Java serialization, ObjectInputStream.readObject(), check if will block

Question

I\'m using an ObjectInputStream to call readObject for reading in serialized Objects. I would like to avoid having this method block,

Answer 1

I have an idea that by adding another InputStream into the chain one can make availability information readable by the client:

HACK!

InputStream is = ... // where we actually read the data
BufferedInputStream bis = new BufferedInputStream(is);
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(bis);

if( bis.available() > N ) {
  Object o = ois.readObject();
}

The tricky point is value of N. It should be big enough to cover both serialization header and object data. If those are varying wildly, no luck.