Question

For simple program data that needed to be saved I just used properties files before but I was wondering how I can save more complicated application data such as: arraylists e.g..

How would I save such data into a file? And is there a way to save it in a file with my own extension ( so not .properties for example when using the properties method to save data ) and to make sure it cannot be edited by user manually ( which is simply possible with notepad for example for .properties files )?

Thanks in advance.

Best Regards,
Skyfe.

Answer 1

The simplest way to do this as stated is to use the built-in Serialization mechanism. Just serialize your ArrayList out to a file using an ObjectOutputStream wrapped around a FileOutputStream. As long as each item in your list is serializable, this will work fine.

It’s not impossible to modify, but it’s fairly obfuscated over, say, a text file (it’s binary for starters).