Java in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

Name

ObjectInputValidation

Synopsis

A class implements this interface and defines the validateObject( ) method in order to validate itself when it and all the objects it depends on have been completely deserialized from an ObjectInputStream. The validateObject( ) method is only invoked, however, if the object is passed to ObjectInputStream.registerValidation( ) ; this must be done from the readObject( ) method of the object. Note that if an object is deserialized as part of a larger object graph, its validateObject( ) method is not invoked until the entire graph is read, and the original call to ObjectInputStream.readObject( ) is about to return. validateObject( ) should throw an InvalidObjectException if the object fails validation. This stops object serialization, and the original call to ObjectInputStream.readObject( ) terminates with the InvalidObjectException exception.

public interface ObjectInputValidation {
// Public Instance Methods
     void validateObject( ) throws InvalidObjectException;  
}

Passed To

ObjectInputStream.registerValidation( )