JAV2I12 — Behavior of Java writeUTF/readUTF

Java Serializable classes can define their own readObject/writeObject
methods which take java.io.ObjectInputStream and
java.io.ObjectOutputStream parameters, respectively.

What is the proper behavior of the readUTF and writeUTF methods on these
streams in RMI-IIOP? The Java to IDL specification doesn't mention
these methods.

Proposed resolution:

In RMI-IIOP, java.io.ObjectOutputStream's writeUTF method should write a
CORBA wstring. Similarly, readUTF should read a CORBA wstring.

Discussion:

One must override these methods to avoid using the internal java.io
implementations. Looking at the JDK 1.3 code, the behavior is specific
to Java serialization. If one doesn't override writeUTF and readUTF,
Java serialization mechanisms such as blocks (similar to chunks) may be
introduced on the wire in RMI-IIOP.

See revised text below