.Z

.Z is the extension for archives created by the standard UNIX compression utility, compress. Compress has been superseded by gzip.

URLs:

comp.compression FAQ

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about file compression in general from the Usenet newsgroup comp.compression

W3E References:

.gz

The extension for gzip--a newer compression program that replaces compress.

file compression

Print Resources:

• "A Technique for High Performance Data Compression." Terry A. Welch. IEEE Computer, vol. 17. June 1984.

Detail:

The .z extension is also used with GNU Compress (gzip and gunzip) and pack/unpack, as well as the Macintosh programs MacCompress and MacGzip. It is often combined with the UNIX archiving program, tar, producing files with the extension .tar.Z. The amount of compression varies with the type of file, but executable files are commonly reduced 50%-60%.

Type "man compress" at a UNIX prompt to obtain a complete list of command options.