Hello.. I use serialization to communicate betwen client and server.. Base and derived class for serialization (communication): class base { }; class derived : base { }; What would be the 'good' way to export/import serialized data? Can I do this with smart pointers? Is this okay: WRITING: derived dc(4, 5, "some data"); std::ostringstream archive_stream; boost::archive::text_oarchive archive(archive_stream); archive & dc; //send archive_stream.str() over network RECIVING: should I use base class pointer when deserializing? or can I do it with base class reference? For instance: base *bc; bc & in_data; ///////// I'm little confused about reciving data.. I tried using base class reference for deserializing derived class, but it doesnt work and it seems unlogical to do it this way.. I would be really glad if someone could explain.. Thanks a lot