java.lang.Object java.io.OutputStream java.io.ObjectOutputStream
public class ObjectOutputStream
An ObjectOutputStream writes primitive data types and graphs of Java objects to an OutputStream. The objects can be read (reconstituted) using an ObjectInputStream. Persistent storage of objects can be accomplished by using a file for the stream. If the stream is a network socket stream, the objects can be reconstituted on another host or in another process.
Only objects that support the java.io.Serializable interface can be written to streams. The class of each serializable object is encoded including the class name and signature of the class, the values of the object's fields and arrays, and the closure of any other objects referenced from the initial objects.
The method writeObject is used to write an object to the stream. Any object, including Strings and arrays, is written with writeObject. Multiple objects or primitives can be written to the stream. The objects must be read back from the corresponding ObjectInputstream with the same types and in the same order as they were written.
Primitive data types can also be written to the stream using the appropriate methods from DataOutput. Strings can also be written using the writeUTF method.
The default serialization mechanism for an object writes the class of the object, the class signature, and the values of all non-transient and non-static fields. References to other objects (except in transient or static fields) cause those objects to be written also. Multiple references to a single object are encoded using a reference sharing mechanism so that graphs of objects can be restored to the same shape as when the original was written.
For example to write an object that can be read by the example in ObjectInputStream:
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("t.tmp"); ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos); oos.writeInt(12345); oos.writeObject("Today"); oos.writeObject(new Date()); oos.close();
Classes that require special handling during the serialization and deserialization process must implement special methods with these exact signatures:
private void readObject(java.io.ObjectInputStream stream) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException; private void writeObject(java.io.ObjectOutputStream stream) throws IOException
The writeObject method is responsible for writing the state of the object for its particular class so that the corresponding readObject method can restore it. The method does not need to concern itself with the state belonging to the object's superclasses or subclasses. State is saved by writing the individual fields to the ObjectOutputStream using the writeObject method or by using the methods for primitive data types supported by DataOutput.
Serialization does not write out the fields of any object that does not implement the java.io.Serializable interface. Subclasses of Objects that are not serializable can be serializable. In this case the non-serializable class must have a no-arg constructor to allow its fields to be initialized. In this case it is the responsibility of the subclass to save and restore the state of the non-serializable class. It is frequently the case that the fields of that class are accessible (public, package, or protected) or that there are get and set methods that can be used to restore the state.
Serialization of an object can be prevented by implementing writeObject and readObject methods that throw the NotSerializableException. The exception will be caught by the ObjectOutputStream and abort the serialization process.
Implementing the Externalizable interface allows the object to assume complete control over the contents and format of the object's serialized form. The methods of the Externalizable interface, writeExternal and readExternal, are called to save and restore the objects state. When implemented by a class they can write and read their own state using all of the methods of ObjectOutput and ObjectInput. It is the responsibility of the objects to handle any versioning that occurs.
Enum constants are serialized differently than ordinary serializable or externalizable objects. The serialized form of an enum constant consists solely of its name; field values of the constant are not transmitted. To serialize an enum constant, ObjectOutputStream writes the string returned by the constant's name method. Like other serializable or externalizable objects, enum constants can function as the targets of back references appearing subsequently in the serialization stream. The process by which enum constants are serialized cannot be customized; any class-specific writeObject and writeReplace methods defined by enum types are ignored during serialization. Similarly, any serialPersistentFields or serialVersionUID field declarations are also ignored--all enum types have a fixed serialVersionUID of 0L.
Primitive data, excluding serializable fields and externalizable data, is written to the ObjectOutputStream in block-data records. A block data record is composed of a header and data. The block data header consists of a marker and the number of bytes to follow the header. Consecutive primitive data writes are merged into one block-data record. The blocking factor used for a block-data record will be 1024 bytes. Each block-data record will be filled up to 1024 bytes, or be written whenever there is a termination of block-data mode. Calls to the ObjectOutputStream methods writeObject, defaultWriteObject and writeFields initially terminate any existing block-data record.
