a file extension from the internal "no-compression" extension list.

After removal, files having this extension may be compressed normally.

The extension may be specified with or without the leading dot.

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SetCompressionLevel
SetCompressionLevel(level As Numeric)

Sets the compression level for all file and data entries currently contained within the ZIP object.

  • 0 → No compression
  • 9 → Maximum compression

The default compression level is 6.

Important: This method should be called after files or data entries have already been added to the ZIP object.

The compression level cannot be changed for mapped entries originating from an already-open ZIP archive.

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SetExclusions
SetExclusions(excludePatterns As CkStringArray)

Specifies a collection of wildcard exclusion patterns used when adding files to the ZIP archive.

Each pattern may use the wildcard character * to match zero or more characters.

Files matching any exclusion pattern are skipped.

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SetExeConfigParam
SetExeConfigParam(paramName As Character, paramValue As Character)

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Sets a configuration parameter embedded within a self-extracting EXE created by WriteExe or WriteExe2.

The paramName should be one of the XML configuration tag names described in the ExeXmlConfig property documentation.

For example:

SetExeConfigParam("MainUnzipBtn","Extract")

This changes the text displayed on the self-extractor's main unzip button.

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Unzip
Unzip(dirPath As Character) As Numeric

Extracts all files and directories from the ZIP archive.

  • dirPath specifies the destination directory.
  • Subdirectories are automatically created as needed.

Returns the number of files extracted.

Returns -1 if a failure occurs.

More Information and Examples
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UnzipAsync (1)
UnzipAsync(dirPath As Character) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the Unzip method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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UnzipInto
UnzipInto(dirPath As Character) As Numeric

Extracts all files into a single directory.

All directory path information stored within the ZIP archive is ignored.

If multiple files have the same filename, later extracted files overwrite earlier ones.

Returns the number of files extracted, or -1 on failure.

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UnzipIntoAsync (1)
UnzipIntoAsync(dirPath As Character) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the UnzipInto method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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UnzipMatching
UnzipMatching(dirPath As Character, pattern As Character, verbose As Boolean) As Numeric

Extracts only entries whose stored paths match a wildcard pattern.

  • The wildcard character * matches zero or more characters.
  • If no wildcard is used, an exact filename match is required.

Subdirectories are automatically created as needed.

Returns the number of files extracted, or -1 on failure.

More Information and Examples
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UnzipMatchingAsync (1)
UnzipMatchingAsync(dirPath As Character, pattern As Character, verbose As Boolean) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the UnzipMatching method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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UnzipMatchingInto
UnzipMatchingInto(dirPath As Character, pattern As Character, verbose As Boolean) As Numeric

Extracts matching entries into a single directory while ignoring all stored ZIP path information.

Matching behavior is identical to UnzipMatching.

If duplicate filenames occur, later extracted files overwrite earlier ones.

Returns the number of files extracted, or -1 on failure.

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UnzipMatchingIntoAsync (1)
UnzipMatchingIntoAsync(dirPath As Character, pattern As Character, verbose As Boolean) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the UnzipMatchingInto method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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UnzipNewer
UnzipNewer(dirPath As Character) As Numeric

Extracts only files that:

  • Do not already exist
  • Or have older modification timestamps than the ZIP entry

Subdirectories are automatically created as needed.

Returns the number of files extracted, or -1 on failure.

More Information and Examples
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UnzipNewerAsync (1)
UnzipNewerAsync(dirPath As Character) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the UnzipNewer method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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VerifyPassword
VerifyPassword() As Boolean

Verifies that the current DecryptPassword value is correct for the currently opened ZIP archive.

This method allows password validation before attempting extraction.

Returns .T. if the password is valid, otherwise returns .F..

More Information and Examples
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WriteBd
WriteBd(binData As CkBinData) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.66

Writes the ZIP archive to a BinData object instead of a filesystem file.

The generated ZIP archive exists entirely in memory.

The ZIP data written by this method may later be opened using OpenBd.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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WriteBdAsync (1)
WriteBdAsync(binData As CkBinData) As CkTask
Introduced in version 9.5.0.66

Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteBd method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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WriteExe
WriteExe(exeFilename As Character) As Boolean

(Windows only, for creating self-extracting EXE's)

Creates a Windows self-extracting executable (EXE).

The generated EXE contains both the extraction logic and the ZIP archive data.

There are no limitations on:

  • Total ZIP size
  • Individual file size
  • Number of files

The generated EXE supports the following command-line arguments:

  • -log logFileName
  • -unzipDir unzipDirectoryPath
  • -pwd password
  • -ap autoRunParams

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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WriteExeAsync (1)
WriteExeAsync(exeFilename As Character) As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteExe method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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WriteZip
WriteZip() As Boolean

Saves the Zip to a file and implictly re-opens it so further operations can continue. Use WriteZipAndClose to write and close the Zip. There is no limitation on the size of files that may be contained within a .zip, the total number of files in a .zip, or the total size of a .zip. If necessary, WriteZip will use the ZIP64 file format extensions when 4GB or file count limitations of the old zip file format are exceeded.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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WriteZipAsync (1)
WriteZipAsync() As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteZip method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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WriteZipAndClose
WriteZipAndClose() As Boolean

Saves the Zip to a file and closes it. On return, the Zip object will be in the state as if NewZip had been called. There is no limitation on the size of files that may be contained within a .zip, the total number of files in a .zip, or the total size of a .zip. If necessary, WriteZip will use the ZIP64 file format extensions when 4GB or file count limitations of the old zip file format are exceeded.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

More Information and Examples
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WriteZipAndCloseAsync (1)
WriteZipAndCloseAsync() As CkTask

Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteZipAndClose method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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Deprecated

AppendBd
AppendBd(pathInZip As Character, byteData As CkBinData) As CkZipEntry
Introduced in version 9.5.0.70
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddBd

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddBd.

