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README for libpng version 1.2.8 - December 3, 2004 (shared library 12.0)
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See the note about version numbers near the top of png.h
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See INSTALL for instructions on how to install libpng.
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Libpng comes in several distribution formats.  Get libpng-*.tar.gz
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or libpng-*.tar.bz2 if you want UNIX-style line endings in the text
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files, or lpng*.zip if you want DOS-style line endings.
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Version 0.89 was the first official release of libpng.  Don't let the
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fact that it's the first release fool you.  The libpng library has been in
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extensive use and testing since mid-1995.  By late 1997 it had
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finally gotten to the stage where there hadn't been significant
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changes to the API in some time, and people have a bad feeling about
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libraries with versions < 1.0.  Version 1.0.0 was released in
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March 1998.
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****
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Note that some of the changes to the png_info structure render this
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version of the library binary incompatible with libpng-0.89 or
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earlier versions if you are using a shared library.  The type of the
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"filler" parameter for png_set_filler() has changed from png_byte to
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png_uint_32, which will affect shared-library applications that use
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this function.
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To avoid problems with changes to the internals of png_info_struct,
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new APIs have been made available in 0.95 to avoid direct application
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access to info_ptr.  These functions are the png_set_<chunk> and
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png_get_<chunk> functions.  These functions should be used when
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accessing/storing the info_struct data, rather than manipulating it
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directly, to avoid such problems in the future.
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It is important to note that the APIs do not make current programs
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that access the info struct directly incompatible with the new
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library.  However, it is strongly suggested that new programs use
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the new APIs (as shown in example.c and pngtest.c), and older programs
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be converted to the new format, to facilitate upgrades in the future.
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****
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Additions since 0.90 include the ability to compile libpng as a
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Windows DLL, and new APIs for accessing data in the info struct.
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Experimental functions include the ability to set weighting and cost
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factors for row filter selection, direct reads of integers from buffers
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on big-endian processors that support misaligned data access, faster
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methods of doing alpha composition, and more accurate 16->8 bit color
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conversion.
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The additions since 0.89 include the ability to read from a PNG stream
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which has had some (or all) of the signature bytes read by the calling
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application.  This also allows the reading of embedded PNG streams that
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do not have the PNG file signature.  As well, it is now possible to set
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the library action on the detection of chunk CRC errors.  It is possible
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to set different actions based on whether the CRC error occurred in a
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critical or an ancillary chunk.
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The changes made to the library, and bugs fixed are based on discussions
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on the PNG-implement mailing list
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and not on material submitted privately to Guy, Andreas, or Glenn.  They will
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forward any good suggestions to the list.
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For a detailed description on using libpng, read libpng.txt.  For
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examples of libpng in a program, see example.c and pngtest.c.  For usage
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information and restrictions (what little they are) on libpng, see
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png.h.  For a description on using zlib (the compression library used by
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libpng) and zlib's restrictions, see zlib.h
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I have included a general makefile, as well as several machine and
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compiler specific ones, but you may have to modify one for your own needs.
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You should use zlib 1.0.4 or later to run this, but it MAY work with
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versions as old as zlib 0.95.  Even so, there are bugs in older zlib
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versions which can cause the output of invalid compression streams for
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some images.  You will definitely need zlib 1.0.4 or later if you are
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taking advantage of the MS-DOS "far" structure allocation for the small
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and medium memory models.  You should also note that zlib is a
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compression library that is useful for more things than just PNG files.
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You can use zlib as a drop-in replacement for fread() and fwrite() if
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you are so inclined.
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zlib should be available at the same place that libpng is, or at.
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ftp://ftp.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/zlib
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You may also want a copy of the PNG specification.  It is available
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as an RFC, a W3C Recommendation, and an ISO/IEC Standard.  You can find
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these at http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/documents/
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This code is currently being archived at libpng.sf.net in the
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[DOWNLOAD] area, and on CompuServe, Lib 20 (PNG SUPPORT)
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at GO GRAPHSUP.  If you can't find it in any of those places,
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e-mail me, and I'll help you find it.
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If you have any code changes, requests, problems, etc., please e-mail
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them to me.  Also, I'd appreciate any make files or project files,
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and any modifications you needed to make to get libpng to compile,
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along with a #define variable to tell what compiler/system you are on.
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If you needed to add transformations to libpng, or wish libpng would
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provide the image in a different way, drop me a note (and code, if
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possible), so I can consider supporting the transformation.
