Author: John Whitney ([email protected])
License: Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0.


Introduction
============

BDelta is a sophisticated sequence matching library bundled with a delta
creator and patch tool. This code is being used in production systems. Recent
releases should be stable, fast, and accurate.


Limitations / Warranty
======================

Note that there is currently a 4GB file size limitation.

This software does not come with any guarantees. However, if you have any
problems, please send me an e-mail and I'll likely be able to help. I would
especially like to know about any bugs that you find.


Library API C / C++
===================

BDelta can be used in a wide range of applications. It is easy for the library
user to optimize its behavior to obtain better performance and results.

The only header you need to include to use the library is "bdelta.h".

The key thing to know about BDelta's algorithm is that it is designed to
pass over the data multiple times, finding ever-smaller matches. The API
is designed to give a great deal of control over each pass. This functionality
is not well-documented, so contact me if you need help. I hope to add more
comments to the code in future releases.

Delta File Format
=================

The included delta creator / patch tool uses this simple binary format:

(All numbers are stored in little-endian format)
char[3] magic "BDT"
uint16 version (1, but will increment if this binary format changes)
uint8 integer size (size, in bytes, of <uintXX> and <intXX> fields.)
<uintXX> file 1 size
<uintXX> file 2 size
<uintXX> number of matches
for each match {
	<intXX> location in file 1 (relative to last match)
	<intXX> location in file 2 (relative to last match)
	<uintXX> match size
}
<Any data which is not matched is appended here, at the end of the patch>