Handling archived files (32-bit mode)¶
You can download the historical data files in archived format. This will help you save disk space.
The default file extension is *.z8. You can use our command-line utilities to quickly unpack/pack the data.
| File |
Purpose |
Syntax |
z8a.exe
Version 1.0 |
Packs file (Zip-Archive). Accepts source (unpacked) and destination (packed) files as command line parameters. |
z8a InFile OutFile |
z8e.exe
Version 1.0 |
Unpacks file (Zip-Extract). Accepts source (packed) and destination (unpacked) files as command line parameters. |
z8e InFile OutFile |
zlibwapi32.dll
Version 1.2.3 |
ZLIB library used by the z8a and z8e utilities. It must be located in the same folder, or in one of the PATH folders, for example C:\Windows\System32\ |
For specifications, please refer to the original provider web site: http://www.zlib.net/ |
You don't have to always unpack the files prior to production use.
You can use the zlibwapi32.dll, or any other library/interface that supports ZLIB stream decompression, to read z8 files and unpack them on the fly.
Please refer to the
Compressed File (*.z8) Specification for the way to handle these files.
High-performance 64-bit Compression/Decompression
You might want to leverage your 64-bit capable CPU by using the tool below. It offers 10-15% better compression and up to 50% better decompression speeds.
For instance, an ITCH file decompression speed of is about 220 MB/Sec in 64-bit mode and only 160 MB/Sec in the 32-bit mode (on an Intel Q9550 CPU with DDR2-800 memory).
Also, this tool does not require any DLL libraries.
| File |
Purpose |
Syntax |
z8.exe
Version 2.0 |
Compresses (-a switch) or decompresses (-e switch) files with a "z8" extension using 64-bit optimized ZLIB library.
The destination file is optional: if omitted,
the destination file will be based on the source file name with a letter "z" attached to or removed from the source file extension, for compressed and decompressed files, respectively. |
z8 (-a|-e) InFile [OutFile] |