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Finally, if you get any warning messages when compiling libpng
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(note: not zlib), and they are easy to fix, I'd appreciate the
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fix.  Please mention "libpng" somewhere in the subject line.  Thanks.
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This release was created and will be supported by myself (of course
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based in a large way on Guy's and Andreas' earlier work), and the PNG group.
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glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
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png-implement at ccrc.wustl.edu (subscription required; write to
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majordomo at ccrc.wustl.edu with "subscribe png-implement" in the message).
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You can't reach Guy, the original libpng author, at the addresses
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given in previous versions of this document.  He and Andreas will read mail
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addressed to the png-implement list, however.
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Please do not send general questions about PNG.  Send them to
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the (png-list at ccrc.wustl.edu, subscription required, write to
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majordomo at ccrc.wustl.edu with "subscribe png-list" in your message).
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On the other hand,
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please do not send libpng questions to that address, send them to me
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or to the png-implement list.  I'll
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get them in the end anyway.  If you have a question about something
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in the PNG specification that is related to using libpng, send it
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to me.  Send me any questions that start with "I was using libpng,
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and ...".  If in doubt, send questions to me.  I'll bounce them
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to others, if necessary.
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Please do not send suggestions on how to change PNG.  We have
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been discussing PNG for nine years now, and it is official and
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finished.  If you have suggestions for libpng, however, I'll
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gladly listen.  Even if your suggestion is not used immediately,
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it may be used later.
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Files in this distribution:
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      ANNOUNCE      =>  Announcement of this version, with recent changes
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      CHANGES       =>  Description of changes between libpng versions
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      KNOWNBUG      =>  List of known bugs and deficiencies
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      LICENSE       =>  License to use and redistribute libpng
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      README        =>  This file
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      TODO          =>  Things not implemented in the current library
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      Y2KINFO       =>  Statement of Y2K compliance
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      example.c     =>  Example code for using libpng functions
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      libpng.3      =>  manual page for libpng (includes libpng.txt)
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      libpng.txt    =>  Description of libpng and its functions
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      libpngpf.3    =>  manual page for libpng's private functions
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      png.5         =>  manual page for the PNG format
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      png.c         =>  Basic interface functions common to library
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      png.h         =>  Library function and interface declarations
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      pngconf.h     =>  System specific library configuration
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      pngasmrd.h    =>  Header file for assembler-coded functions
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      pngerror.c    =>  Error/warning message I/O functions
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      pngget.c      =>  Functions for retrieving info from struct
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      pngmem.c      =>  Memory handling functions
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      pngbar.png    =>  PNG logo, 88x31
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      pngnow.png    =>  PNG logo, 98x31
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      pngpread.c    =>  Progressive reading functions
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      pngread.c     =>  Read data/helper high-level functions
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      pngrio.c      =>  Lowest-level data read I/O functions
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      pngrtran.c    =>  Read data transformation functions
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      pngrutil.c    =>  Read data utility functions
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      pngset.c      =>  Functions for storing data into the info_struct
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      pngtest.c     =>  Library test program
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      pngtest.png   =>  Library test sample image
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      pngtrans.c    =>  Common data transformation functions
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      pngwio.c      =>  Lowest-level write I/O functions
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      pngwrite.c    =>  High-level write functions
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      pngwtran.c    =>  Write data transformations
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      pngwutil.c    =>  Write utility functions
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      contrib       =>  Contributions
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       gregbook         =>  source code for PNG reading and writing, from
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                            Greg Roelofs' "PNG: The Definitive Guide",
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                            O'Reilly, 1999
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       msvctest     =>  Builds and runs pngtest using a MSVC workspace
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       pngminus     =>  Simple pnm2png and png2pnm programs
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       pngsuite     =>  Test images
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       visupng      =>  Contains a MSVC workspace for VisualPng
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      projects      =>  Contains project files and workspaces for building DLL
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       beos             =>  Contains a Beos workspace for building libpng
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       c5builder        =>  Contains a Borland workspace for building libpng
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                            and zlib
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       visualc6         =>  Contains a Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) workspace
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                            for building libpng and zlib
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       netware.txt      =>  Contains instructions for downloading a set of
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                            project files for building libpng and zlib on
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                            Netware.
