Changes between Version 1 and Version 2 of Documentation/Serialization

Timestamp:

Feb 4, 2010, 6:21:47 PM (15 years ago)

Author:

Christoph Mayer

Comment:

--

Documentation/Serialization

@@ -3 +3 @@
 == First Steps ==
 
-In this section we introduce a simple example to show how the serialization works in practice. Two
-examples are given: First, we show how the inline serialization for small and bit-sensitive works. 
-Second, we show how serialization works with virtual classes.
+In this section we introduce a simple example to show how the serialization works in practice. 
 
-=== Inline serialization ===
+=== Basic serialization ===
+
+We will introduce Serialization using the !PingPong sample provided by Ariba. You will find the following code in {{{PingPongMessage.h}:
+
+{{{
+#!cpp
+#ifndef PINGPONGMESSAGES_H_
+#define PINGPONGMESSAGES_H_
+
+#include <string>
+#include "ariba/ariba.h"
+
+using namespace ariba;
+using std::string;
+
+namespace ariba {
+namespace application {
+namespace pingpong {
+
+using_serialization;
+
+class PingPongMessage : public Message {
+        VSERIALIZEABLE;
+public:
+        PingPongMessage();
+        PingPongMessage( uint8_t _id, string name = string("<ping>") );
+        virtual ~PingPongMessage();
+
+        string info();
+        uint8_t getid();
+
+        inline string getName() const {
+                return name;
+        }
+private:
+        uint8_t id;
+        string name;
+};
+
+}}} // namespace ariba, appplication , pingpong
+
+sznBeginDefault( ariba::application::pingpong::PingPongMessage, X ) {
+        X && id && T(name);
+} sznEnd();
+
+#endif /* PINGPONGMESSAGES_H_ */
+}}}
+
+The message format for communication between Ariba !PingPong instances is defined in the class {{{PingPongMessage}}}. It inherits from the {{{Message}}} class and uses the macro {{{VSERIALIZEABLE;}}} to declare this class as being able to serialize and deserialize itself. Note, that each such class must provide a default constructor that takes no arguments. The !PingPongMessage defines two properties {{{id}}} and {{{name}}} that it wants to communicate to a remote instance. 
+
+To define the actual serialization code, use the following code as template:
+
+{{{
+#!cpp
+sznBeginDefault( CLASSNAME, X ) {
+        X && SERIALIZATION-VARIABLE-1 && SERIALIZATION_VARIABLE-2 && ...;
+} sznEnd();
+}}}
+
+As you can see above, CLASSNAME is in the case of the !PingPong sample the complate namespace with the class name {{{ariba::application::pingpong::PingPongMessage}}}. Furthermore the variables that are meant for serialization are combined to the {{{X}}} using the {{{&&}}} operator. This operator is invoked both when serializing and when deserializing. Therefore, this is the only special code handling required.
+
+In your {*.cpp} class you  require a further macro. In case of the !PingPong sample this is simply:
+{{{
+#!cpp
+vsznDefault(PingPongMessage);
+}}}
+
+
 
 Non-virtual inline serialization is reasonable on small or bit-sensitive objects (for example IP-Adresses, Ports etc.).