C++: how serialize/deserialize objects without any library?
- by Winte Winte
I try to understand how serializing/deserializing works in c++, so I want to do that without any libs. But I really stuck with that. I start with simple objects but when I try to deserilize a vector I understand that I can't get a vector without if I don't write it size before. Moreover, I don't know which format of file I should choose because if digits will be existed before size of vector I haven't chance to read it right. However it is only the vector but I also want to do that with classes and map container. My task is serialize/deserialize a objects as this:
PersonInfo
{
unsigned int age_;
string name_;
enum { undef, man, woman } sex_;
}
Person : PersonInfo
{
vector<Person> children_;
map<string, PersonInfo> addrBook_;
}
Currently I know how to serialize simple objects in way as this:
vector<PersonInfo> vecPersonInfo;
vecPersonInfo.push_back(*personInfo);
vecPersonInfo.push_back(*oneMorePersonInfo);
ofstream file("file", ios::out | ios::binary);
if (!file) {
cout<<"can not open file";
} else {
vector<PersonInfo>::const_iterator iterator = vecPersonInfo.begin();
for (; iterator != vecPersonInfo.end(); iterator++) {
file<<*iterator;
}
Could you please suggest how I can do this for this conplex object or a good tutorial that explain it clearly?