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       wince.txt        =>  Contains instructions for downloading a Microsoft
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                            Visual C++ (Windows CD Toolkit) workspace for
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                            building libpng and zlib on WindowsCE
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      scripts       =>  Directory containing scripts for building libpng:
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       descrip.mms      =>  VMS makefile for MMS or MMK
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       makefile.std     =>  Generic UNIX makefile (cc, creates static libpng.a)
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       makefile.elf     =>  Linux/ELF makefile symbol versioning,
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                            gcc, creates libpng12.so.0.1.2.8)
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       makefile.linux   =>  Linux/ELF makefile
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                            (gcc, creates libpng12.so.0.1.2.8)
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       makefile.gcmmx   =>  Linux/ELF makefile
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                            (gcc, creates libpng12.so.0.1.2.8,
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                            uses assembler code tuned for Intel MMX platform)
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       makefile.gcc     =>  Generic makefile (gcc, creates static libpng.a)
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       makefile.knr     =>  Archaic UNIX Makefile that converts files with
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                            ansi2knr (Requires ansi2knr.c from
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                            ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/ghost)
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       makefile.aix     =>  AIX makefile
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       makefile.cygwin  =>  Cygwin/gcc makefile
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       makefile.darwin  =>  Darwin makefile
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       makefile.dec     =>  DEC Alpha UNIX makefile
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       makefile.freebsd =>  FreeBSD makefile
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       makefile.hpgcc   =>  HPUX makefile using gcc
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       makefile.hpux    =>  HPUX (10.20 and 11.00) makefile
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       makefile.hp64    =>  HPUX (10.20 and 11.00) makefile, 64 bit
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       makefile.ibmc    =>  IBM C/C++ version 3.x for Win32 and OS/2 (static)
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       makefile.intel   =>  Intel C/C++ version 4.0 and later
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       libpng.icc       =>  Project file, IBM VisualAge/C++ 4.0 or later
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       makefile.netbsd  =>  NetBSD/cc makefile, PNGGCCRD, makes libpng.so.
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       makefile.ne12bsd  =>  NetBSD/cc makefile, PNGGCCRD, makes libpng12.so
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       makefile.openbsd =>  OpenBSD makefile
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       makefile.sgi     =>  Silicon Graphics IRIX (cc, creates static lib)
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       makefile.sggcc   =>  Silicon Graphics
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                            (gcc, creates libpng12.so.0.1.2.8)
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       makefile.sunos   =>  Sun makefile
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       makefile.solaris =>  Solaris 2.X makefile
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                            (gcc, creates libpng12.so.0.1.2.8)
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       makefile.so9     =>  Solaris 9 makefile
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                            (gcc, creates libpng12.so.0.1.2.8)
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       makefile.32sunu  =>  Sun Ultra 32-bit makefile
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       makefile.64sunu  =>  Sun Ultra 64-bit makefile
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       makefile.sco     =>  For SCO OSr5  ELF and Unixware 7 with Native cc
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       makefile.mips    =>  MIPS makefile
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       makefile.acorn   =>  Acorn makefile
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       makefile.amiga   =>  Amiga makefile
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       smakefile.ppc    =>  AMIGA smakefile for SAS C V6.58/7.00 PPC
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                            compiler (Requires SCOPTIONS, copied from
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                            scripts/SCOPTIONS.ppc)
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       makefile.atari   =>  Atari makefile
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       makefile.beos    =>  BEOS makefile for X86
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       makefile.bor     =>  Borland makefile (uses bcc)
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       makefile.bc32    =>  32-bit Borland C++ (all modules compiled in C mode)
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       makefile.tc3     =>  Turbo C 3.0 makefile
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       makefile.dj2     =>  DJGPP 2 makefile
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       makefile.msc     =>  Microsoft C makefile
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       makefile.vcawin32=>  makefile for Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 and
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                            later (uses assembler code tuned for Intel MMX
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                            platform)
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       makefile.vcwin32 =>  makefile for Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 and
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                            later (does not use assembler code)
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       makefile.os2     =>  OS/2 Makefile (gcc and emx, requires pngos2.def)
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       pngos2.def       =>  OS/2 module definition file used by makefile.os2
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       makefile.watcom  =>  Watcom 10a+ Makefile, 32-bit flat memory model
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       makevms.com      =>  VMS build script
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       SCOPTIONS.ppc    =>  Used with smakefile.ppc
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Good luck, and happy coding.
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-Glenn Randers-Pehrson (current maintainer)
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 Internet: glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
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-Andreas Eric Dilger (former maintainer, 1996-1997)
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 Internet: adilger at enel.ucalgary.ca
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 Web: http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/
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-Guy Eric Schalnat (original author and former maintainer, 1995-1996)
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 (formerly of Group 42, Inc)
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 Internet: gschal at infinet.com