ZIP - Directory Records Without a Trailing Slash
Directory records whose names do NOT end in a slash — the directory-ness is carried only by the MS-DOS attribute bit in the external attributes field. A reader that decides by name alone creates three empty files called project, project/src and project/data, and then cannot create the directories that have to replace them.
- project
- src
- data
- README.txt
- main.txt
- records.csv
Specifications
- Seed
- 20260807
- Directory Records
- 3
- File Records
- 3
- Directory Convention
- zero-length member, NO trailing slash, MS-DOS directory bit set
- Ambiguity
- only the external attribute says 'directory'
Testing contract
Expected to recover- Scenario
- Extract the archive and inspect what was created at project, project/src and project/data.
- Expected result
- All three are directories, not zero-byte files, and the 3 file members extract inside them; readers that key on the trailing slash instead of the external attribute collide here.
What is a .zip file?
ZIP is a widely supported archive format that bundles multiple files and directories into one container, typically with per-file DEFLATE compression and a central directory index. It supports random access to individual entries without decompressing the whole archive. It underlies many document formats such as DOCX and EPUB.
How to use this file
Use an example ZIP to test archive extraction, central-directory parsing, per-entry decompression, and protection against path-traversal (zip-slip) during unpacking.
How to use this file for testing
“ZIP - Directory Records Without a Trailing Slash” is a deterministic Novus Examples fixture for Conversion testing, Error handling. The same content exported across many formats and linked as a group, so you can convert one and diff against the expected twin.
Documented properties for this file: seed 20260807. Compare results against paired or grouped companions on this page when present (clean↔damaged, searchable↔scanned, or format twins) so scores stay reproducible across runs.
Download the file once, keep the path stable in CI or local scripts, and treat the spec table as the contract: dimensions, seeds, field lists, and roles are intentional. Corrupt or invalid samples are labelled as such — expect parsers to fail loudly rather than silently accept them.
Archive fixtures are documented down to their member list (shown on this page) and are deliberately safe — no zip bombs, executables, or hidden payloads. Test extractors against nested, unicode, empty, and encrypted variants.
Code examples
unzip -l directories-no-trailing-slash.zip # list members
unzip directories-no-trailing-slash.zip -d out/ # extractRelated files
- zipZIP - Data Descriptor (no signature)The same streaming layout with the data descriptor's PK\x07\x08 signature omitted, which the spec permits and which breaks readers that scan for the signature instead of trusting the central directory. The central directory here carries the authoritative sizes and CRCs.
- zipZIP - Data Descriptor (with signature)A ZIP written the way a streaming writer must write one: general-purpose bit 3 is set, the local header carries CRC 0 and sizes 0, and the real values follow the compressed data in a data descriptor introduced by the optional PK\x07\x08 signature.
- zipZIP - Data Descriptor (ZIP64 8-byte fields)A streaming ZIP in ZIP64 form: the data descriptor's compressed and uncompressed sizes are 8 bytes each rather than 4. Readers that assume a fixed 16-byte descriptor desynchronise on the very next local header.
- arAR - Empty Archive (magic only)The smallest valid archive in this catalog: the 8-byte ar magic and nothing after it. ar has no trailer record, so end-of-file is the only end marker, and this is what an empty static library or an empty .deb control archive looks like on disk.
- cpioCPIO - Empty Archive (trailer only)An empty cpio archive is a single TRAILER!!! header record - a full 110-byte newc header with every numeric field zero - plus its alignment padding. Readers that look for member data before checking the name find none and must still report a valid, empty archive.
- tarTAR - Empty ArchiveAn empty tar is not a zero-byte file - it is exactly two 512-byte blocks of zeros, the end-of-archive marker with nothing in front of it. Writers that emit nothing at all produce a file most readers reject, which is the bug this 1024-byte file exists to distinguish.
Generated by generation/archives_p7.py. Free for any use, no attribution required — license.