Index: src/test/org/apache/lucene/document/TestBinaryDocument.java
===================================================================
--- src/test/org/apache/lucene/document/TestBinaryDocument.java	(revision 756667)
+++ src/test/org/apache/lucene/document/TestBinaryDocument.java	(working copy)
@@ -103,10 +103,12 @@
     throws Exception
   {
     Fieldable binaryFldCompressed = new Field("binaryCompressed", CompressionTools.compress(binaryValCompressed.getBytes()), Field.Store.YES);
+    Fieldable stringFldCompressed = new Field("stringCompressed", CompressionTools.compressString(binaryValCompressed), Field.Store.YES);
     
     Document doc = new Document();
     
     doc.add(binaryFldCompressed);
+    doc.add(stringFldCompressed);
     
     /** add the doc to a ram index */
     MockRAMDirectory dir = new MockRAMDirectory();
@@ -122,7 +124,8 @@
     /** fetch the binary compressed field and compare it's content with the original one */
     String binaryFldCompressedTest = new String(CompressionTools.decompress(docFromReader.getBinaryValue("binaryCompressed")));
     assertTrue(binaryFldCompressedTest.equals(binaryValCompressed));
-    
+    assertTrue(CompressionTools.decompressString(docFromReader.getBinaryValue("stringCompressed")).equals(binaryValCompressed));
+
     reader.close();
     dir.close();
   }
Index: src/java/org/apache/lucene/document/CompressionTools.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/lucene/document/CompressionTools.java	(revision 756667)
+++ src/java/org/apache/lucene/document/CompressionTools.java	(working copy)
@@ -21,21 +21,14 @@
 import java.util.zip.Inflater;
 import java.util.zip.DataFormatException;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 
 /** Simple utility class providing static methods to
  *  compress and decompress binary data for stored fields.
  *  This class uses java.util.zip.Deflater and Inflater
- *  classes to compress and decompress.
- *
- *  To compress a String:
- *  <pre>
- *    String string = ...
- *    byte[] bytes = compress(string.getBytes("UTF-8");
- *  </pre>
- *  and  to decompress:
- *  <pre>
- *    new String(decompress(bytes), "UTF-8");
- *  </pre>
+ *  classes to compress and decompress, which is the same
+ *  format previously used by the now deprecated
+ *  Field.Store.COMPRESS.
  */
 
 public class CompressionTools {
@@ -84,6 +77,25 @@
     return compress(value, 0, value.length, Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION);
   }
 
+  /** Compresses the String value, with default BEST_COMPRESSION level */
+  public static byte[] compressString(String value) {
+    return compressString(value, Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION);
+  }
+
+  /** Compresses the String value using the specified
+   *  compressionLevel (constants are defined in
+   *  java.util.zip.Deflater). */
+  public static byte[] compressString(String value, int compressionLevel) {
+    final byte[] bytes;
+    try {
+      bytes = value.getBytes("UTF-8");
+    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    return compress(bytes, 0, bytes.length, compressionLevel);
+  }
+
   /** Decompress the byte array previously returned by
    *  compress */
   public static byte[] decompress(byte[] value) throws DataFormatException {
@@ -107,4 +119,15 @@
     
     return bos.toByteArray();
   }
+
+  /** Decompress the byte array previously returned by
+   *  compressString back into a String */
+  public static String decompressString(byte[] value) throws DataFormatException {
+    byte[] bytes = decompress(value);
+    try {
+      return new String(bytes, "UTF-8");
+    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee) {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
 }