Description:

PhysicsFS is a library to provide abstract access to various
archives. The programmer defines a "write directory" on the physical
filesystem. No file writing done through the PhysicsFS API can leave
that write directory, for security. For file reading, the programmer
lists directories and archives that form a "search path". Once the
search path is defined, it becomes a single, transparent, hierarchical
filesystem. This makes for easy access to ZIP files in the same way as
you access a file directly on the disk, and it makes it easy to ship a
new archive that will override a previous archive on a per-file
basis. Symbolic links can be disabled, for added safety. Finally,
PhysicsFS gives you a platform- abstracted means to determine if
CD-ROMs are available, the user's home directory, where in the real
filesystem your program is running, etc.