Mathematica 9 is now available
THIS IS DOCUMENTATION FOR AN OBSOLETE PRODUCT.
SEE THE DOCUMENTATION CENTER FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.
Wolfram Mathematica Documentation Center
DOCUMENTATION CENTER SEARCH
New to Mathematica? Find your learning path »
Mathematica > Data Manipulation > Importing and Exporting > BZIP2 (.bz2) >
MATHEMATICA IMPORT/EXPORT FORMATSee Also »|More About »

BZIP2 (.bz2)

MIME type: application/x-bzip2.
BZIP2 compression method and file format.
General-purpose lossless compression method.
Occasionally used for archiving data on Unix systems and for exchanging files on the internet.
Binary format.
Compresses data using a combination of the Burrows-Wheeler transform and Huffman entropy coding.
Stores a single file.
Typically used in combination with TAR.
Developed and maintained by Julian Seward.
Introduced in 1996, released as version 1.0 in 2000.
IMPORT AND EXPORT
  • Import uncompresses and imports a BZIP2 compressed archive.
  • Export exports any expression expr to a BZIP2 compressed file whose format is implied by the file name extension .ext.
  • Import uncompresses file.bz2 and imports file, automatically inferring the format from the file contents.
  • Import uncompresses a BZIP2 file and imports it as .
  • Since Mathematica can automatically recognize all common file compression and archive formats, it is never necessary to specify as a format in the second argument of Import.
  • Import imports the specified element from file.
  • Import imports multiple elements.
  • The import format can be explicitly specified with Import.
  • Export creates a BZIP2 compressed .ext file by treating expr as specifying element elem.
  • Export treats each as specifying the corresponding .
  • Export exports expr with the specified option elements taken to have the specified values.
  • The export format and BZIP2 compression method can be explicitly specified with Export["file", exprs, {"BZIP2", "format", elems}].
  • See the reference pages for full general information on Import and Export.
ELEMENTS
  • The BZIP2 format itself does not support Import or Export elements.
  • Import elements of the BZIP2-compressed file:
"Elements" elements and options available in this file
"Rules"full rules for each element and option
"Options"rules for options, properties, and settings
  • Import returns the names of elements available in , effectively unpacking the compressed archive before importing the enclosed file.
EXAMPLESCLOSE ALL
Basic Examples   (2)
Export a string to a BZIP2-compressed text file:
Convert the previous output back to a Mathematica string:
Export graphics to a BZIP2-compressed PNG file:
This gives the available Import elements of the PNG file:
When importing any element from a BZIP2 file, Mathematica automatically uncompresses it:
Export a string to a BZIP2-compressed text file:
In[1]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[1]=
Convert the previous output back to a Mathematica string:
In[2]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[2]=
 
Export graphics to a BZIP2-compressed PNG file:
In[1]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[1]=
This gives the available Import elements of the PNG file:
In[2]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[2]=
When importing any element from a BZIP2 file, Mathematica automatically uncompresses it:
In[3]:=
Click for copyable input
Out[3]=
Ask a question about this page  |  Suggest an improvement  |  Leave a message for the team
Format:   HTML  |  CDF