> From: Scott Miller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
>
> > Hmm..to clarify: the serialized form documentation mentions two
fields
> > which it then omits from its writeObject() / readObject()
> specification. If
> > those fields aren't written out to the object stream, then are they
> > unimportant? And if so, why does the documentation mention them?
>
> Okay, I didn't see those two fields when I was looking the first time.
> I'm not exactly sure what loadFactor is, but threshold is described..
> These ARE important to serialize. And in fact, your implementation
should
> try to use them.
>
> As for serializing them. Hmmm.. What I would suggest doing is setting
up
> a Sun Hashtable and then a Test class of your own. Have the Sun app
> serialize its Hashtable, and your test Class read from that stream.
You
> can manipulate the contents of the Hashtable (Having no values for
> example, and set the capacity to something recognizable), and see if
you
> cant reverse engineer where the loadFactor and threshold are coming
down
> the stream.
>
Threshold is a calculated value, capacity * loadFactor. I'm sure you
already have loadFactor in your class. It is important to serialize
because it is a user-specified parameter (see the second form of
constructor).
Why they would bother serializing threshold is beyond me, since it is a
calculated value. This looks like a spec bug. Submit to the Bug Parade
at the Java Developer Connection (http://java.sun.com/jdc).
> To be honest, I don't think you even need to do this. I don't have a
> crystal clear idea on how serialization works. Somebody help me out
here,
> but I think Java will serialize the fields listed in the Serialized
Form
> automatically, then call the Hashtable's read/writeObject methods to
> handle the rest.
>
This will definitely not happen. It will either: (a) serialize whatever
non-transient fields you have, or (b) call read/writeObject to do *all*
the serialization. I'm not sure how it affects super/subclasses, but in
this case the behavior is clear. If you do read/writeObject, nothing
will be serialized except the stuff you want serialized.
--John Keiser
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
