A concrete EntryBinding that treats a key or data entry as
a serialized object.
This binding stores objects in serialized object format. The
deserialized objects are returned by the binding, and their
Class must implement the Serializable
interface.
For key bindings, a tuple binding is usually a better choice than a
serial binding. A tuple binding gives a reasonable sort order, and works
with comparators in all cases -- see below.
WARNING: SerialBinding should not be used with Berkeley DB Java
Edition for key bindings, when a custom comparator is used. In JE,
comparators are instantiated and called internally at times when databases
are not accessible. Because serial bindings depend on the class catalog
database, a serial binding cannot be used during these times. An attempt
to use a serial binding with a custom comparator will result in a
NullPointerException during environment open or close.
author:
Mark Hayes | 