37 character set = 6 bits per character
8.3 format = 11 characters * 6 bits = 66 bits < 9 bytes
OR
Since only 37 out of 64 possible values are represented in those 6 bits, you
can use the 2 most significant bits to signal the end of a filename or the
beginning of the file extension (assuming ext is always 3 characters).
Character set:
0 = _
1-26 = A-Z
27=37 = 0-9
010100 000101 010011 010100 100101 11 000101 011000 000101
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -- ------ ------ ------
T E S T 9 . E X E
# bits = (# characters) * 6 + 2 = (8) * 6 + 2 = 50 bits < 7 bytes
Or if an agreed-upon lookup table for common characters can be created, a
flavor of Huffman compression can potentially shrink the filenames even
more. Especially since there's elbow room to play with in those 6 bits.
The downside, naturally, is more code to de/compress filenames, but
someone... perhaps say... Mr. Jentzsch might be able to drum up an
uber-tight de/compressor just for this purpose. :)
Sorry if I rehashed anything or if this is all just kinda "well, duh". I
very quickly scanned through this thread.
-Lee
