org.hibernate.util
Class SerializationHelper

java.lang.Object
  org.hibernate.util.SerializationHelper

public final class SerializationHelper
extends Object

Assists with the serialization process and performs additional functionality based on serialization.

• Deep clone using serialization
• Serialize managing finally and IOException
• Deserialize managing finally and IOException

This class throws exceptions for invalid null inputs. Each method documents its behaviour in more detail.

Since:

1.0

Version:

$Id: SerializationHelper.java 9180 2006-01-30 23:51:27Z steveebersole $

Author:

Nissim Karpenstein, Janek Bogucki, Daniel Rall, Stephen Colebourne, Jeff Varszegi, Gary Gregory

Method Summary

static Object	clone(Serializable object) Deep clone an Object using serialization.
static Object	deserialize(byte[] objectData) Deserializes a single Object from an array of bytes.
static Object	deserialize(InputStream inputStream) Deserializes an Object from the specified stream.
static byte[]	serialize(Serializable obj) Serializes an Object to a byte array for storage/serialization.
static void	serialize(Serializable obj, OutputStream outputStream) Serializes an Object to the specified stream.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

clone

public static Object clone(Serializable object)
                    throws SerializationException

Deep clone an Object using serialization.

This is many times slower than writing clone methods by hand on all objects in your object graph. However, for complex object graphs, or for those that don't support deep cloning this can be a simple alternative implementation. Of course all the objects must be Serializable.

Parameters:

object - the Serializable object to clone

Returns:

the cloned object

Throws:

SerializationException - (runtime) if the serialization fails

serialize

public static void serialize(Serializable obj,
                             OutputStream outputStream)
                      throws SerializationException

Serializes an Object to the specified stream.

The stream will be closed once the object is written. This avoids the need for a finally clause, and maybe also exception handling, in the application code.

The stream passed in is not buffered internally within this method. This is the responsibility of your application if desired.

Parameters:

obj - the object to serialize to bytes, may be null

outputStream - the stream to write to, must not be null

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if outputStream is null

SerializationException - (runtime) if the serialization fails

serialize

public static byte[] serialize(Serializable obj)
                        throws SerializationException

Serializes an Object to a byte array for storage/serialization.

Parameters:

obj - the object to serialize to bytes

Returns:

a byte[] with the converted Serializable

Throws:

SerializationException - (runtime) if the serialization fails

deserialize

public static Object deserialize(InputStream inputStream)
                          throws SerializationException

Deserializes an Object from the specified stream.

The stream will be closed once the object is written. This avoids the need for a finally clause, and maybe also exception handling, in the application code.

The stream passed in is not buffered internally within this method. This is the responsibility of your application if desired.

Parameters:

inputStream - the serialized object input stream, must not be null

Returns:

the deserialized object

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if inputStream is null

SerializationException - (runtime) if the serialization fails

deserialize

public static Object deserialize(byte[] objectData)
                          throws SerializationException

Deserializes a single Object from an array of bytes.

Parameters:

objectData - the serialized object, must not be null

Returns:

the deserialized object

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if objectData is null

SerializationException - (runtime) if the serialization fails