In my application, there are agents of different types. I am planning to use boost serialization for sending/receiving data between agents.(by sending/receiving, I actually mean writing/reading operation the serialization target file)
A receiving agent may receive data of different data whose type is not known in advance. Suppose the data format has a general structure like this:
class Base
{
public:
int message_type_id;
}
class Derived_1
{
public:
Derived_1(int message_type_id_):message_type_id(message_type_id_){}
struct data_1 {...};
};
class Derived_2
{
public:
Derived_2(int message_type_id_):message_type_id(message_type_id_){}
struct data_2 {...};
};
the sending agent can send(i.e serialize) any of the two derived types. Similarly, the receiving agent can receive(i.e de-serialize) any of the two derived types; while what I can see in the tutorial(Dumping derived classes through base class pointers) is like this:
void save()
{
std::ofstream file("archive.xml"); //target file
boost::archive::xml_oarchive oa(file);
oa.register_type<date>( );// you know what you are sending, so you make proper modifications here to do proper registration
base* b = new date(15, 8, 1947);
oa & BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(b);
}
void load()
{
std::ifstream file("archive.xml"); //target file
boost::archive::xml_iarchive ia(file);
ia.register_type<date>( );// I don't know which derived class I am receiving, so I can't do a proper registration
base *dr;
ia >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(dr);
date* dr2 = dynamic_cast<date*> (dr);
std::cout << dr2;
}
as you can see, xml_oarchive and xml_iarchive do a register_type<date> before serialize/deserialization. so the receiving end will know in advance what to dynamic_cast to.
whereas in my case, since I know what I am sending, I can do proper registration&serialization on case-to-case basis. However, on the receiving end, I dont't know in advance what to register and what to dynamic cast.
Is there a way I can tell the type in advance so that the receiving can do a casting?
thanks
EDIT: Here is the simplified modification of demo.cpp I save an object, and then restore it.
#include <cstddef> // NULL
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <boost/archive/tmpdir.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/text_iarchive.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/text_oarchive.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/base_object.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/utility.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/list.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/assume_abstract.hpp>
/*
bus_stop is the base class.
bus_stop_corner and bus_stop_destination are derived classes from the above base class.
bus_route has a container that stores pointer to the above derived classes
*/
class bus_stop
{
friend class boost::serialization::access;
virtual std::string description() const = 0;
template<class Archive>
void serialize(Archive &ar, const unsigned int version)
{
ar & type;
}
protected:
public:
std::string type;
bus_stop(){type = "Base";}
virtual ~bus_stop(){}
};
BOOST_SERIALIZATION_ASSUME_ABSTRACT(bus_stop)
class bus_stop_corner : public bus_stop
{
friend class boost::serialization::access;
virtual std::string description() const
{
return street1 + " and " + street2;
}
template<class Archive>
void serialize(Archive &ar, const unsigned int version)
{
// save/load base class information
ar & boost::serialization::base_object<bus_stop>(*this);
ar & street1 & street2;
}
public:
std::string street1;
std::string street2;
bus_stop_corner(){}
bus_stop_corner(
const std::string & _s1, const std::string & _s2
) :
street1(_s1), street2(_s2)
{
type = "derived_bs_corner";
}
};
class bus_stop_destination : public bus_stop
{
friend class boost::serialization::access;
virtual std::string description() const
{
return name;
}
template<class Archive>
void serialize(Archive &ar, const unsigned int version)
{
ar & boost::serialization::base_object<bus_stop>(*this) & name;
}
public:
std::string name;
bus_stop_destination(){}
bus_stop_destination(
const std::string & _name
) :
name(_name)
{
type = "derived_bs_destination";
}
};
class bus_route
{
friend class boost::serialization::access;
typedef bus_stop * bus_stop_pointer;
template<class Archive>
void serialize(Archive &ar, const unsigned int version)
{
ar.register_type(static_cast<bus_stop_corner *>(NULL));
