I've been tasked with creating a set of objects that will need to be passed off to some other function as raw data in the form of a void * and a size. Eventually, this goes through some networking code and through the process of magic, shows up on another computer and has to be reassembled. So, to avoid being limited to simple structs where I could just cast it to a void * and get the sizeof(), I was thinking about using the serialization library. The examples are all very good and have helped me understand how to serialize to a file, and I even saw an example for using serializing with asio (which I wish I could use). Unfortunately, I don't have control over the networking and can't use the asio library. I guess my questions is, what's the best way to serialize to a void * and a size? I'm pretty illiterate on streams, so I've started to read up on it, but I haven't figured it out yet, though I feel that's probably where the answer lies. Here's a test program that compiles, but obviously doesn't work: #include <sstream> #include <boost/archive/binary_oarchive.hpp> #include <boost/archive/binary_iarchive.hpp> // A very simple test class with some data in it class A { private: friend class boost::serialization::access; template<class Archive> void serialize(Archive & ar, const unsigned int /* file_version */){ ar & x; } public: A::A(){ x = 0; } // default constructor int x; virtual A::~A(){} // default destructor }; int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { // Create an object on the heap A * pA = new A; pA->x = 1234567890; // serialize it std::ostringstream sTestBinary1; boost::archive::binary_oarchive oa(sTestBinary1); oa << *pA; // Get the size of the buffer and a pointer to it size_t iSize = 0;//sTestBinary1.size(); // ?? How do I get the size ?? void * pVoid = sTestBinary1.rdbuf(); // ?? Is this the right pointer ?? // .. Magic occurs here (gets sent across the network as the raw data) // Create a stream to read from std::istringstream sTestBinary2; sTestBinary2.read((char *)pVoid, iSize); // open the archive boost::archive::binary_iarchive ia(sTestBinary2); // restore the object from the archive A * pB = new A; // pB->x equals 0 now ia >> *pB; // Make sure the objects contain the same data assert(pA->x == pB->x); return 0; } Thanks for any help, Daniel ********************************************************************************************** Disclaimer - This email and any files transmitted with it are proprietary and may contain privileged or copyright information. You must not present this message to another party without gaining permission from the sender. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy, distribute or use this email or the information contained in it for any purpose other than to notify us. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately, and delete this email from your system. We do not guarantee that this material is free from viruses or any other defects although due care has been taken to minimize the risk. eSafe scanned this email for viruses, vandals and malicious contentAny views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of LSI. **********************************************************************************************