Create Zip with utf-8 Filenames (Unicode filenames)

Demonstrates how to create a .zip archive that stores the filenames using the utf-8 character encoding. This allows for filenames of any language to be within a single Zip.

Note: utf-8 is the multibyte encoding for Unicode. When a Zip compression product declares that it supports Unicode filenames, what it really means is that it is capable of reading/writing utf-8. WinZip added support for Unicode (utf-8) filenames starting with version 11.2.

Download Chilkat 32-bit Zip ActiveX (.msi) (includes objects for .zip, .gz, .bz2, and .Z)

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Dim zip As New ChilkatZip2

Dim success As Long

'  Any string unlocks the component for the 1st 30-days.
success = zip.UnlockComponent("30-day trial.")
If (success <> 1) Then
    MsgBox zip.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

success = zip.NewZip("test.zip")
If (success <> 1) Then
    MsgBox zip.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  To zip using utf-8 filenames, set the OemCodePage = 65001
zip.OemCodePage = 65001

Dim recurse As Long
recurse = 1
zip.AppendFiles "c:/temp/NonEnglishFilenames/*",recurse

success = zip.WriteZipAndClose()
If (success <> 1) Then
    MsgBox zip.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

MsgBox "Zip Created!"