sub shrink {
    my $packed = '';
    while ($_[0] =~ /(.{1,8})/gs) {
        my $bitstr = unpack('B*', $1);
        $bitstr =~ s/.(.{7})/$1/g;
        $packed .= pack('B*', $bitstr);
    }
    $packed;
}

sub grow {
    my $unpacked = '';
    while ($_[0] =~ /(.{1,7})/gs) {
        my $bitstr = unpack('B*', $1);
        $bitstr =~ s/(.{7})/0$1/g;
        $unpacked .= pack('B*', $bitstr);
    }
    $unpacked;
}
[download]

Roy Johnson,
I tried a similar approach only using vec() and starting 1 bit back from the end of the string each time - I got bizarre results. An idea I had that I would have pursued if I could have made it work would be to pre-size the strings and use 4arg substr instead of growing it each time.

Cheers - L~R

Are you talking about shrinking in place, so you don't have the overhead of having the compressed and uncompressed strings in memory at the same time?

my $str =<<'EOS';
There once was a man from Nantucket,
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
His daughter, named Nan,
Ran off with a man.
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
EOS

sub shrink_in_place {
    for (my $i=0; $i<length($_[0]); $i+=7) {
        for (substr($_[0], $i, 8)) {
            $_ = pack('B*', grep s/.(.{7})/$1/g, unpack('B*', $_));
        }
    }
}

sub grow_in_place {
    for (my $i=0; $i<length($_[0]); $i+=8) {
        for (substr($_[0], $i, 7)) {
            $_ = pack('B*', grep s/(.{7})/0$1/g, unpack('B*', $_));
        }
    }
}

print "$str";
printf "Length is %d\n", length($str);
shrink_in_place($str);
printf "Shrunk length is %d\n", length($str);
grow_in_place($str);
print "Restored: $str";
[download]

---

Caution: Contents may have been coded under pressure.

sub shrink {
    my $dbit = 0;
    for (my $sbit = 0; $sbit < length($_[0]) * 8; $sbit++) {
        next if $sbit % 8 == 7;
        vec($_[0], $dbit++, 1) = vec($_[0], $sbit, 1);
    }
    my $dlen = length($_[0]) * 7 / 8;
    $dlen++ unless $dlen == int($dlen);
    $dlen = int($dlen);
    my $extra = length($_[0]) - $dlen;
    if ($extra > 0) {
        substr($_[0], $dlen, $extra, '');
    }
    for (my $pbit = $dbit; $pbit < $dlen * 8; $pbit++) {
        vec($_[0], $pbit, 1) = 0;
    }
}

sub grow {
    my $sbit = int(length($_[0]) * 8 / 7) * 7 - 1;
    for (my $dbit = int(length($_[0]) * 8 / 7) * 8 - 1; $dbit >= 0; $d
+bit--) {
        vec($_[0], $dbit, 1) = $dbit % 8 == 7 ? 0 : vec($_[0], $sbit--
+, 1);
    }
}
[download]

...a better way to implement ceil...

    my $dlen = int((7 + length($_[0]) * 7)/8);
    substr($_[0], $dlen) = '';
    vec ($_[0], $dbit++, 1) = 0 while ($dbit < $dlen * 8);
}
[download]

This replaces your shrink function from the definition of $dlen on.

---

Caution: Contents may have been coded under pressure.