Method and component for serialization of images

• Main Authors: Clark, David, Smith, Andrew John
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 31.12.2002

The present invention relates to computer software applications, and in particular to a method and component for serialization of images. Java™ Development Toolkit version 1.1.x (JDK) does not support the serialization of images. JDK on the other hand allows primitive data types to be serialized. This means that an application developer can design an application so that any primitive data type objects, including objects comprising primitive data type components, can be written to a file or another area of memory, before an application closes. When the application re-opens, the primitive data types can be de-serialized and so recovered and the application can continue as if it had never closed with the exception that image objects will not have been recovered. The invention discloses a component for a development kit comprising means for converting an image object into a primitive data type object and means for serializing that object so that the object can be made persistent. In a preferred embodiment, the component converts an image object to an array of integers representing the image pixels; creates a color table of unique integers from the integer array; converts each integer in the integer array into an index into the color table; and zip compresses the combined color table and array of indices before serialization.