You need to store the frame size in order to know what size context to
recreate, then you need to add a way of instantiating an empty
ContextPart of the appropriate size (large or small frame).  Add a
method for primitive 71 to do this and be careful when using it.  And of
course, you'll also be serializing the home context, receiver and all of
the other instance variables (you have to be able to serialize a
MethodContext as well as a BlockContext).

Then you also need to be able to serialize compiled methods.  For this,
you'll need to store the number of literals in addition to the rest of
its state and use #newMethod:header: when materializing.  When bringing
the all of this back into the image, your BlockContext will be referring
to a compiled method that doesn't exist in any method dictionary, but it
will be perfectly useable in (for example) a SortedCollection.

Now, of course, it's debatable how appropriate it is to have compiled
methods lying around in your image that do not exist in any method
dictionary.  You could also conceivably store information about the
class and selector where the compiled method is installed and try to
match that up when materializing the block.  The class could be
determined by looking at the reciever of the block's home context, but
unfortunately, I don't think the selector is readily available.

- Stephen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: squeak-dev-admin at lists.squeakfoundation.org 
> [mailto:squeak-dev-admin at lists.squeakfoundation.org] On 
> Behalf Of Aaron J Reichow
> Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 10:33 AM
> To: squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org
> Subject: RE: Serilizing blocks
> 
> 
> On Thu, 24 Oct 2002, Stephen Pair wrote:
> 
> > There's nothing that prevents you from serializing blocks.  
> It's just 
> > that it's a little more work.
> 
> Well, no inherent problem to doing so. But, SmartRefStream 
> won't let you do it, and because of that, there seems to be 
> problems putting blocks in to Magma and MinneStore.  Authors 
> of both have stated that blocks will be storable in their 
> databases when Squeak has real block closures.
> 
> If it's possible, how can it be done?
> 
> Regards,
> Aaron
> 
>   Aaron Reichow  ::  UMD ACM Pres  ::  
> http://www.d.umn.edu/~reic0024/ "one has a > moral 
> responsibility to disobey unjust laws"  :: m. l. king jr.
> 
> 
> 
>