A managed wrapper around Microsoft's delta compression application programming interfaces.
⚠️ This class library only works on WindowsIf you need delta compression support that's cross platform, consider the managed implementation of bsdiff in bsdiff.net. It's included in the deltaq NuGet package.
DeltaCompressionDotNet is licensed under the Microsoft Public License (MS-PL).
It's worth noting that large parts of DeltaCompressionDotNet's implementation are generic (we're talking rangeCheck, here) and while this wrapper represents my own, original work, it would be difficult to enforce the license against anything but a slavish copy.
To this extent, the library is also licensed under the DBAD-PL.
Install the DeltaCompressionDotNet package from NuGet.
var compression = new MsDeltaCompression(); /* or PatchApiCompression(); */
compression.CreateDelta(sourcePath, destinationPath, deltaPath);
CreateDelta returns void; if the function is not successful in creating a delta a Win32Exception is thrown. The NativeErrorCode of the exception should contain the value of GetLastError(), which may describe the failure.
MSDelta has a default limit of 32 MiB for source and destination files. The MsDeltaCompression implementation uses the DELTA_FLAG_IGNORE_FILE_SIZE_LIMIT flag to permit inputs of any size, but note that performance and memory usage suffers as inputs get larger. See Run-Time Requirements estimated memory usage.
var compression = new MsDeltaCompression(); /* or PatchApiCompression(); */
compression.ApplyDelta(deltaPath, sourcePath, destinationPath);
ApplyDelta returns void; if the function is not successful in applying a delta a Win32Exception is thrown. The NativeErrorCode of the exception should contain the value of GetLastError(), which may describe the failure.
Both MsDeltaCompression and PatchApiCompression implement IDeltaCompression.
PatchAPI (concomitant class: PatchApiCompression) is available from Windows 2000; MSDelta (concomitant class: MsDeltaCompression) is available from Windows Vista.
DeltaCompressionDotNet targets the .NET Framework 2.0, but if you're lucky enough to be using the .NET Framework 4.5 then you should prefer MsDeltaCompression over PatchApiCompression where possible.
The library is not tied to any particular architecture, the code should execute on x86, x64 and ia64.
It's unlikely that DeltaCompressionDotNet will work on operating systems other than Windows (à la Mono).
If you encounter a scenario where the wrapping around PatchAPI or MSDelta doesn't work as you expect, you're welcome to report a bug, initiate a pull request or send an email to t AT speot DOT is. The latter method is likely to elicit a response, but not guaranteed.
The above applies equally for feedback.
Mark Junker made this request to get DeltaCompressionDotNet working with Windows XP.
Atif Aziz kindly submitted improvements to the unit tests (twice) and provided advice on structuring the project.
John Anderson from Fungusware identified several issues with DeltaCompressionDotNet.
Jann Roder moved the target framework forward to .NET Standard.