Restore deflate `{ to: 'string' }` option on version 2

Hello,

I’m currently using the following code with Pako 1.0.11:

pako.deflate(textEncode(source), { level: 9, to: 'string' })

I noticed that the option { to: 'string' } is not supported anymore on deflate (but still supported on inflate). The code to convert a buffer to a String is also still available at:

https://github.com/nodeca/pako/blob/45cce9f4d67dcd446e753a70ec31a56955ac20fc/lib/utils/strings.js#L99

So I’m wondering if this change is intended? And if by any chance we could restore this feature on deflate?

I can open a pull request with this change but first I want to make sure that we are in agreement 😄

Thanks!

[puzrin]

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12710001/how-to-convert-uint8-array-to-base64-encoded-string

[ByordiShilpa]

“It should NOT do such thing. I can not imagine context, where such operation is required and valid. Of cause, i can not prohibit you do that, but IMO such questions are out of this package scope.”

MediaWiki used the pako base64 output to send VisualEditor HTML back to the server. (which makes sense as uploads, unlike downloads, don’t support gzip)

Alternative uses are to store preferences (which can’t be some numbered array) or to store information in localStorage. (which can’t be some numbered array) Frankly, I can’t imagine context in which numbered arrays would be a useful output.

Converting these numbered arrays to base64-encodable strings is a pain as base64 only allows 1 byte per character. I tried out a bunch of stuff, but this is way too complicated and will not contribute to code I can really maintain.

I believe this change splits the pako userbase into three groups:

1. “I will never update pako again and stick with 1.11”
2. “Why are you forcing me to add code to make this work again?” (https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/mediawiki/core/+/refs/heads/master/resources/src/mediawiki.deflate/mw.deflate.js)
3. “Let’s find an alternative to pako.”

It’s your project and you seem to have made your decision. But I wish you hadn’t just dropped a feature that -I’m guessing- 90%+ of your userbase relies on without providing a clear transition guide.

On the main page there is an example “Sometime you can wish to work with strings. For example, to send stringified objects to server.” but this example generates a Uint8Array which you can’t send to a server.