Serialization location

[Eric Larsen]

Is there a way to serialize an object to a specific location? I have a class (will post code) in a package that I "C:\>java" from the \classes directory, where the \com folder is, and it serializes the object in \classes, as opposed to the location of the actual class file.

package com.teslarobotics.io;

import java.io.*;

public class Box implements Serializable {

	private int width;
	private int length;

	public void setWidth (int num) {

		width = num;

	}

	public void setLength (int num) {

		length = num;

	}

	public static void main (String[] args) {

		Box myBox = new Box();
		myBox.setWidth(50);
		myBox.setLength(20);

		try {

			FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("foo.ser");
			ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos);

			oos.writeObject(myBox);
			oos.close();

		} catch (Exception ex) {

			ex.printStackTrace();

		}

	}

}

[Paul Clapham]

If you use a relative path name in a FileOutputStream, then that path is relative to the current working directory. If you want it to go somewhere else, then use an absolute path. (This is simply a fact about path names, not about serialization per se.)

I don't think it's a good idea to put changeable data in the same directory where your classes are located, anyway. Perhaps you should put your data in the user's home directory, or a subdirectory of that which you create specifically for your application.