"Aaron M. Renn" wrote:
>
> To repeat my original reply, this is a big undertaking. I believe our
> serialization framework is compatible with Sun's, with the exception of
> possibly a couple 1.2 things. However, getting our classes compatible is
> another thing entirely. We need to, on a class by class basis, do the
> following:
>
> -- Ensure that the class implements Serializable or Externalizable if it is
> supposed to.
At least in my code, I've been doing that from the start.
> -- Add the correct serialVersionUID.
Is there an easy way to find out what this should be?
> -- Verify that we have all the correct serialized variables. Add "@serial"
> doc tags to them, and mark all other instance variables as "transient".
>
> -- For those classes that require it, write the "readObject" and
> "writeObject" (or "readExternal" and "writeExternal") methods. Verify these
> are compatible with Sun.
Of course, this is the hard part.
> -- Anything else I missed.
Can't think of anything.
> It should be possible to do this on an accelerated basis for the classes you
> need. Things like this are what I am talking about when I say we should
> concentrate on a great 1.1 API before delving in to more complex 1.2 things.
> (Though I think plugging the 1.2 gaps in some of the packages we've already
> written is a good idea).
I've been thinking about what classes I actually serialize (as opposed
to which ones I use internally but never transfer), and I think the only
one is Vector. Sadly, this isn't only a 1.2 issue - my applet runs both
sides on 1.1.
I believe that the 1.2 docs do cover the serialization of Vector... but
we may need readObject and writeObject to make our implementation
compatible. I'll take a look at the Vector code if I get a chance.
> As for your employer letting you work on Classpath, we need to make sure
> this does not interfere with legal owernship of the code. Paul can give
> better guidance on this.
My employer has already said that they'd be happy to sign a disclaimer
if it's required :) I work for quite an enlightened company, apart from
their annoying habit of doing most web development in ASP (I'm working
on converting them to JSP, but that isn't even final and GNUJSP isn't
going to implement the latest spec until it becomes final, so I'm sort
of saying "this will be great...")
Stuart.
