compress (software)

compress is a Unix shell compression program based on the LZW compression algorithm. Compared to gzip's fastest setting, compress is slightly slower at compression, slightly faster at decompression, and has a significantly lower compression ratio. 1.8 MiB of memory is used to compress the Hutter Prize data, slightly more than gzip's slowest setting.

"compress" redirects here. For the cloth used in medicine, see Compress (medical). For other uses, see Compression (disambiguation).
compress / uncompress
Original author(s)Spencer Thomas
Initial releaseFebruary 1985 (1985-02)
Operating systemUnix, Unix-like, IBM i
TypeCommand
compress .Z
Filename extension
.Z
Internet media type
application/x-compress
Developed bySpencer Thomas
Type of formatdata compression

The uncompress utility will restore files to their original state after they have been compressed using the compress utility. If no files are specified, the standard input will be uncompressed to the standard output.

In the upcoming POSIX and Single Unix Specification revision, it is planned that DEFLATE algorithm used in gzip format be supported in those utilities.

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