Nested Class Summary | |
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static class |
ObjectOutputStream.PutField
Provide programmatic access to the persistent fields to be written to ObjectOutput. |
Field Summary |
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Fields inherited from interface java.io. ObjectStreamConstants |
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baseWireHandle , PROTOCOL_VERSION_1 , PROTOCOL_VERSION_2 , SC_BLOCK_DATA , SC_ENUM , SC_EXTERNALIZABLE , SC_SERIALIZABLE , SC_WRITE_METHOD , STREAM_MAGIC , STREAM_VERSION , SUBCLASS_IMPLEMENTATION_PERMISSION , SUBSTITUTION_PERMISSION , TC_ARRAY , TC_BASE , TC_BLOCKDATA , TC_BLOCKDATALONG , TC_CLASS , TC_CLASSDESC , TC_ENDBLOCKDATA , TC_ENUM , TC_EXCEPTION , TC_LONGSTRING , TC_MAX , TC_NULL , TC_OBJECT , TC_PROXYCLASSDESC , TC_REFERENCE , TC_RESET , TC_STRING |
Constructor Summary | |
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protected |
ObjectOutputStream
() Provide a way for subclasses that are completely reimplementing ObjectOutputStream to not have to allocate private data just used by this implementation of ObjectOutputStream. |
ObjectOutputStream
(
OutputStream
out) Creates an ObjectOutputStream that writes to the specified OutputStream. |
Method Summary | |
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protected void |
annotateClass
(
Class
<?> cl) Subclasses may implement this method to allow class data to be stored in the stream. |
protected void |
annotateProxyClass
(
Class
<?> cl) Subclasses may implement this method to store custom data in the stream along with descriptors for dynamic proxy classes. |
void |
close
() Closes the stream. |
void |
defaultWriteObject
() Write the non-static and non-transient fields of the current class to this stream. |
protected void |
drain
() Drain any buffered data in ObjectOutputStream. |
protected boolean |
enableReplaceObject
(boolean enable) Enable the stream to do replacement of objects in the stream. |
void |
flush
() Flushes the stream. |
ObjectOutputStream.PutField |
putFields
() Retrieve the object used to buffer persistent fields to be written to the stream. |
protected Object |
replaceObject
(
Object
obj) This method will allow trusted subclasses of ObjectOutputStream to substitute one object for another during serialization. |
void |
reset
() Reset will disregard the state of any objects already written to the stream. |
void |
useProtocolVersion
(int version) Specify stream protocol version to use when writing the stream. |
void |
write
(byte[] buf) Writes an array of bytes. |
void |
write
(byte[] buf, int off, int len) Writes a sub array of bytes. |
void |
write
(int val) Writes a byte. |
void |
writeBoolean
(boolean val) Writes a boolean. |
void |
writeByte
(int val) Writes an 8 bit byte. |
void |
writeBytes
(
String
str) Writes a String as a sequence of bytes. |
void |
writeChar
(int val) Writes a 16 bit char. |
void |
writeChars
(
String
str) Writes a String as a sequence of chars. |
protected void |
writeClassDescriptor
(
ObjectStreamClass
desc) Write the specified class descriptor to the ObjectOutputStream. |
void |
writeDouble
(double val) Writes a 64 bit double. |
void |
writeFields
() Write the buffered fields to the stream. |
void |
writeFloat
(float val) Writes a 32 bit float. |
void |
writeInt
(int val) Writes a 32 bit int. |
void |
writeLong
(long val) Writes a 64 bit long. |
void |
writeObject
(
Object
obj) Write the specified object to the ObjectOutputStream. |
protected void |
writeObjectOverride
(
Object
obj) Method used by subclasses to override the default writeObject method. |
void |
writeShort
(int val) Writes a 16 bit short. |
protected void |
writeStreamHeader
() The writeStreamHeader method is provided so subclasses can append or prepend their own header to the stream. |
void |
writeUnshared
(
Object
obj) Writes an "unshared" object to the ObjectOutputStream. |
void |
writeUTF
(
String
Primitive data write of this String in modified UTF-8 |
Methods inherited from class java.lang. Object |
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clone , equals , finalize , getClass , hashCode , notify , notifyAll , toString , wait , wait , wait |
Constructor Detail |
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public ObjectOutputStream(OutputStream out) throws IOException
If a security manager is installed, this constructor will check for the "enableSubclassImplementation" SerializablePermission when invoked directly or indirectly by the constructor of a subclass which overrides the ObjectOutputStream.putFields or ObjectOutputStream.writeUnshared methods.
protected ObjectOutputStream() throws IOException, SecurityException
If there is a security manager installed, this method first calls the security manager's checkPermission method with a SerializablePermission("enableSubclassImplementation") permission to ensure it's ok to enable subclassing.
