Universal Extractor for .NET

The Universal Extractor for .NET is a specialized plugin within the Aspose.ZIP for .NET library. It provides a simplified interface to extract and decompress archives across multiple formats such as ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZIP, and BZIP2. This plugin is designed for developers who require efficient extraction capabilities without needing the complete API surface of Aspose.ZIP.

Installation and Setup

  1. Add the Aspose.ZIP package to your project via NuGet:

    dotnet add package Aspose.ZIP

  2. Configure your license keys to unlock full features (see Metered Licensing ).

  3. For supported frameworks and environments, check the Installation Guide .

Compatible with:

  • Operating Systems: Windows, macOS (10.12+), Linux (with .NET Core 2.0+)
  • Frameworks: .NET Framework 2.0–4.8, .NET Standard 2.0+, .NET Core, .NET 5–7
  • IDEs: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010–2022 and JetBrains Rider

Supported Archive Formats

The Universal Extractor plugin supports extracting archives from the following formats:

  • ZIP (.zip)
  • RAR (.rar) — including RAR4 and RAR5
  • 7Z (.7z)
  • TAR (.tar)
  • GZIP (.gz)
  • BZIP2 (.bz2)

Features and Functionalities

Extract Entire Archives 

using Aspose.Zip;

using (var archive = new Archive("example.zip"))
{
    archive.ExtractToDirectory("extracted");
}

This extracts all files from the archive into the specified extracted directory.

Extract Password-Protected Archives 

using Aspose.Zip;

using (var archive = new Archive("example.zip", new ArchiveLoadOptions { DecryptionPassword = "YOUR-PASSWORD" }))
{
    archive.ExtractToDirectory("extracted");
}

This extracts the contents of a password-protected ZIP archive.

List Archive Contents 

using Aspose.Zip;

using (var archive = new Archive("example.zip"))
{
    foreach (var entry in archive.Entries)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(entry.Name);
    }
}

This lists all entries in the archive without extracting them.

Extract Specific Files 

using Aspose.Zip;

using (var archive = new Archive("example.zip"))
{
    var entry = archive.Entries[0];
    entry.Extract("firstFile.txt");
}

This extracts only the first file in the archive to the output path.

Best Practices

  • Always use the latest version of Aspose.ZIP for maximum compatibility and bug fixes.
  • Implement error handling to manage corrupted or unsupported archive cases gracefully.
  • Use password handling securely when working with protected archives.
  • For large archives, prefer stream extraction to avoid high memory consumption.
  • Validate archive format before extraction to ensure compatibility with your workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Universal Extractor handle formats other than ZIP? Yes. It supports multiple formats including RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZIP, and BZIP2.

Does it support encrypted archives? Yes, password-protected archives are supported by supplying the password during archive loading.

Can I list files before extracting them? Yes, by iterating over the Entries property you can inspect archive contents.

Is Universal Extractor multi-thread safe? Yes, you can safely use it in multi-threaded environments, provided each archive instance is processed independently.

Is extraction the only feature provided? Yes, this plugin focuses solely on archive extraction. For advanced compression or archive creation, use the full Aspose.ZIP API.

With Aspose.ZIP Universal Extractor for .NET, you can easily integrate archive decompression into your .NET applications, whether you’re handling ZIP attachments in an email client, batch-extracting RAR archives, or integrating 7Z extraction into automated pipelines.

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