Compression JavaScript Reference Documentation
Compression
Current Version: 11.4.0
Provides a flexible and efficient API for compressing and decompressing data in memory, files, and streams. It supports multiple compression algorithms, chunked processing for large data, and optional encoding for easy transport or storage.
Key Features
- Multiple Compression Algorithms
deflatezlib(deflate with header)bzip2lzw
- Flexible Data Types
- Byte arrays
- Strings (with configurable charset)
BinDataandStringBuilder- Files and streams
- Streaming Support
- Compress/decompress arbitrarily large data with constant memory usage
- Ideal for files, sockets, or continuous data streams
- Chunked Processing
- Process data incrementally using
FirstChunkandLastChunk - Replace older Begin/More/End patterns
- Process data incrementally using
- Encoded Output Options
- Return compressed data as:
- Base64
- Hex
- 20+ other encodings
- Return compressed data as:
- Integrated Compression + Encryption
- Combine compression and encryption in a single operation
Object Creation
Note: This is intended for running within a Chilkat.Js embedded JavaScript engine.
var obj = new CkCompression();
Properties
Algorithm
· string
Specifies the compression algorithm to use. Supported values are
deflate, zlib, bzip2, and lzw.
The zlib option is the deflate algorithm with a zlib header.
Note: ppmd is deprecated and should not be used.
It was only available on 32-bit systems and specifically used the J variant.
New applications should use one of the supported algorithms listed above.
Charset
· string
Specifies the character encoding used when converting text to bytes before compression, and bytes back to text after decompression.
The current default is the computer’s ANSI charset, such as Windows-1252 on many
Western Windows systems. However, most modern applications should explicitly set
this property to utf-8.
Recommendation: Set Charset = "utf-8" unless you
specifically need compatibility with another encoding.
DebugLogFilePath
· string
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
DeflateLevel
· int
Sets the compression level used by the deflate and zlib
algorithms.
0means no compression.9means maximum compression.- The default value is
6.
Higher values may produce smaller output but can require more processing time.
topEncodingMode
· string
Specifies the text encoding used by methods whose names end in ENC,
such as CompressBytesENC and DecompressStringENC.
Compression methods ending in ENC return compressed binary data as
an encoded string. Decompression methods ending in ENC expect the
input string to use this same encoding.
Valid values include:
base64hexurlquoted-printable
FirstChunk
· boolean
Indicates that the next chunk-aware compression or decompression call is the first chunk in a sequence.
The default value is .
true
When both FirstChunk and LastChunk are
, the method call is treated as a complete, single-call
compression or decompression operation.
true
LastChunk
· boolean
Indicates that the next chunk-aware compression or decompression call is the final chunk in a sequence.
The default value is .
true
When both FirstChunk and LastChunk are
, the input is treated as the complete data set and processed
in a single call.
true
LastErrorHtml
·string,read-only
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
·string,read-only
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
·string,read-only
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
· boolean
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
UncommonOptions
· string
Provides a way to enable specialized or uncommon behavior. This property normally remains empty.
It may be set to a comma-separated list of keywords.
Supported option:
-
Crypt2CompressHdr— Duplicates the compression/decompression header behavior used by the deprecated and removed Crypt2 compression functions.
VerboseLogging
· boolean
If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
·string,read-only
Methods
CompressBd
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· bd:CkBinData
Compresses the data contained in a BinData object.
The BinData object is modified to contain the compressed result.
This method is not FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
CompressBd2
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· bdIn:CkBinData
· bdOut:CkBinData
Compresses the data in one BinData object and appends the
compressed output to another BinData object.
The input BinData is not modified.
This method is FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
CompressEncryptFile
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· cryptParams:CkJsonObject
· srcPath:string
· destPath:string
Compresses and encrypts a file, writing the result to a destination file.
The compression and encryption are performed internally in streaming mode, so files of any size can be processed without loading the entire file into memory.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
CompressFile
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· srcPath:string
· destPath:string
Compresses a source file and writes the compressed data to a destination file.
The file is processed internally in streaming mode, allowing files of any size to be compressed with stable memory usage.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
CompressSb
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· sb:CkStringBuilder
· binData:CkBinData
Compresses the text contained in a StringBuilder and appends the
compressed bytes to a BinData object.
Text is converted to bytes according to the Charset property.
This method is FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
CompressStr
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· str:string
· bd:CkBinData
Compresses a string and appends the compressed bytes to a BinData
object.
The string is converted to bytes using the charset specified by the
Charset property.
This method is FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
topCompressStringENC
· return:string
· str:string
Compresses a string and returns the compressed result as an encoded string.
The string is first converted to bytes using Charset, then
compressed, and finally encoded according to EncodingMode.
This method is not FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns null on failure
DecompressBd
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· bd:CkBinData
Decompresses the compressed data contained in a BinData object.
The BinData object is modified to contain the decompressed result.
This method is not FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
DecompressBd2
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· bdIn:CkBinData
· bdOut:CkBinData
Decompresses the data in one BinData object and appends the
decompressed output to another BinData object.
The input BinData is not modified.
This method is FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
DecompressFile
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· srcPath:string
· destPath:string
Decompresses a source file and writes the decompressed data to a destination file.
The file is processed internally in streaming mode, allowing files of any size to be decompressed without loading the entire file into memory.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
DecompressSb
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· binData:CkBinData
· sb:CkStringBuilder
Decompresses compressed data from a BinData object and appends the
resulting text to a StringBuilder.
The decompressed bytes are converted to text using the Charset
property.
This method is FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
DecompressStringENC
· return:string
· encodedCompressedData:string
Decompresses compressed data supplied as an encoded string and returns the resulting text.
The input string is decoded according to EncodingMode, then
decompressed. The resulting bytes are converted to text using
Charset.
This method is not FirstChunk / LastChunk aware.
Returns null on failure
DecryptDecompressFile
· return:boolean;truefor success,falsefor failure
· cryptParams:CkJsonObject
· srcPath:string
· destPath:string
Decrypts and decompresses a file, writing the restored data to a destination file.
This is the reverse operation of CompressEncryptFile.
Returns true for success, false for failure.