What is a .ZOO file?
ZOO is an early cross-platform compressed archive format.
- Did you know
- The Zoo archiver was used in the late 1980s before ZIP took over.
- The Zoo archiver was written by Rahul Dhesi in the mid-1980s and built on the LZSS compression algorithm.
- Distributed as source on the comp.sources.misc Usenet group, Zoo ran across Unix, MS-DOS, AmigaOS and even VAX/VMS machines before ZIP eclipsed it.
- What Analyser reads
- Read software packages and Unix archive streams: Python wheels, NuGet, Chrome/Firefox/VS Code extensions, Electron ASAR, Windows APPX/MSIX, Debian (DEB), RPM, RubyGems, conda, Anki, Microsoft CAB, cpio and ar - showing name, version, dependencies and the file tree.
- Depth of analysis
- .ZOO is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .ZOO file
- Drag a .ZOO file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.