diff --git a/exec/java-exec/src/main/java/org/apache/drill/exec/store/dfs/DrillFileSystem.java b/exec/java-exec/src/main/java/org/apache/drill/exec/store/dfs/DrillFileSystem.java
index 9380e41..18a6211 100644
--- a/exec/java-exec/src/main/java/org/apache/drill/exec/store/dfs/DrillFileSystem.java
+++ b/exec/java-exec/src/main/java/org/apache/drill/exec/store/dfs/DrillFileSystem.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  */
 package org.apache.drill.exec.store.dfs;
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
 
+import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.drill.exec.ops.OperatorStats;
 import org.apache.drill.exec.util.AssertionUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience.LimitedPrivate;
@@ -783,6 +785,14 @@
     underlyingFs.removeXAttr(path, name);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns an InputStream from a Hadoop path. If the data is compressed, this method will return a compressed
+   * InputStream depending on the codec.  Note that if the results of this method are sent to a third party parser
+   * that works with bytes or individual characters directly, you should use the openDecompressedInputStream method.
+   * @param path Input file path
+   * @return InputStream of opened file path
+   * @throws IOException If the file is unreachable, unavailable or otherwise unreadable
+   */
   public InputStream openPossiblyCompressedStream(Path path) throws IOException {
     CompressionCodec codec = codecFactory.getCodec(path); // infers from file ext.
     if (codec != null) {
@@ -791,6 +801,49 @@
       return open(path);
     }
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a normal, decompressed InputStream. Some parsers, particularly those
+   * that read raw bytes, generate errors when passed Hadoop ZipCompressed InputStreams.
+   * This utility function wraps some of these functions so that a format plugin can be guaranteed
+   * readable bytes.
+   * @param path The file being read
+   * @return Decompressed InputStream of the input file
+   * @throws IOException If the file is unreadable or uses an unknown compression codec
+   */
+  public InputStream openDecompressedInputStream(Path path) throws IOException {
+    CompressionCodec codec = getCodec(path);
+    if (codec == null) {
+      return open(path);
+    } else {
+      InputStream compressedStream = codec.createInputStream(open(path));
+      byte[] bytes = IOUtils.toByteArray(compressedStream);
+      return new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * There are parsers which require an uncompressed input stream to read the data
+   * properly. This method helps identify whether the file being read is in fact compressed.
+   * @param path The file being read
+   * @return True if the file is compressed, false if not.
+   */
+  public boolean isCompressed(Path path) {
+    CompressionCodec codec = codecFactory.getCodec(path);
+    return codec != null;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the {@link org.apache.hadoop.io.compress.CompressionCodec} for a given file.  This
+   * can be used to determine the type of compression (if any) which was used.  Returns null if the
+   * file is not compressed.
+   * @param path The file of unknown compression
+   * @return CompressionCodec used by the file. Null if the file is not compressed.
+   */
+  public CompressionCodec getCodec(Path path) {
+    return codecFactory.getCodec(path);
+  }
+
   @Override
   public void fileOpened(Path path, DrillFSDataInputStream fsDataInputStream) {
     openedFiles.put(fsDataInputStream, new DebugStackTrace(path, Thread.currentThread().getStackTrace()));