Serialization/Deserialization of a struct to a char* in C

Question

I have a struct

struct Packet {
    int senderId;
    int sequenceNumber;
    char data[MaxDataSize];

    char* Serialize() {
        char *message = new ch         


        

Answer 1

Depending if you have enough place or not... you might simply use the streams :)

std::string Serialize() {
  std::ostringstream out;
  char version = '1';
  out << version << senderId << '|' << sequenceNumber << '|' << data;
  return out.str();
}

void Deserialize(const std::string& iString)
{
  std::istringstream in(iString);
  char version = 0, check1 = 0, check2 = 0;
  in >> version;
  switch(version)
  {
  case '1':
    senderId >> check1 >> sequenceNumber >> check2 >> data;
    break;
  default:
    // Handle
  }
  // You can check here than 'check1' and 'check2' both equal to '|'
}

I readily admit it takes more place... or that it might.

Actually, on a 32 bits architecture an int usually cover 4 bytes (4 char). Serializing them using streams only take more than 4 'char' if the value is superior to 9999, which usually gives some room.

Also note that you should probably include some guards in your stream, just to check when you get it back that it's alright.

Versioning is probably a good idea, it does not cost much and allows for unplanned later development.