Serialize and send a data structure using Boost?

Question

I have a data structure that looks like this:

 typedef struct {   unsigned short m_short1;   unsigned short m_short2;   unsigned char m_character; } MyDataType; 

I want to use boost::serialization to serialize this data structure, then use boost::asio to transmit it via TCP/IP, then have another application receive the data and de-serialize it using the same boost libraries.

I'm trying to following boost::serialization tutorial, (as some other SO questions have suggested) but the example is specifically for writing/reading to a file, not to a socket using boost::asio.

I'm pretty sure I've got the right tools for the job -- I just need help making them work together. Writing to a socket can't be that different from writing to a file, right?

Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

There is a good serialization example in the asio documentation: server.cpp, stock.hpp, connection.hpp.

Here's a snippet:

std::ostringstream archive_stream; boost::archive::text_oarchive archive(archive_stream); archive << your_struct; outbound_data_ = archive_stream.str(); boost::asio::async_write(socket_,      boost::asio::buffer(outbound_data_), handler); 

Answer 2

I thought I'd share this with anyone who was trying to serialize a C++ struct using Boost. For the example given above, to make the struct serializable you would add a serialize function:

typedef struct {   unsigned short m_short1;   unsigned short m_short2;   unsigned char m_character;    template <typename Archive>   void serialize(Archive& ar, const unsigned int version)   {     ar & m_short1;     ar & m_short2;     ar & m_character;   } } MyDataType;