`ZipFile`

This can compress an entire directory. It then can expand the compressed file into a new directory. We use the CreateFromDirectory and ExtractToDirectory methods.

ZipFile is simpler than developing custom methods. The code is heavily-tested, as it is part of .NET, so less development burden is created.

Example

To use this program, please create a folder called "source" in the same directory as the program executable. You can add files to it.

Also Make sure that a "destination" folder does not yet exist. If it exists, you can delete it in Windows Explorer.

Detail Upon execution, the program will take all the files in the source directory and add them to an archive called "destination.zip."

Then It will expand "destination.zip" into a folder called "destination." We specify CompressionLevel.Optimal.

Imports System.IO.Compression

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        ' Create ZIP from "source" directory (in program folder).
        ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory("source",
                                    "destination.zip",
                                    CompressionLevel.Optimal,
                                    False)
        ' Extract ZIP to "destination" folder.
        ZipFile.ExtractToDirectory("destination.zip",
                                   "destination")
    End Sub

End Module

Notes, add reference

You may need to add a reference in Visual Studio. Go to Add Reference and select System.IO.Compression.FileSystem. ZipFile was not in the older versions of .NET.

Compression levels

The Optimal compression level helps reduce the size of the archive. But Optimal will likely cause the program to slow down.

We used the ZipFile type in VB.NET. We compressed all the files in one directory into a single ZIP file. We then expanded that file into the original form.