/cc @dsnet

Not that I'm opposed to a String method:

• What would the string print for zip.FileHeader?
• Is String a precedence we want to set for other packages as well? (e.g., should tar.Header have a String method as well?)

The problem with "friendly String methods" for complex types, especially in core packages, is that different people have different definitions of what that might mean. In this case I think it's better to leave it as and have you print the things you're interested in.

@robpike - I think it'd be useful as it is, minus the every byte being printed, i.e. name and compression level.

@judepereira that might be something to open a Go2 issue about: a flag that truncates long slices/arrays e.g.: https://play.golang.org/p/zWL3C7jRlIR

@ericlagergren A flag wouldn't do justice to it, unless by default, the String method would return a shorthand representation of the array.

Instead of a flag, maybe we could have String always return a shorthand description of the array, and then a new method, say, Contents which would return the current implementation (i.e. the actual array contents)?

something along the line of jar -tvf ?
for example
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:10 PDT 2011 META-INF/
125 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/antlr/
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/antlr/runtime/
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/antlr/runtime/misc/
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/antlr/runtime/debug/
0 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/antlr/runtime/tree/
1211 Tue Jul 19 09:36:08 PDT 2011 org/antlr/runtime/misc/IntArray.class
Any example would help

@MironAtHome That could be part of a new API in zip (although I think one exists already - haven't looked).

I was thinking of something on the lines of the file name, and file size.
Contents on the other hand, could return the byte array.

After all, it is the String impl for File, and not zip.

Sorry, but you can easily forget and print just about every struct that exists. That doesn't mean every struct should have a String method. It's also unclear whether String should return the name, the content, or (as you suggested) some "ls -l"-like summary. Better not to pick one and let people ask for what they want.