Boost Serialize - Serialize data in a custom way

Question

If I'm using Boost Serialization to serialize an Integer:

#include <boost/archive/text_oarchive.hpp> 
#include <iostream> 

int main() 
{ 
  boost::archive::text_oarchive oa(std::cout); 
  int i = 1; 
  oa << i; 
}

The result will be the following:
22 serialization::archive 5 1

Now I'm curious if and how I could change the way, certain data is serialized. The data does not need to be deserialized, so if that is not possible anymore, it's not a hindering reason to not doing that.

Lets say the above code should create the following output:
integer 11
(The word integer is added and the value will be increased by 10. The archive-header will not be integrated.)

Would that be possible and how could one achieve that? Is Boost Serialization able to let a user do that without modifying the codebase of Serialization?

PS:
The example-code above is copied from the Highscore-Tutorial

What is the purpose of serializing if there will not be a need to deserialize? — usta
– usta, Commented Oct 15, 2010 at 18:46
Another application will deserialize the data. This app needs the data in a specific format which I want to serialize with Boost Serialize. The idea is that a user later can select between serveral ways of serialization (according to the app he wants to send to). The developer just needs to implement one serialize-method. But I'm currently designing and testing how the concept could work. — MOnsDaR
– MOnsDaR, Commented Oct 17, 2010 at 11:57
I see. Well you can instruct Boost.Serialization to not add headers like 22 serialization::archive and you can create your own archive that writes the data in just the format you wish. — usta
– usta, Commented Oct 18, 2010 at 5:58
Or as you need to comply to a predefined format, you might find Boost.Karma useful? — usta
– usta, Commented Oct 18, 2010 at 6:01

Flexo - Save the data dump · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-24 20:44:56Z

You can write your own archive, something like this:

#include <cstddef> // std::size_t
#include <string>
#include <typeid>

template <typename T>
std::string printName() {
  // Unmangle for your platform or just specialise for types you care about:
  return typeid(T).name();
}

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// class trivial_oarchive
class trivial_oarchive {
public:
    //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // public interface used by programs that use the
    // serialization library
    typedef boost::mpl::bool_<true> is_saving; 
    typedef boost::mpl::bool_<false> is_loading;
    template<class T> register_type(){}
    template<class T> trivial_oarchive & operator<<(const T & t){
        return *this;
    }
    template<class T> trivial_oarchive & operator&(const T & t){
        // No idea why you'd want to add 10, but this does it:
        return *this << printName<T>() << " " << (t+10);
    }
    void save_binary(void *address, std::size_t count){};
};

(Adapted from the documentation)

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