Java Deserialization

oochie

Im just wondering if it's possible to deserialize a java object without having prior information regarding the class? i.e. producer serializes an object, consumer then receives and deserializes it. if that makes sense?

aidan_walsh

Google java reflections

OMcGovern

oochie wrote:

Im just wondering if it's possible to deserialize a java object without having prior information regarding the class? i.e. producer serializes an object, consumer then receives and deserializes it. if that makes sense?

You can read arbitrary object instances from an ObjectInputStream.
As long you have the object's class, in your classpath/classloader, it will return an Object to you. Then you can call "instanceof" to work out what it is, or cast it, or use reflection to query fields.

regards,
Owen

DublinDilbert

Hi,

it's just the states ( data ) of the class that is serialized and not the whole class.. All data will be serialized, except for any data defined as transient.

When you read an object from an ObjectInputStream, it is fairly normal to call the GetClass() method on the object, then once the class is found, cast it to an object of the correct type...

Object SomeObject = objStreamIn.read();
if( SomeObject.GetClass().equals("myObject")){
myObject myobj = (myObject)SomeObject;
}

For this to work correctly you will need access to the "myObject" class to convert it back.