(Java) Compress and Decompress Hex String

Imagine we have data represented as a hex string. This example demonstrates how to decode, compress, and re-encode to a smaller hex string representing the compressed data. An even better choice is to re-encode to a more compact encoding such as base64.

Note: This example requires Chilkat v9.5.0.66 or greater.

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import com.chilkatsoft.*;

public class ChilkatExample {

  static {
    try {
        System.loadLibrary("chilkat");
    } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {
      System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
      System.exit(1);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String argv[])
  {
    // This example assumes the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    // See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    boolean success;

    String strHex = "54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A0D0A";

    CkCompression compress = new CkCompression();
    compress.put_Algorithm("deflate");

    CkBinData binDat = new CkBinData();
    // Load the hex string into a BinData object.
    // This decodes the hexidecimal. The decoded bytes will be contained in the BinData.
    binDat.AppendEncoded(strHex,"hex");

    // Compress the BinData.
    compress.CompressBd(binDat);

    // Get the compressed data in hex format:
    String compressedHex = binDat.getEncoded("hex");
    System.out.println("compressed hex:");
    System.out.println(compressedHex);

    // The compressed hex is: 0BC94855282CCD4CCE56482ACA2FCF5348CBAF50C82ACD2D484D51C82F4B2D522801CAE72456552AA4E4A7EBF172850C61E5BC5C00

    // Even better, get the compressed data in base64 format:
    // (base64url and modbase64 are other valid choices...)
    String compressedBase64 = binDat.getEncoded("base64");
    System.out.println("compressed base64:");
    System.out.println(compressedBase64);

    // The compressed base64 is: C8lIVSgszUzOVkgqyi/PU0jLr1DIKs0tSE1RyC9LLVIoAcrnJFZVKqTkp+vxcoUMYeW8XAA=

    // Now decompress:
    binDat.Clear();
    binDat.AppendEncoded(compressedHex,"hex");
    compress.DecompressBd(binDat);

    String decompressedHex = binDat.getEncoded("hex");
    System.out.println("decompressed hex:");
    System.out.println(decompressedHex);

    // The output is the original hex string:
    // 54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A54686520717569636B2062726F776E20666F78206A756D706564206F76657220746865206C617A7920646F672E0D0A0D0A
  }
}