localFieldsStream.readBytes(b, 0, b.length);
fieldsData = new String(uncompress(b), "UTF-8");
} else {
//read in chars b/c we already know the length we need to read
char[] chars = new char[toRead];
localFieldsStream.readChars(chars, 0, toRead);
fieldsData = new String(chars);
}
} catch (IOException e) {
throw new FieldReaderException(e);
}