ar.register_type(static_cast<bus_stop_destination *>(NULL));
ar & stops;
}
public:
std::list<bus_stop_pointer> stops;
bus_route(){}
void append(bus_stop *_bs)
{
stops.insert(stops.end(), _bs);
}
};
//BOOST_CLASS_VERSION(bus_route, 2)
void save_schedule(const bus_route s, const char * filename){
// make an archive
std::ofstream ofs(filename);
boost::archive::text_oarchive oa(ofs);
oa << s;
}
void
restore_schedule(bus_route &s, const char * filename)
{
// open the archive
std::ifstream ifs(filename);
boost::archive::text_iarchive ia(ifs);
// restore the schedule from the archive
ia >> s;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
bus_stop *bs1 = new bus_stop_corner(
"First St", "Second st"
);
bus_stop *bs2 = new bus_stop_destination(
"myName"
);
// make a routes
bus_route original_route;
original_route.append(bs1);
original_route.append(bs2);
std::string filename1(boost::archive::tmpdir());
filename1 += "/demofile1.txt";
save_schedule(original_route, filename1.c_str());
bus_route new_route ;
restore_schedule(new_route, filename1.c_str());
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
std::string filename2(boost::archive::tmpdir());
filename2 += "/demofile2.txt";
save_schedule(new_route, filename2.c_str());
delete bs1;
delete bs2;
return 0;
}
The old and new objects are not equal coz again saving(serializing) the new object to another file results in a different(empty) content. Can you please let me know how I can fix this code to deserialize the derived classes successfully? many thanks
EDIT-2 There is nothing wrong with the above code now(after a small typo was fixed). I am answering my own question here coz there is another good approach suggested by someone else. So the Answer to my first question is like this : As long as you register the derived types in the main serialization function (in the above case: serialize() in bus_route class) everything should be fine.
thanks for all the help
A solution is to (de-)serialize boost::shared_ptr<Base>. The following code demonstrates it. After deserialization the pDst is an instance of the Derived_1 class. The code complied using an online compiler is available on this link.
#include <boost/serialization/access.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/assume_abstract.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/shared_ptr.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/nvp.hpp>
#include <boost/noncopyable.hpp>
#include <boost/make_shared.hpp>
#include <boost/smart_ptr/shared_ptr.hpp>
class Base {
friend class boost::serialization::access;
public:
Base();
virtual ~Base();
private:
template<class Archive> void serialize(Archive &ar, const unsigned int version) {}
public:
virtual bool operator ==(const Base &rh) const = 0;
};
BOOST_SERIALIZATION_ASSUME_ABSTRACT(Base)
BOOST_SERIALIZATION_SHARED_PTR(Base)
Base::Base() {
}
Base::~Base() {
}
class Derived_1 : boost::noncopyable, public Base {
friend class boost::serialization::access;
public:
int m_iValue;
public:
Derived_1();
Derived_1(int iValue);
private:
template<class Archive> void serialize(Archive &ar, const unsigned int version) {
ar & BOOST_SERIALIZATION_BASE_OBJECT_NVP(Base);
ar & boost::serialization::make_nvp("value", m_iValue);
}
public:
bool operator ==(const Base &rh) const;
};
BOOST_SERIALIZATION_SHARED_PTR(Derived_1)
Derived_1::Derived_1() : m_iValue(0) {
}
Derived_1::Derived_1(int iValue) : m_iValue(iValue) {
}
bool Derived_1::operator==(const Base &rh) const {
const Derived_1 *pRH = dynamic_cast<const Derived_1 *>(&rh);
return pRH != nullptr && pRH->m_iValue == this->m_iValue;
}
#include <boost/serialization/export.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/xml_oarchive.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/xml_iarchive.hpp>
#include <boost/make_shared.hpp>
#include <sstream>
#include <string>
BOOST_CLASS_EXPORT_GUID(Base, "base")
BOOST_CLASS_EXPORT_GUID(Derived_1, "derived_1")
void test(void) {
std::string str;
boost::shared_ptr<Base> pSrc = boost::make_shared<Derived_1>(10);
boost::shared_ptr<Base> pDst;
{
std::ostringstream ofs;
boost::archive::xml_oarchive oa(ofs);
oa << boost::serialization::make_nvp("item", pSrc);
str = ofs.str();
}
{
std::istringstream ifs(str);
boost::archive::xml_iarchive ia(ifs);
ia >> boost::serialization::make_nvp("item", pDst);
}
if (*pSrc == *pDst) {
printf("Success\n");
}
else {
printf("Fail\n");
}
}
int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
test();
}