Data compression algorithms

[Bob Stout]

In an article of <10 Jul 89 14:19:28 GMT>, Barry.True writes:

 >Does anyone know of a data compression/decompression algorithm that can be
 >used to compress an eleven byte MS-DOS file mask (i.e., filename/ext.) so
 >that two of the bytes can be freed up for use? 

The fact that MS-DOS file names are always upper case and may only consist of  
alphanumeric characters plus 15 additional characters (total of 51 characters  
out of 256 possible codes) might suggest something. Even assuming 64 valid  
characters would compress 11 bytes into 8.25 bytes, thereby freeing up the two  
bytes you need.