Huffman Tree Processing Tool

Overview

The Huffman Tree Processing Tool (huffman.exe) is a command-line utility written in C that facilitates Huffman coding and decoding. The tool supports three main modes: Build Tree, Encode, and Decode.

Features

1. Build Tree Mode

In this mode, the tool constructs a Huffman tree based on the weights of input characters. The user provides a file containing character weights, and the resulting model is saved to a specified output file. The tool outputs the size of the code table and the Weighted Path Length (WPL) on the screen.

Usage:

# format of input file
A 0.03
B 0.028
C 0.035

# order in terminal
./huffman.exe -m c -i input_file -o model_file

2. Encode Mode

The Encode mode allows users to encode text using a pre-built Huffman tree model. Users provide a text file in .txt format with a single row without a line break, the Huffman model file, and the tool outputs the encoded result to a specified file.

Usage:

./huffman.exe -m e -i input_file -h model_file -o output_file

3. Decode Mode

In Decode mode, the tool takes an encoded file and the Huffman code file, then decodes the input and outputs the result to a specified file in .txt format.

Usage:

./huffman.exe -m d -i input_file -h code_file -o output_file

Usage Examples

Build Tree Mode

./huffman.exe -m c -i weight.txt -o model.txt

Encode Mode

./huffman.exe -m e -i origin.txt -h model.txt -o encode.txt

Decode Mode

./huffman.exe -m d -i encode.txt -h model.txt -o decode.txt

Dependencies

The tool is written in C and does not have external dependencies, orders should be input in terminal in the same direction.

Compilation

To compile the tool, use the provided Makefile or any C compiler, such as GCC.

To compile your huffman.c program in linux environment with provided Makefile, open the terminal in the same directory and run:

make

This will create an executable named huffman in the same directory. If you want to clean up and remove the executable, you can run:

make clean

Make sure to adjust the CFLAGS variable if you have additional compilation flags you'd like to include.

Contributing

Feel free to contribute by opening issues or submitting pull requests on the GitHub repository.

License

This Huffman Tree Processing Tool is an open-source.