Re: client-side zip of POST or GET data, auto unzip on server.

Hello, "Petre Agenbag" <internet@psimation.com> wrote: > Hi > I'm wondering if something like this will be possible. > > I am correct in thinking that POST and GET data are sent as plain text? Not always. (POST -> SSL) > And, that being plain text, they should probably be highly compactable > by zip utils? Not really sure how you can do this... > The reason I'm thinking this route is that I have a couple of forms for > some client websites that are particularly large, some of the POST data > sent are more than 2 MB, but obviously it can vary depending on the > amount of data entered by the user ( I cannot limit this, as these forms > are assessment forms, and they need to contain all relevant info, > regardless of size ). > All fields are text fields. 2MB of TEXT? If my calculation is correct hat would be over 2 million characters! I'm sure you can limit the size depending on when and where they enter "relevant info". > So, what happens now is that for some users on slow connections, these > forms can either take years or they simply time out every time. I'm afraid so... > Being a specific application with controlled number of users, I wouldn't > think it bad practise to force the user to install a "zip" package on > his pc; that's to say if it would be possible to write some client side > script (JS?) that will receive the form data, zip it, then send the I don't think this is possible. > zipped packet via POST or GET as per usual to the server, where, upon > receipt, the POST package is "unzipped" and the handled as per usual. How? > Would something like this be possible or feasible at all? Are there > other better ways to accomplish this? I think it'd be better to divide your form(s) in different sections and POST data in smaller units. Or, perhaps, you can just ask them to (1) create a text file (better if it's XML) then (2) zip it if it's big and then (3) upload them to the server. Then, perhaps, you can write a script that would parse the file and do whatever is needed. (Unzip it first if necessary.) Just an idea... - E