How to zip a string?
python, ruby-on-rails
Solution
To compress a string using the same method used in `.zip` archives, just use the `zlib` module directly (which is what Python's `zipfile` module does). Here's a simple example:
import zlib
teststr = """Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus
pretium justo eget elit eleifend, et dignissim quam eleifend. Nam vehicula nisl
posuere velit volutpat, vitae scelerisque nisl imperdiet. Phasellus dignissim,
dolor amet."""
cmpstr = zlib.compress(teststr.encode('utf-8'))
uncmpstr = zlib.decompress(cmpstr)
fmt = '{:>8}: (length {}) {!r}'
print(fmt.format('teststr', len(teststr), teststr))
print(fmt.format('cmpstr', len(cmpstr), cmpstr))
print(fmt.format('uncmpstr', len(uncmpstr), uncmpstr))
Output:
teststr: (length 237) 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus\npretium justo eget elit eleifend, et dignissim quam eleifend. Nam vehicula nisl\nposuere velit volutpat, vitae scelerisque nisl imperdiet. Phasellus dignissim,\ndolor amet.'
cmpstr: (length 157) 'x\x9cMO[\x0e\xc30\x08\xfb\xef)8@\xd5\x93L\xd3\xae\x10%^\xcb\x94W\x03\xf4\xfc\xa3\x9d\xb4\xed\x07\tcc\xfb\xd6\x06\nq\x17+\x94Zn\x83\x84\x95B\x81\xce\x14[\x15D\x85\xda\xa0\x90\xb8\xb3D\xae+!\xb3.\xf4\xd8\x82 g\x93\xa9\x0f(\xbb\xfce\xa2\x8d\xb0B/\x8a\x0f\xf0\x135\xcd\xe4H\xe2\xb5\xb2\x08\x17\xda-\x94\xefm\xa1\xbbo\x076\x8e\x96\x039%O\xbd\x89a\xc0\xd1\xf3\xcb\xd1\xb2i\x0f\x1e\xe7`\r \x89\xae\x1d,\xbb\xe1\xa2\x13\x97\x8e\x91\x18\xff\x99~v\xf3\xf4iu6Z\xde\xf8\xa6X\r'
uncmpstr: (length 237) 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus\npretium justo eget elit eleifend, et dignissim quam eleifend. Nam vehicula nisl\nposuere velit volutpat, vitae scelerisque nisl imperdiet. Phasellus dignissim,\ndolor amet.'
Problem
What is the equivalent of this class in python? https://gist.github.com/2594962 In PHP, it allows you to zip a string. I'm trying to find the equivaelnt in the following languages: Python, Ruby on Rails and ASP. I'm hoping there are built in functions for these languages. I couldn't find one in PHP. Update When I say Zip, I am referring to the standard algorithm that windows uses. Not in the sense of an archive. I currently use that class to zip a string, base64 encode it and send it as a request to an internal API.