Appends the contents of byteData as a new entry to this zip object. The zip entry object containing the data is returned.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendDataEncoded
AppendDataEncoded(filename As Character, encoding As Character, data As Character) As CkZipEntry
Introduced in version 9.5.0.59
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddEncoded

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddEncoded.

Appends in-memory data as a new entry to a Zip object. The filename is the filename of the entry as it will appear within the zip. The encoding is the encoding of the data, such as base64, hex, etc. The full list of encodings is listed at the web page linked below.

Returns the zip entry object.

Note: This method only updates the zip object. To update (rewrite) a zip file, either the WriteZip or WriteZipAndClose method would need to be called.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendNew
AppendNew(fileName As Character) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddEmpty

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddEmpty.

Appends a new and empty entry to the Zip object and returns the ZipEntry object. Data can be appended to the entry by calling ZipEntry.AppendData.

Important: To append an already-existing file, call the AppendOneFileOrDir method. The AppendNew method inserts a new and empty file entry within the Zip object. The purpose of AppendNew is to either create an empty file within the Zip, or to create a new file entry which can then be filled with data by calling the entry's AppendData method.

Note: This method only updates the zip object. To update (rewrite) a zip file, either the WriteZip or WriteZipAndClose method would need to be called.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendNewDir
AppendNewDir(dirName As Character) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddEmpty

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddEmpty.

Adds an entry to the zip so that when it unzips, a new directory (with no files) is created. The directory does not need to exist on the local filesystem when calling this method. The dirName is simply a string that is used as the directory path for the entry added to the zip. The zip entry object is returned.

Note: This method only updates the zip object. To update (rewrite) a zip file, either the WriteZip or WriteZipAndClose method would need to be called.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendOneFileOrDir
AppendOneFileOrDir(fileOrDirPath As Character, saveExtraPath As Boolean) As Boolean
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddFile

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddFile.

Adds a file or directory to the object. If fileOrDirPath is an absolute file path and saveExtraPath is true, fileOrDirPath is converted to a relative file path for the zip entry. Otherwise, only the filename is stored. If fileOrDirPath is a relative file path, it is stored as-is in the zip, regardless of saveExtraPath.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AppendOneFileOrDirAsync (1)
AppendOneFileOrDirAsync(fileOrDirPath As Character, saveExtraPath As Boolean) As CkTask
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddFile

Creates an asynchronous task to call the AppendOneFileOrDir method with the arguments provided.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendSb
AppendSb(pathInZip As Character, sb As CkStringBuilder, charset As Character) As Boolean
Introduced in version 10.0.0
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddSb

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddSb.

Same as AppendString, but append the contents of of the sb, and allow the charset to be specified. The contents of sb is converted to charset before being added to the zip. The pathInZip is the path of the file that will be stored within the zip.

Note: This method only updates the zip object. To update (rewrite) a zip file, either the WriteZip or WriteZipAndClose method would need to be called.

Returns .T. for success, .F. for failure.

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AppendString
AppendString(internalZipFilepath As Character, textData As Character) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddString

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddString.

Adds an in-memory string to the Zip object. The textData argument is converted to the ANSI charset before being added to the Zip. If the Zip were written to disk by calling WriteZip, and later unzipped, the entry would unzip to an ANSI text file.

Note: This method only updates the zip object. To update (rewrite) a zip file, either the WriteZip or WriteZipAndClose method would need to be called.

Returns .F. on failure

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AppendString2
AppendString2(internalZipFilepath As Character, textData As Character, charset As Character) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by AddString

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call AddString.

Same as AppendString, but allows the charset to be specified. The textData is converted to charset before being added to the zip. The internalZipFilepath is the path of the file that will be stored within the zip.

Note: This method only updates the zip object. To update (rewrite) a zip file, either the WriteZip or WriteZipAndClose method would need to be called.

Returns .F. on failure

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FirstEntry
FirstEntry() As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by EntryAt

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call EntryAt.

Return the first entry in the Zip. Call ZipEntry.NextEntry to iterate over the entries in a Zip until a NULL is returned.

Returns .F. on failure

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FirstMatchingEntry
FirstMatchingEntry(pattern As Character) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by EntryMatching

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call EntryMatching.

Returns the first entry having a filename matching a pattern. The * characters matches 0 or more of any character. The full filename, including path, is used when matching against the pattern. A NULL is returned if nothing matches.

Returns .F. on failure

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GetEntryByID
GetEntryByID(entryID As Numeric) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by EntryById

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call EntryById.

Finds and returns the entry with the given entryID. (Each entry within the zip object has a unique EntryID.)

Returns .F. on failure

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GetEntryByIndex
GetEntryByIndex(index As Numeric) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by EntryAt

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call EntryAt.

Retrieves a ZipEntry by index. The first entry is at index 0. This will return directory entries as well as files.

Returns .F. on failure

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GetEntryByName
GetEntryByName(entryName As Character) As CkZipEntry
This method is deprecated and replaced by EntryOf

This method is deprecated. Applications should instead call EntryOf.

Returns the entry where the file path stored within the zip equals entryName.

Returns .F. on failure

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GetExclusions
GetExclusions() As CkStringArray
This method is deprecated.

This method is deprecated and will removed in a future version of Chilkat.

Returns the current collection of exclusion patterns that have been set by SetExclusions.

Returns .F. on failure

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SetPassword
SetPassword(password As Character)
This method is deprecated.

Sets both the decrypt password and encrypt password.

This method affects:

  • DecryptPassword
  • EncryptPassword

Note: This method is deprecated in favor of setting DecryptPassword and EncryptPassword separately.

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