A single, dependency-free Visual Basic 6 class for creating and extracting ZIP archives and compressing/decompressing GZ (Gzip) files.
This class is a refactored combination of two VB6 projects:
- ZipArchive by wqweto
- cGZip by cyberzilla
cArchive merges their functionalities into a single, cohesive class, removing code duplication and leveraging a flexible Virtual File System (VFS) to handle both file-based and in-memory operations seamlessly.
- ZIP & GZ Support: Full capabilities for both archive formats in one class.
- No Dependencies: Pure VB6 code. No need for external DLLs or OCXs.
- Flexible I/O: Works directly with file paths (
String), in-memory data (Byte Array), and stream objects thanks to its VFS architecture. - Strong Encryption: Supports AES-256, AES-192, AES-128, and legacy ZipCrypto 2.0 for password-protected ZIP files.
- ZIP64 Support: Create and extract ZIP archives larger than 4 GB.
- Progress Events: Monitor compression and extraction progress for long operations.
- Add the
cArchive.clsfile to your VB6 project. - Instantiate the class and start using its methods.
The process involves adding files one by one/folder and then compressing the archive.
Private Sub CreateZip() ' Example: Create a simple ZIP file from folder input With New cArchive .AddFromFolder App.Path & "\input\*.*", Recursive:=True .CompressArchive App.Path & "\output\archive.zip" End With ' Example: Create a simple ZIP file from folder input with password include empty folder encrypt using ZipCrypto (by default) With New cArchive .AddFromFolder App.Path & "\input\*.*", Recursive:=True, IncludeEmptyFolders:=True, Password:="!Password123#" .CompressArchive App.Path & "\output\archive_password.zip" End With ' Example: Create a simple ZIP file from folder input with password include empty folder encrypt using Aes-256 (by default) With New cArchive .AddFromFolder App.Path & "\input\*.*", Recursive:=True, IncludeEmptyFolders:=True, Password:="!Password123#", EncrStrength:=3 '3=AES-256,2=AES-192,1=AES-128,0-ZipCrypto default .CompressArchive App.Path & "\output\archive_password_aes.zip" End With 'Extract File to folder With New cArchive .OpenArchive App.Path & "\output\archive_password.zip" .Extract App.Path & "\extract", Password:="!Password123#" End With End Sub
Gzip is a stream-based format, typically used for compressing a single file or data stream. The VFS-enabled methods allow for flexible source and destination types.
Private Sub GzFileOperation() With New cArchive 'Compress File to GZ If .GzCompress(App.Path & "\gz\dummy.log", App.Path & "\gz\dummy.log.gz", acMaxCompression) Then MsgBox "Compressed to GZ" Else MsgBox "Failed" End If 'Decompress GZ to Original File If .GzDecompress(App.Path & "\gz\dummy.log.gz", App.Path & "\gz\dummy.log") Then MsgBox "Extracted" End If End With End Sub
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2025 cArchive
This class would not be possible without the foundational work of the original authors. It stands on the shoulders of giants.
-
ZipArchive for VB6: A comprehensive ZIP archive management class by wqweto.
-
cGZip for VB6: A Gzip compression class adapted from ZipArchive by cyberzilla.