9.1 Simple Serialization

Objects are serialized with the ObjectOutputStream and they are deserialized with the ObjectInputStream. Both of these classes are part of the java.io package, and they function, in many ways, like DataOutputStream and DataInputStream because they define the same methods for writing and reading binary representations of Java primitive types to and from streams. What ObjectOutputStream and ObjectInputStream add, however, is the ability to write and read non-primitive object and array values to and from a stream.

An object is serialized by passing it to the writeObject() method of an ObjectOutputStream. This writes out the values of all of its fields, including private fields and fields inherited from superclasses. The values of primitive fields are simply written to the stream as they would be with a DataOutputStream. When a field in an object refers to another object, an array, or a string, however, the writeObject() method is invoked recursively to serialize that object as well. If that object (or an array element) refers to another object, writeObject() is again invoked recursively. Thus, a single call to writeObject() may result in an entire "object graph" being serialized. When two or more objects each refer to the other, the serialization algorithm is careful to only output each object once--writeObject() cannot enter infinite recursion.

Deserializing an object simply follows the reverse of this process. An object is read from a stream of data by calling the readObject() method of an ObjectInputStream. This re-creates the object in the state it was in when serialized. If the object refers to other objects, they are recursively deserialized as well.

This ability to serialize an entire graph of objects and read those objects back in later is a very powerful feature that hides itself in two simple looking methods. We used object serialization in Example 8.1, but unless you were paying attention, you might have missed those crucial writeObject() and readObject() calls. Serialization is used in that Scribble example to give the program an automatic file format for saving the user's scribbles.

To refresh your memory, Example 9.1 shows the save() method of that application. Note the creation of the ObjectOutputStream and the use of the writeObject() method. The corresponding load() method simply reverses the streams to read the scribble back in. You may want to refer to the complete example in Chapter 8, New AWT Features to examine the save() and load() methods in context. Also note the use of a GZIPOutputStream (from java.util.zip) to compress the serialized object data before writing it to disk.

/**
 * Prompt the user for a filename, and save the scribble in that file.
 * Serialize the vector of lines with an ObjectOutputStream.
 * Compress the serialized objects with a GZIPOutputStream.
 * Write the compressed, serialized data to a file with a FileOutputStream.
 * Don't forget to flush and close the stream.
 */
public void save() {
  // Create a file dialog to query the user for a filename.
  FileDialog f = new FileDialog(frame, "Save Scribble", FileDialog.SAVE);
  f.show();                        // Display the dialog and block.
  String filename = f.getFile();   // Get the user's response
  if (filename != null) {          // If user didn't click "Cancel."
    try {
      // Create the necessary output streams to save the scribble.
      FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(filename);  // Save to file.
      GZIPOutputStream gzos = new GZIPOutputStream(fos);      // Compress.
      ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(gzos);  // Save objects
      out.writeObject(lines);      // Write the entire Vector of scribbles.
      out.flush();                 // Always flush the output.
      out.close();                 // And close the stream.
    }
    // Print out exceptions.  We should really display them in a dialog...
    catch (IOException e) { System.out.println(e); }
  }
}