1 /* libFLAC - Free Lossless Audio Codec library
2 * Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Josh Coalson
4 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
5 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
6 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
7 * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
9 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
10 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
11 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
12 * Library General Public License for more details.
14 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
15 * License along with this library; if not, write to the
16 * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
17 * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
26 #include "file_decoder.h"
27 #include "file_encoder.h"
31 #include "seekable_stream_decoder.h"
32 #include "seekable_stream_encoder.h"
33 #include "stream_decoder.h"
34 #include "stream_encoder.h"
38 * \section intro Introduction
40 * This is the documentation for the FLAC C and C++ APIs. It is
41 * highly interconnected; this introduction should give you a top
42 * level idea of the structure and how to find the information you
43 * need. As a prerequisite you should have at least a basic
44 * knowledge of the FLAC format, documented
45 * <A HREF="../format.html">here</A>.
47 * \section c_api FLAC C API
49 * The FLAC C API is the interface to libFLAC, a set of structures
50 * describing the components of FLAC streams, and functions for
51 * encoding and decoding streams, as well as manipulating FLAC
52 * metadata in files. The public include files will be installed
53 * in your include area as <include>/FLAC/...
55 * By writing a little code and linking against libFLAC, it is
56 * relatively easy to add FLAC support to another program. The
57 * library is licensed under the
58 * <A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html">LGPL</A>.
59 * Complete source code of libFLAC as well as the command-line
60 * encoder and plugins is available and is a useful source of
63 * Aside from encoders and decoders, libFLAC provides a powerful
64 * metadata interface for manipulating metadata in FLAC files. It
65 * allows the user to add, delete, and modify FLAC metadata blocks
66 * and it can automatically take advantage of PADDING blocks to avoid
67 * rewriting the entire FLAC file when changing the size of the
70 * libFLAC usually only requires the standard C library and C math
71 * library. In particular, threading is not used so there is no
72 * dependency on a thread library. However, libFLAC does not use
73 * global variables and should be thread-safe.
75 * There is also a new libOggFLAC library which wraps around libFLAC
76 * to provide routines for encoding to and decoding from FLAC streams
77 * inside an Ogg container. The interfaces are very similar or identical
78 * to their counterparts in libFLAC. libOggFLAC is also licensed under
81 * \section cpp_api FLAC C API
83 * The FLAC C++ API is a set of classes that encapsulate the
84 * structures and functions in libFLAC. They provide slightly more
85 * functionality with respect to metadata but are otherwise
86 * equivalent. For the most part, they share the same usage as
87 * their counterparts in libFLAC, and the FLAC C API documentation
88 * can be used as a supplement. The public include files
89 * for the C++ API will be installed in your include area as
90 * <include>/FLAC++/...
92 * There is also a new libOggFLAC++ library, which provides classes
93 * for encoding to and decoding from FLAC streams in an Ogg container.
94 * The classes are very similar to their counterparts in libFLAC++.
96 * Both libFLAC++ libOggFLAC++ are also licensed under the
97 * <A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html">LGPL</A>.
99 * \section getting_started Getting Started
101 * A good starting point for learning the API is to browse through
102 * the <A HREF="modules.html">modules</A>. Modules are logical
103 * groupings of related functions or classes, which correspond roughly
104 * to header files or sections of header files. Each module includes a
105 * detailed description of the general usage of its functions or
108 * From there you can go on to look at the documentation of
109 * individual functions. You can see different views of the individual
110 * functions through the links in top bar across this page.
112 * \section embedded_developers Embedded Developers
114 * libFLAC has grown larger over time as more functionality has been
115 * included, but much of it may be unnecessary for a particular embedded
116 * implementation. Unused parts may be pruned by some simple editing of
117 * src/libFLAC/Makefile.am. In general, the decoders, encoders, and
118 * metadata interface are all independent from each other.
120 * It is easiest to just describe the dependencies:
122 * - All modules depend on the \link flac_format Format \endlink module.
123 * - The decoders and encoders are independent of each other.
124 * - The metadata interface requires the file decoder.
125 * - The decoder and encoder layers depend on the layers below them, but
126 * not above them; e.g. the seekable stream decoder depends on the stream
127 * decoder but not the file decoder
129 * For example, if your application only requires the stream decoder, no
130 * encoders, and no metadata interface, you can remove the seekable stream
131 * decoder, file decoder, all encoders, and the metadata interface, which
132 * will greatly reduce the size of the library.
135 /** \defgroup flac FLAC C API
137 * The FLAC C API is the interface to libFLAC, a set of structures
138 * describing the components of FLAC streams, and functions for
139 * encoding and decoding streams, as well as manipulating FLAC
142 * You should start with the format components as all other modules
143 * are dependent on it.