Only very lately I figured out that there is a way to compress/uncompress files to a different directory / location/ folder on UNIX. This is very important while taking a compressed OS backup or restoring compressed files from backup.
To compress to a different folder / locaiton :
compress -c /appl01/orabkup/system01.dbf > /u01/oradata/ORCL/ORCL_system01.dbf.Z
or
compress < /appl01/orabkup/system01.dbf > /u01/oradata/ORCL/ORCL_system01.dbf.Z
To uncompress to a different folder / locaiton :
uncompress -c /appl01/orabkup/ORCL_system01.dbf.Z > /u01/oradata/ORCL/system01.dbf
or
uncompress < /appl01/orabkup/ORCL_system01.dbf.Z > /u01/oradata/ORCL/system01.dbf
This may be a very primitive one, but I learned it very recently. Hope it helps you!
Posted by Mani Balasubramanian 
