Question

I have successfully serialized class Ghost:

class Ghost {}

File file = new File("serialized.class.bin");
ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(file));
oos.writeObject(Ghost.class);

Then I’m trying to restore it in a different application:

InputStream is = new FileInputStream(new File("serialized.class.bin"));
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(is);
Object o = ois.readObject();

And I’m getting error the class is missed while (trying) loading it:

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Ghost

I may not access Ghost.class file while deserializing the class. Is it possible to transfer Java classes in a such way?

UPD. I assumed class definition (bytecode) is being dumped while serializing a class. I was wrong. The goal is reachable via getResourceAsStream() although.

Answer 1

You need to have the class file in your class path when deserializing the class, since the deserialized format only contains the values of the class non-transient non-static fields.