NAME

Util::DataThing::Serializer - Abstract base class for objects that can serialize and deserialize Util::DataThing objects to various formats

SYNOPSIS

    my $serializer = Util::DataThing::Serializer::SomeSubclass->new();
    $serializer->serialize_object_to_stream($object, $fh);

METHODS

$string = $serializer->serialize_object_to_string($object)

Serializes the given Util::DataThing object to a string and returns that string.

$object = $serializer->deserialize_object_from_string($string, $class)

Attempts to deserialize the given string to an object of the given class, which must be a subclass of Util::DataThing.

$serializer->serialize_object_to_stream($object, $stream)

Serializes the given Util::DataThing object to a string and writes the result to the given stream.

The stream must be some kind of IO object.

$object = $serializer->deserialize_object_from_stream($stream, $class)

Attempts to deserialize data read from the given stream to an object of the given class, which must be a subclass of Util::DataThing.

 The stream must be some kind of L<IO> object.

INFORMATION FOR SUBCLASS IMPLEMENTORS

If you are developing a subclass of this class, you must provide implementations for the serialize and deserialize functions based on strings.

Default implementations of the stream-based methods are provided which are simple wrappers around the string-based methods. Subclasses should override these if they are able to do something more sensible.