An Automatic System for File Compression
Timo Raita · The Computer Journal · 1987
This paper presents a compression system for disc files. The system is automatic in the sense that once started, it selects those files from the user directory which have not been recently used, compresses them, builds a directory for them and places the data as a whole under one filename. This has resulted in savings of approximately 50% in a DEC2060 computer system and in university use, which is due to the coding and to the space saved in avoiding the allocation of unnecessary directory pages of the file system. Alternative ways to design a compression system are also discussed.