Method Detail |
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public void useProtocolVersion(int version) throws IOException
This routine provides a hook to enable the current version of Serialization to write in a format that is backwards compatible to a previous version of the stream format.
Every effort will be made to avoid introducing additional backwards incompatibilities; however, sometimes there is no other alternative.
public final void writeObject(Object obj) throws IOException
Exceptions are thrown for problems with the OutputStream and for classes that should not be serialized. All exceptions are fatal to the OutputStream, which is left in an indeterminate state, and it is up to the caller to ignore or recover the stream state.
protected void writeObjectOverride(Object obj) throws IOException
public void writeUnshared(Object obj) throws IOException
ObjectOutputStream subclasses which override this method can only be constructed in security contexts possessing the "enableSubclassImplementation" SerializablePermission; any attempt to instantiate such a subclass without this permission will cause a SecurityException to be thrown.
public void defaultWriteObject() throws IOException
public ObjectOutputStream.PutField putFields() throws IOException
public void writeFields() throws IOException
public void reset() throws IOException
protected void annotateClass(Class<?> cl) throws IOException
protected void annotateProxyClass(Class<?> cl) throws IOException
This method is called exactly once for each unique proxy class descriptor in the stream. The default implementation of this method in ObjectOutputStream does nothing.
The corresponding method in ObjectInputStream is resolveProxyClass. For a given subclass of ObjectOutputStream that overrides this method, the resolveProxyClass method in the corresponding subclass of ObjectInputStream must read any data or objects written by annotateProxyClass.
protected Object replaceObject(Object obj) throws IOException
The ObjectOutputStream.writeObject method takes a parameter of type Object (as opposed to type Serializable) to allow for cases where non-serializable objects are replaced by serializable ones.
When a subclass is replacing objects it must insure that either a complementary substitution must be made during deserialization or that the substituted object is compatible with every field where the reference will be stored. Objects whose type is not a subclass of the type of the field or array element abort the serialization by raising an exception and the object is not be stored.
This method is called only once when each object is first encountered. All subsequent references to the object will be redirected to the new object. This method should return the object to be substituted or the original object.
Null can be returned as the object to be substituted, but may cause NullReferenceException in classes that contain references to the original object since they may be expecting an object instead of null.
protected boolean enableReplaceObject(boolean enable) throws SecurityException
If enable is true, and there is a security manager installed, this method first calls the security manager's checkPermission method with a SerializablePermission("enableSubstitution") permission to ensure it's ok to enable the stream to do replacement of objects in the stream.
protected void writeStreamHeader() throws IOException
protected void writeClassDescriptor(ObjectStreamClass desc) throws IOException
Note that this method will only be called if the ObjectOutputStream is not using the old serialization stream format (set by calling ObjectOutputStream's useProtocolVersion method). If this serialization stream is using the old format (PROTOCOL_VERSION_1), the class descriptor will be written internally in a manner that cannot be overridden or customized.
public void write(int val) throws IOException
public void write(byte[] buf) throws IOException
public void write(byte[] buf, int off, int len) throws IOException
public void flush() throws IOException
protected void drain() throws IOException
public void close() throws IOException
public void writeBoolean(boolean val) throws IOException
public void writeByte(int val) throws IOException
public void writeShort(int val) throws IOException
public void writeChar(int val) throws IOException
public void writeInt(int val) throws IOException
public void writeLong(long val) throws IOException
public void writeFloat(float val) throws IOException
public void writeDouble(double val) throws IOException
public void writeBytes(String str) throws IOException
public void writeChars(String str) throws IOException
public void writeUTF(String str) throws IOException