Better, New Zip Library for ASP.NET AJAX

The Q2 2014 ASP.NET AJAX release introduced a new Zip library, which you might have missed given the four big new controls and the document processing library. This post explains why you should give it a spin.

Why a new Zip library?

I already hear your question: Why do I need to use the new one, when the old zip library is working fine?

The answer is simple: Because the new one is better and the transition to using is easy without breaking changes.

What are the benefits of using the new Zip library?

It has the following advantages over the old one:

• Better cross-platform compatibility (.NET, Silverlight, Windows Store Apps, and Windows Phone).
• Better support for the latest standards and functionality. The new ZIP library follows both ZIP and ZIP64 specifications by introducing support for:
  • Large ZIP files with more than 4GB length.
  • Password protection. For the moment only traditional PKWARE encryption is implemented.
    
    

You can also check the list of features at:

• Working with ZipPackage,
• Compressing a Stream,
• Update ZipArchive,
• Protect ZipArchive.

Compatibility, Stability and Migration? Are there any Breaking changes?

The new ZIP library API is completely compatible with the API of the old library and you won’t be obligated to rewrite even a single line of code. The ZipPackage, ZipPackagerEntry, ZipInputStream and ZipOutputStream classes have been changed to be a proxy to the old API.

All you will need to do to complete the migration is to put the new Telerik.Windows.Zip.dll assembly, located in the External Libraries installation folder, into the bin folder of you application and to change the old Telerik.Web.Zip namespace to Telerik.Windows.Zip in the file where you use zip library classes.

More information about Backward Compatibility you can find here.

To get started you can use following online resource: Getting Started. 

What will happen with the existing Zip library?

Last but not least, the old zip library is still here, but with an obsolete label. It will be removed within the next major Q3 2014 release of Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX.

Have a question - Ask the experts.

We’re glad to help you in case you encounter any issues with the migration through the support ticketing system under your Telerik.com accounts.