Compression, please.

A commonly used practice in optimizing websites is to compress the payload using gzip. Compressing the content makes better use of available bandwidth which tends to be a big bottleneck in serving up websites. MarkLogic Server doesn’t support gzip compression at the application server level, but a newly added function in MarkLogic 5.0-3 makes it possible to roll it yourself, xdmp:gzip().

Let’s write some XQuery code to gzip compress our web pages!

Support for GZip

Browsers that support gzip compressed content will send an HTTP header Accept-Encoding with gzip among the values. In MarkLogic you can check for this value using the xdmp:get-request-header() function:

Stating our intentions

Now that we know if the browser supports gzip compression we need to tell tell the browser that we are sending gzipped content. We accomplish this with the xdmp:add-response-header() function.

Putting it all together

Let’s throw together a full, working example.

Caveat emptor

Before you rush out and add this code to all your MarkLogic applications you will want to do your own testing to determine if the bandwidth savings outweigh the cost of gzipping your content.

—Paxton

Happy Halloween!

—Paxton

It’s been over 2 years since my last blog update. In those 2 years I got married and we had a daughter. This picture reminds me of what this blog has become to me.

I have finally decided to get back into this. I applied a hefty facelift to the site and will try like hell to keep updates coming. Stay tuned…

—Paxton

I snapped this photo in front of the Forager’s market in DUMBO, Brooklyn. I have no clue what these people are looking for. It was only later that my wife pointed out the sign in the background for the Forager’s Market.

—Paxton

This stone hippo lives in the park behind my apartment. The snow from this morning made him more photogenic.

—Paxton

While in downtown Louisville, KY for my sister’s wedding I came across this crazy car on Main street. It was covered in grotesque doll heads.

—Paxton

Flat Stanley has been visiting me in Manhattan. We attended the inflating of the Macy’s floats the day before Thanksgiving. This photo was taken on the subway ride back home.

—Paxton

I was at Great Falls in Maryland recently and stumbled upon a group of Civil War re-enactors. This tattered American Flag was at their camp.

—Paxton

I decided to photograph my guitar in the intense light I get at sunset in my apartment. I used my macro lens to get in close on the guitar’s tuning machine head.

—Paxton

I was at the Cherry Blossom festival this weekend in Washington, DC. I didn’t get very good photos of the blossoms, but I did snap this photo of a mountain bike leaning against a chain link fence.

—Paxton