[Zlib-devel] zlib 1.2.0.3 available for testing -- RELEASE CANDIDATE

[Cosmin Truta]

Hi,

I am sorry for not being able to reply earlier.

This release, and also the previous zlib-1.2.0.2, has problems with the
win32 port. Dmitryi has submitted a patch to put back CDECL by default,
but in this case Christian Spieler's updated win32/makefile.msc does not
work as it should (it compiles and runs, but it doesn't help to the DLL
compatibility problem). I had little time to look at it, and even less
to test it, but it definitely needs revision.

Also the gcc makefile for win32 (also updated by Christian) needs a
special .def file, zlibgcc.def, that is missing.

I am also sorry that I am still traveling and I cannot give you a more
useful feedback, to be finished in time for the planned release. I can
only ask, if you don't mind, to delay the release by a few days, to
allow me to fix the problems enumerated above - or to let you fix it and
test it.

**

In the mean time, I finished writing the document in which I explained
the change in the DLL interfacing. Assuming that we will commit this
change at some point, I think the ZLIB.DLL users will find these
explanations enlightening. This text is supposed to replace the current
ZLIB_DLL FAQ by the time we will commit the changes.

  http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~cosmin/pngtech/zlib/DLL_FAQ

In fact, I planned to ask some of the actual ZLIB.DLL users; most
notably, the people on the GNU-Win32 project (who use the CDECL
interface) and the people on the libpng and libmng lists (who link their
DLL builds using ZLIB.DLL with the STDCALL interface).

If you wish to make the public release of zlib soon, probably there is
not enough time to go the second route, but that can be delayed without
much trouble. But if you would allow me one more week to get the win32
scripts done right (more precisely, to fix makefile.msc and to update
zlibgcc.def), and to test it, I will appreciate it.

Best regards,
Cosmin