Table of Contents

1System Architecture

• 1.1Overview
• 1.2Writing to an Object Stream
• 1.3Reading from an Object Stream
• 1.4Object Streams as Containers
• 1.5Defining Serializable Fields for a Class
• 1.6Documenting Serializable Fields and Data for a Class
• 1.7Accessing Serializable Fields of a Class
• 1.8The ObjectOutput Interface
• 1.9The ObjectInput Interface
• 1.10The Serializable Interface
• 1.11The Externalizable Interface
• 1.12Serialization of Enum Constants
• 1.13Serialization of Records
• 1.14Circular References
• 1.15Protecting Sensitive Information

2Object Output Classes

• 2.1The ObjectOutputStream Class
• 2.2The ObjectOutputStream.PutField Class
• 2.3The writeObject Method
• 2.4The writeExternal Method
• 2.5The writeReplace Method
• 2.6The useProtocolVersion Method

3Object Input Classes

• 3.1The ObjectInputStream Class
• 3.2The ObjectInputStream.GetField Class
• 3.3The ObjectInputValidation Interface
• 3.4The readObject Method
• 3.5The readObjectNoData Method
• 3.6The readExternal Method
• 3.7The readResolve Method

4Class Descriptors

• 4.1The ObjectStreamClass Class
• 4.2Dynamic Proxy Class Descriptors
• 4.3Serialized Form
• 4.4The ObjectStreamField Class
• 4.5Inspecting Serializable Classes
• 4.6Stream Unique Identifiers

5Versioning of Serializable Objects

• 5.1Overview
• 5.2Goals
• 5.3Assumptions
• 5.4Who's Responsible for Versioning of Streams
• 5.5Compatible Java Type Evolution
• 5.6Type Changes Affecting Serialization
  • 5.6.1Incompatible Changes
  • 5.6.2Compatible Changes

6Object Serialization Stream Protocol

• 6.1Overview
• 6.2Stream Elements
• 6.3Stream Protocol Versions
• 6.4Grammar for the Stream Format
  • 6.4.1Rules of the Grammar
  • 6.4.2Terminal Symbols and Constants

ASecurity in Object Serialization

BExceptions In Object Serialization

CExample of Serializable Fields

• C.1 Example Alternate Implementation ofjava.io.File