Question

I want to serialize a class I don’t have write access to. I.e., I can’t change the source file nor the header file. Furthermore, most fields are private and are accessed through getter and setter functions.

Can anyone tell me whether it is a good idea (or not) to just create different functions for saving and loading (as explained in the boost tutorial)…

template<class Archive>
void save(Archive & ar, gps_position &g, const unsigned int version) const
{
    // note, version is always the latest when saving
    ar  & g.deg;
    ar  & g.min;
}
template<class Archive>
void load(Archive & ar, gps_position &g, const unsigned int version)
{
    if(version > 0)
        ar & g.deg;
        ar & g.min;
}
BOOST_SERIALIZATION_SPLIT_MEMBER()

… and there use the public functions:

ar & g.getDeg();

instead of

ar & g.deg;

(similar for setter)?? I’m really new into c++ and serialization and I’m very thankful for any hints!

best, alex

edit: added link to boost tutorial

Answer 1

template<class Archive>
void load(Archive & ar, gps_position &g, const unsigned int version)
{
    if(version > 0)
    {
        int d = 0;
        ar & d;
        g.setDeg(d);
        int m = 0;
        ar & m;
        g.setMin(m);
    }
}

something like this. declare variable -> read from archive -> set to member by calling setter function.