[arianule]

I am currently learning about object serialization in Java and in my understanding it is even possible to serialize an object that implements the Serializable interface and pass it through a socket to a different program.

class Mammal implements Serializable
{
    int legs = 4;

}

public class ObjectSerial
{



    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        try
        {
            FileOutputStream fo = new FileOutputStream("mammal.obj");
            ObjectOutputStream oo = new ObjectOutputStream(fo);

            Mammal m = new Mammal();
            oo.writeObject(m);
            oo.close();
        }
        catch(IOException e){}

What puzzles me is when I want to retrieve the class members on the Server side for example, how would I 'reach' the Serialized object.

try
    {
        FileInputStream fi  = new FileInputStream("mammal.obj");
        ObjectInputStream oo = new ObjectInputStream(fi);

        Mammal m = (Mammal)oo.readObject();
        System.out.println(m.legs);
    }
    catch(IOException e){}
    catch(ClassNotFoundException cnf){}

In other words. In a different program the compiler will tell me that the symbol cannot be found.

Hope this question doesn't sound very ignorant. Just to confirm...how do i access the variables of the Serialized object in a different program.

kind regards

[g00se]

Quote

In other words. In a different program the compiler will tell me that the symbol cannot be found.

That's right. If you're going to refer to it directly in your code like that, it will have to be in the classpath, just like any other class. The only way to avoid that is to load and use it via reflection

[pbl]

If you write both the Client and the Server it is easy to make the class Mammal available to both