ZIP General Characteristics

In a ZIP file the original files are compressed and stored sequentially. Each original file is individually processed to enable randon access to each file.

ZIP files will also be denoted as archives. They are not limited to a single file, it is possible to split them into several separated files. The internal data structure provides additional header information for this purpose.

Originally this option was intented to spread a single ZIP file over several data carriers (e.g. floppy disks) for transportation or data transfer (e.g. for downloads).

The ZIP specification allows the use of different compression methods. Corresponding attributes are available on a file level, so each file could potentially use an individual compression method.

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