Python 3.6.5 Documentation >  "gzip" — Support for **gzip** files

"gzip" — Support for **gzip** files
***********************************

**Source code:** Lib/gzip.py

======================================================================

This module provides a simple interface to compress and decompress
files just like the GNU programs **gzip** and **gunzip** would.

The data compression is provided by the "zlib" module.

The "gzip" module provides the "GzipFile" class, as well as the
"open()", "compress()" and "decompress()" convenience functions. The
"GzipFile" class reads and writes **gzip**-format files, automatically
compressing or decompressing the data so that it looks like an
ordinary *file object*.

Note that additional file formats which can be decompressed by the
**gzip** and **gunzip** programs, such as those produced by
**compress** and **pack**, are not supported by this module.

The module defines the following items:

gzip.open(filename, mode='rb', compresslevel=9, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None)

Open a gzip-compressed file in binary or text mode, returning a
*file object*.

The *filename* argument can be an actual filename (a "str" or
"bytes" object), or an existing file object to read from or write
to.

The *mode* argument can be any of "'r'", "'rb'", "'a'", "'ab'",
"'w'", "'wb'", "'x'" or "'xb'" for binary mode, or "'rt'", "'at'",
"'wt'", or "'xt'" for text mode. The default is "'rb'".

The *compresslevel* argument is an integer from 0 to 9, as for the
"GzipFile" constructor.

For binary mode, this function is equivalent to the "GzipFile"
constructor: "GzipFile(filename, mode, compresslevel)". In this
case, the *encoding*, *errors* and *newline* arguments must not be
provided.

For text mode, a "GzipFile" object is created, and wrapped in an
"io.TextIOWrapper" instance with the specified encoding, error
handling behavior, and line ending(s).

Changed in version 3.3: Added support for *filename* being a file
object, support for text mode, and the *encoding*, *errors* and
*newline* arguments.

Changed in version 3.4: Added support for the "'x'", "'xb'" and
"'xt'" modes.

Changed in version 3.6: Accepts a *path-like object*.

class gzip.GzipFile(filename=None, mode=None, compresslevel=9, fileobj=None, mtime=None)

Constructor for the "GzipFile" class, which simulates most of the
methods of a *file object*, with the exception of the "truncate()"
method. At least one of *fileobj* and *filename* must be given a
non-trivial value.

The new class instance is based on *fileobj*, which can be a
regular file, an "io.BytesIO" object, or any other object which
simulates a file. It defaults to "None", in which case *filename*
is opened to provide a file object.

When *fileobj* is not "None", the *filename* argument is only used
to be included in the **gzip** file header, which may include the
original filename of the uncompressed file. It defaults to the
filename of *fileobj*, if discernible; otherwise, it defaults to
the empty string, and in this case the original filename is not
included in the header.

The *mode* argument can be any of "'r'", "'rb'", "'a'", "'ab'",
"'w'", "'wb'", "'x'", or "'xb'", depending on whether the file will
be read or written. The default is the mode of *fileobj* if
discernible; otherwise, the default is "'rb'".

Note that the file is always opened in binary mode. To open a
compressed file in text mode, use "open()" (or wrap your "GzipFile"
with an "io.TextIOWrapper").

The *compresslevel* argument is an integer from "0" to "9"
controlling the level of compression; "1" is fastest and produces
the least compression, and "9" is slowest and produces the most
compression. "0" is no compression. The default is "9".

The *mtime* argument is an optional numeric timestamp to be written
to the last modification time field in the stream when compressing.
It should only be provided in compression mode. If omitted or
"None", the current time is used. See the "mtime" attribute for
more details.

Calling a "GzipFile" object’s "close()" method does not close
*fileobj*, since you might wish to append more material after the
compressed data. This also allows you to pass an "io.BytesIO"
object opened for writing as *fileobj*, and retrieve the resulting
memory buffer using the "io.BytesIO" object’s "getvalue()" method.

"GzipFile" supports the "io.BufferedIOBase" interface, including
iteration and the "with" statement. Only the "truncate()" method
isn’t implemented.

"GzipFile" also provides the following method and attribute:

peek(n)

Read *n* uncompressed bytes without advancing the file position.
At most one single read on the compressed stream is done to
satisfy the call. The number of bytes returned may be more or
less than requested.

Note: While calling "peek()" does not change the file position
of the "GzipFile", it may change the position of the
underlying file object (e.g. if the "GzipFile" was constructed
with the *fileobj* parameter).

New in version 3.2.

mtime

When decompressing, the value of the last modification time
field in the most recently read header may be read from this
attribute, as an integer. The initial value before reading any
headers is "None".

All **gzip** compressed streams are required to contain this
timestamp field. Some programs, such as **gunzip**, make use of
the timestamp. The format is the same as the return value of
"time.time()" and the "st_mtime" attribute of the object
returned by "os.stat()".

Changed in version 3.1: Support for the "with" statement was added,
along with the *mtime* constructor argument and "mtime" attribute.

Changed in version 3.2: Support for zero-padded and unseekable
files was added.

Changed in version 3.3: The "io.BufferedIOBase.read1()" method is
now implemented.

Changed in version 3.4: Added support for the "'x'" and "'xb'"
modes.

Changed in version 3.5: Added support for writing arbitrary *bytes-
like objects*. The "read()" method now accepts an argument of
"None".

Changed in version 3.6: Accepts a *path-like object*.

gzip.compress(data, compresslevel=9)

Compress the *data*, returning a "bytes" object containing the
compressed data. *compresslevel* has the same meaning as in the
"GzipFile" constructor above.

New in version 3.2.

gzip.decompress(data)

Decompress the *data*, returning a "bytes" object containing the
uncompressed data.

New in version 3.2.

Examples of usage
=================

Example of how to read a compressed file:

import gzip
with gzip.open('/home/joe/file.txt.gz', 'rb') as f:
file_content = f.read()

Example of how to create a compressed GZIP file:

import gzip
content = b"Lots of content here"
with gzip.open('/home/joe/file.txt.gz', 'wb') as f:
f.write(content)

Example of how to GZIP compress an existing file:

import gzip
import shutil
with open('/home/joe/file.txt', 'rb') as f_in:
with gzip.open('/home/joe/file.txt.gz', 'wb') as f_out:
shutil.copyfileobj(f_in, f_out)

Example of how to GZIP compress a binary string:

import gzip
s_in = b"Lots of content here"
s_out = gzip.compress(s_in)

See also:

Module "zlib"
The basic data compression module needed to support the **gzip**
file format.