Versionable Object’s Serialization using MFC in non Document View applications
Most existing applications operate with data that must be stored and loaded in different times and different locations. The data is stored in text or binary files with a well defined format.
The Problem
Initially, in the first version 1.0, an application operates with data structures that can be stored and loaded. But, next version (2.0) these data structures suffers changes. Some structure’s attributes are added and other could be removed. These things change files format and structure when a new file version is saved.
Question: What happens when you are using an application version 2.0 and you are trying to load old files format (version 1.0)?
Answer: Most cases should cause incompatibility troubles between the current new application and files in old format. This could throw exceptions and the application could have undefined behavior.
That’s why the application must be written in order to be able to open both file versions.
Solution
In order to solve the compatibility issue exist many solutions, more or less professional. The recommended solution is the serialization.
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