SHRINK: A TEXT COMPRESSION PACKAGE

Abstract

This work is concerned with basic techniques that are suitable for text compression. The goal of the work was to not only compare some practical and easy-to-implement text ,compression techniques but also to develop a software package to implement the same. To permit higher data transfer capability, because of always increasing infor-nation transfer, and also to minimize the economic expenditure in communi-cetion,data compression has now become a practical requirement in many data systems. The software program, written in Turbo C, permits the frequency analysis of various types of date files-. The program analyses the user's data files end deter-mines the most beneficial data compression method(s) applicable to it and then implements-them by calling routines for these techniques. If more then one technique is applicable, then all these techniques are implemented one by one in a particular sequence. In addition,- if one wants,the program permits one to determine the suscep-tibility of his or her data files to different compression techniques prior to actually implementing those techniques. Thre,e major text compression techniques which have been used in the package are run length. encoding (which includes null.suppression,elso),helf byte packing and the statistical encoding..