(Ruby) Compressing StringBuilder Data Using CompressSb (Single Call and Chunked)

See more Compression Examples

1. Single-call compression, where the entire input is compressed in one operation.
2. Chunked compression, where the input is split into multiple parts and processed sequentially using the FirstChunk and LastChunk properties.

The example shows how compressed output is appended to a BinData object, and how the result can be verified by decompressing back to the original text. This is useful for both simple use cases and scenarios where data is processed incrementally (such as streaming or large inputs).

Key Points

• CompressSb converts text to bytes using the Charset property (UTF-8 recommended).
• Compressed data is appended to a BinData object.
• When both FirstChunk and LastChunk are true, compression is done in a single call.
• For chunked processing:
  • First chunk → FirstChunk = true, LastChunk = false
  • Middle chunks → both false
  • Final chunk → LastChunk = true
• Chunked compression is useful when processing data incrementally.

Chilkat Ruby Downloads install from rubygems.org gem install chilkat or download... Ruby Library for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Alpine Linux

require 'chilkat'

success = false

# This example assumes the Chilkat API has already been unlocked.
# See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

compress = Chilkat::CkCompression.new()
compress.put_Algorithm("zlib")

# ================================================================
# 1) Single-call compression (entire data in one call)
# ================================================================

sb = Chilkat::CkStringBuilder.new()
sb.Append("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ")
sb.Append("This is a simple example using CompressSb.")

bdCompressed = Chilkat::CkBinData.new()

# When both FirstChunk and LastChunk are true (the defaults),
# the entire compression happens in a single call.
compress.put_FirstChunk(true)
compress.put_LastChunk(true)

success = compress.CompressSb(sb,bdCompressed)
if (success == false)
    print compress.lastErrorText() + "\n";
    exit
end

compressedBase64 = bdCompressed.getEncoded("base64")

print "Single-call compressed (base64):" + "\n";
print compressedBase64 + "\n";

# ================================================================
# 2) Chunked compression using FirstChunk / LastChunk
# ================================================================

bdChunkedOut = Chilkat::CkBinData.new()

# First chunk
compress.put_FirstChunk(true)
compress.put_LastChunk(false)

sbPart = Chilkat::CkStringBuilder.new()
sbPart.Append("The quick brown fox ")

success = compress.CompressSb(sbPart,bdChunkedOut)
if (success == false)
    print compress.lastErrorText() + "\n";
    exit
end

# Middle chunk
compress.put_FirstChunk(false)
compress.put_LastChunk(false)

sbPart.Clear()
sbPart.Append("jumps over the lazy dog. ")

success = compress.CompressSb(sbPart,bdChunkedOut)
if (success == false)
    print compress.lastErrorText() + "\n";
    exit
end

# Final chunk
compress.put_FirstChunk(false)
compress.put_LastChunk(true)

sbPart.Clear()
sbPart.Append("This is a chunked CompressSb example.")

success = compress.CompressSb(sbPart,bdChunkedOut)
if (success == false)
    print compress.lastErrorText() + "\n";
    exit
end

chunkedBase64 = bdChunkedOut.getEncoded("base64")

print "Chunked compressed (base64):" + "\n";
print chunkedBase64 + "\n";

# ================================================================
# 3) Decompress to verify correctness
# ================================================================

sbDecompressed = Chilkat::CkStringBuilder.new()

# Decompress in a single call (entire data already assembled)
compress.put_FirstChunk(true)
compress.put_LastChunk(true)

success = compress.DecompressSb(bdChunkedOut,sbDecompressed)
if (success == false)
    print compress.lastErrorText() + "\n";
    exit
end

print "Decompressed text:" + "\n";
print sbDecompressed.getAsString() + "\n";