bz2file

library0.98pypypi✓ verified 89d ago

The `bz2file` library provides a file-like object for reading and writing bzip2-compressed files, backporting the `io.BZ2File` interface introduced in Python 3.3. While Python 3.3+ includes `bz2.open()` in its standard library, this standalone package serves as a drop-in replacement or for use with older Python versions (>=2.6, excluding 3.0-3.2). The current version is 0.98. It has an infrequent release cadence, being a stable backport.

serialization data

pip install bz2file

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · BZ2FILE

bz2file

serializationpythonv0.98

Install

2.4s avg

Import

8ms

Disk

17MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.98 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.920 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.006s · 19.2MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.920 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 2.4s · import 0.001s · 20MB

17MB installed

● package 17MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

BZ2File

✓ from bz2file import BZ2File

✗ import bz2.BZ2File

The standard library's 'bz2' module exposes file operations via `bz2.open()`, not directly as `bz2.BZ2File`.

This quickstart demonstrates how to create and read a bzip2-compressed file using `BZ2File` in binary mode. It writes byte data, then reads it back to verify integrity.

import os from bz2file import BZ2File # Define a temporary file name file_name = 'example.bz2' data_to_write = b'This is some data that will be compressed using bzip2.' # 1. Write compressed data to a .bz2 file print(f"Writing to {file_name}...") with BZ2File(file_name, 'wb') as f: f.write(data_to_write) print("Write complete.") # 2. Read compressed data from the .bz2 file print(f"Reading from {file_name}...") with BZ2File(file_name, 'rb') as f: read_data = f.read() print(f"Read data: {read_data}") assert read_data == data_to_write print("Data integrity check passed.") # Clean up the temporary file os.remove(file_name) print(f"Cleaned up {file_name}.")

Debug

Known issues

gotchaFor new code on Python 3.3 and newer, consider using `bz2.open()` from the standard library's `bz2` module instead of this `bz2file` package. `bz2.open()` provides similar functionality and is built-in, making this external package largely redundant for modern Python versions.

fix

Use `import bz2; with bz2.open('file.bz2', 'wb') as f:` for standard library usage.

affects: All versions of bz2file package, for Python 3.3+

gotchaWhen writing to a `BZ2File` opened in binary mode ('wb', 'ab'), input data must be `bytes` objects. Attempting to write `str` objects will result in a `TypeError`.

fix

Encode string data to bytes explicitly before writing, e.g., `f.write('my string'.encode('utf-8'))`.

affects: All versions

gotchaThe `BZ2File` class, by default, operates in binary mode. If you need to read or write text, you must explicitly specify a text mode (e.g., `'wt'`, `'rt'`) and ideally an `encoding`.

fix

For text, use `BZ2File('file.bz2', 'wt', encoding='utf-8')` for writing or `BZ2File('file.bz2', 'rt', encoding='utf-8')` for reading.

affects: All versions

Errors

Common errors & fixes

TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

Attempting to write a Python `str` object to a `BZ2File` opened in binary mode ('wb').

fix

Convert the string to bytes before writing: `f.write("my data".encode('utf-8'))`.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'bz2file'

The `bz2file` package has not been installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the package using pip: `pip install bz2file`.

OSError: Invalid data stream

Attempting to open a file that is not a valid bzip2 compressed archive using `BZ2File`.

fix

Ensure the file being opened is a correctly compressed bzip2 file. This error can also occur if the file is corrupted or truncated. Use standard file opening functions for uncompressed files.

Upgrade

Version history

0.98latest on PyPI · released Jan 19, 2014

Audit

Dependencies

No dependency data recorded yet.

Agent activity

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Resources

githubhttps://github.com/nvawda/bz2file ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/bz2file/ ↗