  
  [1X10 [33X[0;0YSerialization support[133X[101X
  
  
  [1X10.1 [33X[0;0YSerialization support[133X[101X
  
  [33X[0;0YHPC-GAP  has  support  to  serialize  most  GAP  data.  While  functions  in
  particular  cannot  be serialized, it is possible to serialize all primitive
  types  (booleans, integers, cyclotomics, permutations, floats, etc.) as well
  as all lists and records.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YCustom  serialization  support  can  be written for data objects, positional
  objects,  and  component  objects;  serialization  of  compressed vectors is
  already supported by the standard library.[133X
  
  [1X10.1-1 SerializeToNativeString[101X
  
  [33X[1;0Y[29X[2XSerializeToNativeString[102X( [3Xobj[103X ) [32X function[133X
  
  [33X[0;0Y[2XSerializeToNativeString[102X  takes the object passed as an argument and turns it
  into  a  string,  from  which  a copy of the original can be extracted using
  [2XDeserializeNativeString[102X ([14X10.1-2[114X).[133X
  
  [1X10.1-2 DeserializeNativeString[101X
  
  [33X[1;0Y[29X[2XDeserializeNativeString[102X( [3Xstr[103X ) [32X function[133X
  
  [33X[0;0Y[2XDeserializeNativeString[102X reverts the serialization process.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YExample:[133X
  
  [4X[32X  Example  [32X[104X
    [4X[25Xgap>[125X [27XDeserializeNativeString(SerializeToNativeString([1,2,3]));[127X[104X
    [4X[28X[ 1, 2, 3 ][128X[104X
  [4X[32X[104X
  
  [1X10.1-3 InstallTypeSerializationTag[101X
  
  [33X[1;0Y[29X[2XInstallTypeSerializationTag[102X( [3Xtype[103X, [3Xtag[103X ) [32X function[133X
  
  [33X[0;0Y[2XInstallTypeSerializationTag[102X   allows  the  serialization  of  data  objects,
  positional  objects,  and component objects. The value of [3Xtag[103X must be unique
  for  each  type;  it  can  be a string or integer. Non-negative integers are
  reserved for use by the standard library; users should use negative integers
  or strings instead.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YObjects  of  such  a  type  are  serialized in a straightforward way: During
  serialization,  data  objects  are  converted  into byte streams, positional
  objects  into  lists,  and component objects into records. These objects are
  then  serialized  along  with  their  tags;  deserialization  uses  the type
  corresponding   to   the  tag  in  conjunction  with  [2XObjectify[102X  ([14XReference:
  Objectify[114X) to reconstruct a copy of the original object.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YNote that this functionality may be inadequate for objects that have complex
  data  structures attached that are not meant to be replicated. The following
  alternative is meant for such objects.[133X
  
  [1X10.1-4 InstallSerializer[101X
  
  [33X[1;0Y[29X[2XInstallSerializer[102X( [3Xdescription[103X, [3Xfilters[103X, [3Xmethod[103X ) [32X function[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YThe   more   general   [2XInstallSerializer[102X   allows  for  arbitrarily  complex
  serialization  code.  It  installs [3Xmethod[103X as the method to serialize objects
  matching  [3Xfilters[103X;  [3Xdescription[103X  has  the  same  role  as  for [2XInstallMethod[102X
  ([14XReference: InstallMethod[114X).[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YThe  method  must  return a plain list matching a specific format. The first
  element  must  be  a  non-negative  integer,  the  second  must  be a string
  descriptor  that  is unique to the serializer; these can then be followed by
  an arbitrary number of arguments.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YAs  many  of  the arguments (starting with the third element of the list) as
  specified  by  the  first  element  of the list will be converted from their
  object  representation into a serializable representation. Data objects will
  be converted into untyped data objects, positional objects will be converted
  into  plain  lists,  and component objects into records. Conversion will not
  modify  the  objects  in  place, but work on copies. The remaining arguments
  will remain untouched.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YUpon deserialization, these arguments will be passed to a function specified
  by the second element of the list.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YExample:[133X
  
  [4X[32X  Example  [32X[104X
    [4X[28XInstallSerializer("8-bit vectors", [ Is8BitVectorRep ], function(obj)[128X[104X
    [4X[28X  return [1, "Vec8Bit", obj, Q_VEC8BIT(obj), IS_MUTABLE_OBJ(obj)];[128X[104X
    [4X[28Xend);[128X[104X
  [4X[32X[104X
  
  [33X[0;0YHere,  [10Xobj[110X  will  be converted into its underlying representation, while the
  remaining  arguments  are  left alone. [10X"Vec8Bit"[110X is the name that is used to
  look up the deserializer function.[133X
  
  [1X10.1-5 InstallDeserializer[101X
  
  [33X[1;0Y[29X[2XInstallDeserializer[102X( [3Xdescriptor[103X, [3Xfunc[103X ) [32X function[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YThe  [3Xdescriptor[103X  value  must  be  the same as the second element of the list
  returned  by  the  serializer;  [3Xfunc[103X  must  be a function that takes as many
  arguments as there were arguments after the second element of that list. For
  deserialization,   this   function  is  invoked  and  needs  to  return  the
  deserialized object constructed from the arguments.[133X
  
  [33X[0;0YExample:[133X
  
  [4X[32X  Example  [32X[104X
    [4X[28XInstallDeserializer("Vec8Bit", function(obj, q, mut)[128X[104X
    [4X[28X  SET_TYPE_OBJ(obj, TYPE_VEC8BIT(q, mut));[128X[104X
    [4X[28X  return obj;[128X[104X
    [4X[28Xend);[128X[104X
  [4X[32X[104X
  
  [33X[0;0YHere,  the untyped [10Xobj[110X that was passed to the deserializer needs to be given
  the correct type, which is calculated from [10Xq[110X and [10Xmut[110X.[133X
  
