Hello Chuck, all,
yes, it is not a bad starter, indeed,  the key line in this context is this one, of course:
            if proto_zip.prefs.decompress and comp_method == 8 then
                local data_tvb = tvb(offset, data_len):uncompress("Decompressed data")
so, it operates on DEFLATE (method 8 as per ZIP spec) method by default. Which leads to the next question: can/should  functions in LUA, uncompress in this case, be overridden, it is a generic term but I guess you got an idea -- same name/access to tvb but different functionality,  as in my specific case it is for sure not what is used for compression ? 
Kind Regards
Ariel Burbaickij