Bzip2

From Just Solve the File Format Problem
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 12: Line 12:
  
 
== Identification ==
 
== Identification ==
 
 
A bzip2 file starts with the byte pattern {{magic|42 5a 68 ?? 31 41 59 26 53 59}}.
 
A bzip2 file starts with the byte pattern {{magic|42 5a 68 ?? 31 41 59 26 53 59}}.
  
Line 31: Line 30:
 
  2e e4 8a 70 a1
 
  2e e4 8a 70 a1
 
  17 72 45 38 50
 
  17 72 45 38 50
 +
 +
== Specifications ==
 +
* [https://github.com/dsnet/compress/blob/master/doc/bzip2-format.pdf Unofficial specification by Joe Tsai]
  
 
== Software ==
 
== Software ==
Line 41: Line 43:
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
 
* [[Burrows–Wheeler transform]]
 
* [[Burrows–Wheeler transform]]
* [[bzip]]
+
* [[bzip]] (predecessor)
  
 
== Links ==
 
== Links ==
 
* [[Wikipedia:Bzip2|Wikipedia article]]
 
* [[Wikipedia:Bzip2|Wikipedia article]]
 
* [http://sourceware.org/bzip2/ bzip2 and libbzip2 website]
 
* [http://sourceware.org/bzip2/ bzip2 and libbzip2 website]
* [https://twitter.com/angealbertini/status/537704386080694274/photo/1 Chart of format details]
+
* [https://github.com/corkami/pics/blob/master/binary/BZ2.png Chart of format details]
 
* [https://lwn.net/Articles/762264/ bzip.org changes hands] (LWN article from August 9, 2018)
 
* [https://lwn.net/Articles/762264/ bzip.org changes hands] (LWN article from August 9, 2018)
 
* [{{ForensicsWikiURL|bzip2}} ForensicsWiki entry] (also includes more details on the headers)
 
* [{{ForensicsWikiURL|bzip2}} ForensicsWiki entry] (also includes more details on the headers)
 
* [http://www.bzip.org/ bzip.org]
 
* [http://www.bzip.org/ bzip.org]

Revision as of 19:19, 16 December 2023

File Format
Name bzip2
Ontology
Extension(s) .bz2
MIME Type(s) application/x-bzip2
PRONOM x-fmt/268
Wikidata ID Q27866052
Released 1997

bzip2 is a data compression algorithm and compressed file format. It was developed by Julian Seward.

Contents

Identification

A bzip2 file starts with the byte pattern 42 5a 68 ?? 31 41 59 26 53 59.

The first three bytes are ASCII "BZh". (For signature "BZ0", refer to the original bzip format.) The "h" has been said to stand for "Huffman coding", but confirmation is needed.

The byte at offset 3 is a code for the block size. Its possible values range from 0x31 to 0x39 (ASCII "0" to "9").

The bytes at offset 4-9 are derived from the digits of the mathematical constant π (BCD-encoded).

The end-of-file marker uses magic number (hex) 17 72 45 38 50 90, derived from the square root of π. However, it is not byte-aligned. The result is that one of the following byte sequences appears beginning 10 bytes from the end of the file:

b9 22 9c 28 48
dc 91 4e 14 24
ee 48 a7 0a 12
77 24 53 85 09
bb 92 29 c2 84
5d c9 14 e1 42
2e e4 8a 70 a1
17 72 45 38 50

Specifications

Software

Sample files

See also

Links

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox