I am saving multiple classes which contain STL collections, and in turn those STL collections contain classes that contain more STL collections. A sample XML file follows. The problem occurs when I try and move the XML file into a database, and I receive the error "The table (item) cannot be the child table to itself in nested relations." In the collections_save_imp.hpp file, under the save_collection function, the key line is ar << boost::serialization::make_nvp("item", *it++); I was thinking of instead of using the constant string "item" when saving a STL collection, to keep track of the parent table name, and modify the string based on the parent name. For example, under animals item would be changed to "animals_item", under trials would be changed to "trials_item", and under platforms would be changed to "platforms_item". Is this the correct way to solve my problem, and if so does anyone have any suggestions on how to implement it? Thanks, Drew Hohmann Software Engineer <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?> <!DOCTYPE boost_serialization> <boost_serialization signature="serialization::archive" version="4"> <project class_id="0" tracking_level="0" version="1"> <m_name>New Project</m_name> <animals class_id="1" tracking_level="0" version="0"> <count>1</count> <item_version>1</item_version> <item class_id="2" tracking_level="0" version="1"> <m_name>test</m_name> <m_gender>Male</m_gender> <m_species></m_species> <m_strain></m_strain> </item> </animals> <trials class_id="3" tracking_level="0" version="0"> <count>8</count> <item_version>1</item_version> <item class_id="4" tracking_level="0" version="1"> <trialinfo class_id="5" tracking_level="0" version="1"> <m_trial_type></m_trial_type> <platforms class_id="7" tracking_level="0" version="0"> <count>1</count> <item_version>1</item_version> <item class_id="8" tracking_level="0" version="1"> <circle class_id="9" tracking_level="0" version="1"> <m_x>86</m_x> <m_y>80</m_y> </circle> <m_name>p1</m_name> <m_platformtype>0</m_platformtype> </item>