The question is, how long can a Compressor count on the user buffer to stick
around after a call to setInput()?
The Compressor object has a method, setInput whose inputs are an array
reference, an offset and a length.
I would expect that this input would no longer be guaranteed to persist after
the setInput call returns.
...but in ZlibCompressor and SnappyCompressor, when there is no buffer room for
len bytes, the Compressor makes a copy of the reference, offset, and length,
clears the needsInput condition, and returns waiting for a call to compress()
to unload the buffers through the compressor. The Compressor implementations
count on the data to persist after setInput returns until compress() is called.
So, the data persist after the call. Does all such data persist?
In theory, could a Compressor avoid a copy by just collecting references to
each input user buffer passed in and then sending all these references to the
compression library when compress() is called?
...or do these user buffers get reused before that time?
By keeping references to these buffers, am I preventing them from getting
garbage collected and potentially soaking up large amounts of memory?
Where is the persistence of the contents of these user buffers supposed to be
documented?
TIA,
- Tim.
