ZipArchive Class

.NET Framework (current version)

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Represents a package of compressed files in the zip archive format.

Namespace: Â System.IO.Compression
Assembly: Â System.IO.Compression (in System.IO.Compression.dll)

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
â€‚â€‚System.IO.Compression.ZipArchive

Syntax

C++

public class ZipArchive : IDisposable

Constructors

	Name	Description
	ZipArchive(Stream)	Initializes a new instance of the ZipArchive class from the specified stream.
	ZipArchive(Stream,â€‚ZipArchiveMode)	Initializes a new instance of the ZipArchive class from the specified stream and with the specified mode.
	ZipArchive(Stream,â€‚ZipArchiveMode,â€‚Boolean)	Initializes a new instance of the ZipArchive class on the specified stream for the specified mode, and optionally leaves the stream open.
	ZipArchive(Stream,â€‚ZipArchiveMode,â€‚Boolean,â€‚Encoding)	Initializes a new instance of the ZipArchive class on the specified stream for the specified mode, uses the specified encoding for entry names, and optionally leaves the stream open.

Properties

	Name	Description
	Entries	Gets the collection of entries that are currently in the zip archive.
	Mode	Gets a value that describes the type of action the zip archive can perform on entries.

Methods

	Name	Description
	CreateEntry(String)	Creates an empty entry that has the specified path and entry name in the zip archive.
	CreateEntry(String,â€‚CompressionLevel)	Creates an empty entry that has the specified entry name and compression level in the zip archive.
	Dispose()	Releases the resources used by the current instance of the ZipArchive class.
	Dispose(Boolean)	Called by the Dispose() and Finalize() methods to release the unmanaged resources used by the current instance of the ZipArchive class, and optionally finishes writing the archive and releases the managed resources.
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.(Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize()	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection.(Inherited from Object.)
	GetEntry(String)	Retrieves a wrapper for the specified entry in the zip archive.
	GetHashCode()	Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance.(Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.(Inherited from Object.)
	ToString()	Returns a string that represents the current object.(Inherited from Object.)

Remarks

The methods for manipulating zip archives and their file entries are spread across three classes: ZipFile, ZipArchive, and ZipArchiveEntry.

To	Use
Create a zip archive from a directory	ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory
Extract the contents of a zip archive to a directory	ZipFile.ExtractToDirectory
Add new files to an existing zip archive	ZipArchive.CreateEntry
Retrieve a file from a zip archive	ZipArchive.GetEntry
Retrieve all the files from a zip archive	ZipArchive.Entries
Open a stream to a single file contained in a zip archive	ZipArchiveEntry.Open
Delete a file from a zip archive	ZipArchiveEntry.Delete

When you create a new entry, the file is compressed and added to the zip package. The CreateEntry method enables you to specify a directory hierarchy when adding the entry. You include the relative path of the new entry within the zip package. For example, creating a new entry with a relative path of AddedFolder\NewFile.txt creates a compressed text file in a directory named AddedFolder.

If you reference the System.IO.Compression.FileSystem assembly in your project, you can access three extension methods (from the ZipFileExtensions class) for the ZipArchive class: CreateEntryFromFile, CreateEntryFromFile, and ExtractToDirectory. These extension methods enable you to compress and decompress the contents of the entry to a file. The System.IO.Compression.FileSystem assembly is not available for Windows 8.x Store apps. In Windows 8.x Store apps, you can compress and decompress files by using the DeflateStream or GZipStream class, or you can use the Windows Runtime types Compressor and Decompressor.

Examples

The first example shows how to create a new entry and write to it by using a stream.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Compression;

namespace ConsoleApplication
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (FileStream zipToOpen = new FileStream(@"c:\users\exampleuser\release.zip", FileMode.Open))
            {
                using (ZipArchive archive = new ZipArchive(zipToOpen, ZipArchiveMode.Update))
                {
                    ZipArchiveEntry readmeEntry = archive.CreateEntry("Readme.txt");
                    using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(readmeEntry.Open()))
                    {
                            writer.WriteLine("Information about this package.");
                            writer.WriteLine("========================");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The following example shows how to open a zip archive and iterate through the collection of entries.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Compression;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string zipPath = @"c:\example\start.zip";
            string extractPath = @"c:\example\extract";

            using (ZipArchive archive = ZipFile.OpenRead(zipPath))
            {
                foreach (ZipArchiveEntry entry in archive.Entries)
                {
                    if (entry.FullName.EndsWith(".txt", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                    {
                        entry.ExtractToFile(Path.Combine(extractPath, entry.FullName));
                    }
                }
            } 
        }
    }
}

The third example shows how to use extension methods to create a new entry in a zip archive from an existing file and extract the archive contents. You must reference the System.IO.Compression.FileSystem assembly to execute the code.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Compression;

namespace ConsoleApplication
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string zipPath = @"c:\users\exampleuser\start.zip";
            string extractPath = @"c:\users\exampleuser\extract";
            string newFile = @"c:\users\exampleuser\NewFile.txt";

            using (ZipArchive archive = ZipFile.Open(zipPath, ZipArchiveMode.Update))
            {
                archive.CreateEntryFromFile(newFile, "NewEntry.txt");
                archive.ExtractToDirectory(extractPath);
            } 
        }
    }
}

Version Information

Universal Windows Platform
Available since 8
.NET Framework
Available since 4.5
Portable Class Library
Supported in: portable .NET platforms
Windows Phone
Available since 8.1

Thread Safety

Any public static ( Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.