// Serialize empty-string output:
RAMOutputStream ros = new RAMOutputStream();
outputs.writeFinalOutput(emptyOutput, ros);
byte[] emptyOutputBytes = new byte[(int) ros.getFilePointer()];
ros.writeTo(emptyOutputBytes, 0);
if (!packed) {
// reverse
final int stopAt = emptyOutputBytes.length/2;
int upto = 0;