Re: compression (was Re: [Lynx-dev] Problem with mobil.t-online.de)

[gilmap]

In a recent note, Thomas Dickey said:

> Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 08:06:29 -0500 (EST)
> 
> iirc, libz is supposed to be able to do uncompress (perhaps with some 
> option - I don't recall that).  It would be useful to have that, though
> the bug that I'm interested in at the moment is whether the external
> uncompress is working properly.
> 
gunzip will quietly uncompress (no option required) when it
recognizes a compressed file.

A couple things I've wished for in this area:

o gunzip (and various others) can work as filters (pipe;
  no temp file required).  It would be nice to:

  - see a partial display during transmission on a slow link.

  - Not tie up the temp space for an otherwise unneeded temp
    file.

  However:

  - using a filter would require retransmitting the file when
    switching between source and rendered display or resizing
    the screen window.  (Same thing happens when invoking Lynx
    with a character special file as the command argument,
    then switching to source display.)

o I notice (mostly) that when I leave and re-enter a compressed
  page, it gets retransmitted.  It would be better if a cached
  copy were available.  However this may merely be Lynx's
  respecting a short (zero?) expiration time supplied by the
  server.

o Using filters is somewhat related to my wish for streaming
  to an external viewer when the .mailcap entry omits a "%s"
  conversion specification, rather than writing to a temp file
  then redirecting that file to stdin of the viewer.

-- gil
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