Create normal zip file programmatically

I have seen many tutorials on how to compress a single file in c#. But I need to be able to create a normal *.zip file out of more than just one file. Is there anything in .NET that can do this? What would you suggest (baring in mind I'm under strict rules and cannot use other libraries)

Thank you

Solution 1:

Just an update on this for anyone else who stumbles across this question.

Starting in .NET 4.5 you are able to compress a directory using System.IO.Compression into a zip file. You have to add System.IO.Compression.FileSystem as a reference as it is not referenced by default. Then you can write:

System.IO.Compression.ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory(dirPath, zipFile);

The only potential problem is that this assembly is not available for Windows Store Apps.

Solution 2:

You can now use the ZipArchive class (System.IO.Compression.ZipArchive), available from .NET 4.5

You have to add System.IO.Compression as a reference.

Example: Generating a zip of PDF files

using (var fileStream = new FileStream(@"C:\temp\temp.zip", FileMode.CreateNew))
{
    using (var archive = new ZipArchive(fileStream, ZipArchiveMode.Create, true))
    {
        foreach (var creditNumber in creditNumbers)
        {
            var pdfBytes = GeneratePdf(creditNumber);
            var fileName = "credit_" + creditNumber + ".pdf";
            var zipArchiveEntry = archive.CreateEntry(fileName, CompressionLevel.Fastest);
            using (var zipStream = zipArchiveEntry.Open())
                zipStream.Write(pdfBytes, 0, pdfBytes.Length);
            }
        }
    }
}

Solution 3:

My 2 cents:

    using (ZipArchive archive = ZipFile.Open(zFile, ZipArchiveMode.Create))
    {
        foreach (var fPath in filePaths)
        {
            archive.CreateEntryFromFile(fPath,Path.GetFileName(fPath));
        }
    }

So Zip files could be created directly from files/dirs.