artem-ogre/monseri

Minimalistic take on serialization in C++ using type-erasure

monseri

Minimalistic take ON SERIalization in C++ using type-erasure

Overview

• Monseri is a tiny, header-only, prove-of-concept C++11 serialization library

• It uses type-erasure for a serializable object and storage classes

• Serialization is non-intrusive: no inheritance is needed. Serialization could be performed via a method or a free function

• Tested with gcc-6, clang-5, and vc++ (2017)

• License: MIT

monseri is a very minimal library without support for any formats like XML or JSON. The only currently implemented format is plain text. Extension by implementing new storage types is possible. Main emphasis is on a simple and clear code: it is suitable for studying and experimentation. Any contributions and feedback are welcome!

Complete and simple example

#include <iostream_storage/shift_operators.h>
#include <registration_macros.h>

#include <iostream>

struct Grid2d
{
    int size_x;
    int size_y;

    // serialization via method
    void serialize(monseri::Storage& storage)
    {
        storage | size_x | size_y;
    }
};

MONSERI_REGISTER_TYPE(Grid2d) // register type-name 'Grid2d' for Grid2d class

int main()
{
    std::string buffer;
    { // serialize
        std::ostringstream storage;
        storage << monseri::Serializable{Grid2d{42, 42}};
        buffer = storage.str();
        std::cout << buffer;
    }

    monseri::Serializable tmp;
    { // deserialize
        std::istringstream storage(buffer);
        storage >> tmp;
        std::cout << tmp << std::endl;
    }

    Grid2d data;
    { // get data
        if(monseri::registry::type_name<Grid2d>() == tmp.type_name())
            data = tmp.get<Grid2d>();
        std::cout << "[" << data.size_x << ", " << data.size_y << "]";
    }
}

Example of using with a built-in type: free-function serialization

MONSERI_REGISTER_TYPE(int) // built-in types can be registered too

namespace monseri
{
  // serialization of a build-in type as a free function
  inline void serialize(int& data, monseri::Storage& storage)
  {
      storage | data;
  }
} // namespace monseri

Private serialization-method example

struct Grid2d
{
    int size_x;
    int size_y;
private:
    friend class monseri::Attorney; // give monseri access to serialize()
    // serialization via method
    void serialize(monseri::Storage& storage)
    {
        storage | size_x | size_y;
    }
};

For more examples see provided example.cpp