Java Tutorial/Class Definition/Clone

A collection of utilities to workaround limitations of Java clone framework

   <source lang="java">

/*

* $HeadURL$
* $Revision$
* $Date$
*
*
*  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
*  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
*  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
*  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
*  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
*  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
*      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
*  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
*  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
*  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
*  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
*  limitations under the License.
*
* This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many
* individuals on behalf of the Apache Software Foundation.  For more
* information on the Apache Software Foundation, please see
* <http://www.apache.org/>.
*
*/

import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException; import java.lang.reflect.Method;

/**

* A collection of utilities to workaround limitations of Java clone framework.
*/

public class CloneUtils {

   public static Object clone(final Object obj) throws CloneNotSupportedException {
       if (obj == null) {
           return null;
       }
       if (obj instanceof Cloneable) {
           Class<?> clazz = obj.getClass ();
           Method m;
           try {
               m = clazz.getMethod("clone", (Class[]) null);
           } catch (NoSuchMethodException ex) {
               throw new NoSuchMethodError(ex.getMessage());
           }
           try {
               return m.invoke(obj, (Object []) null);
           } catch (InvocationTargetException ex) {
               Throwable cause = ex.getCause();
               if (cause instanceof CloneNotSupportedException) {
                   throw ((CloneNotSupportedException) cause); 
               } else {
                   throw new Error("Unexpected exception", cause);
               }
           } catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {
               throw new IllegalAccessError(ex.getMessage());
           }
       } else {
           throw new CloneNotSupportedException();
       }
   }
   
   /**
    * This class should not be instantiated.
    */
   private CloneUtils() {
   }

}</source>

Arrays are automatically cloneable

   <source lang="java">

public class Main {

 public static void main(String[] argv) throws Exception {
   int[] ints = new int[] { 123, 234 };
   int[] intsClone = (int[]) ints.clone();
 }

}</source>

Cast after cloning

   <source lang="java">

class A {

 int l = 1;

} class B extends A implements Cloneable {

 int m = 2;

} class CloneDemo3 extends B {

 int n = 3;
 A a = new A();
 public static void main(String[] args) throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   CloneDemo3 c = new CloneDemo3();
   CloneDemo3 c2 = (CloneDemo3) c.clone();
   System.out.println(c.l);
   System.out.println(c2.l);
   System.out.println(c.m);
   System.out.println(c2.m);
   System.out.println(c.n);
   System.out.println(c2.n);
   System.out.println(c.a == c2.a);
 }

}</source>

Clone an array

   <source lang="java">

/*

* Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
*  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
*  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
*  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
*  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
*  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
*      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
*  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
*  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
*  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
*  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
*  limitations under the License.
*
*
*/

/**

* @author Stephen Colebourne
* @author Moritz Petersen
* @author 
* @author Maarten Coene
* @since 2.0
* @version $Id: ArrayUtils.java 632503 2008-03-01 00:21:52Z ggregory $
*/

public class Main {

 // Clone
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 /**
  * Shallow clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * The objects in the array are not cloned, thus there is no special
  * handling for multi-dimensional arrays.
  * 
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to shallow clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static Object[] clone(Object[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (Object[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static long[] clone(long[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (long[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static int[] clone(int[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (int[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static short[] clone(short[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (short[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static char[] clone(char[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (char[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static byte[] clone(byte[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (byte[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static double[] clone(double[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (double[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static float[] clone(float[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (float[]) array.clone();
 }
 /**
  * Clones an array returning a typecast result and handling
  * null.
  *
  * This method returns null for a null input array.
  * 
  * @param array  the array to clone, may be null
  * @return the cloned array, null if null input
  */
 public static boolean[] clone(boolean[] array) {
     if (array == null) {
         return null;
     }
     return (boolean[]) array.clone();
 }

}</source>

Clone an object with clone method from parent

   <source lang="java">

public class Main {

 public static void main(String[] args) {
   try {
     Employee e = new Employee("Dolly", 1000);
     System.out.println(e);
     System.out.println("The employee"s name is " + e.getName());
     System.out.println("The employees"s pay is " + e.getSalary());
     Employee eClone = (Employee) e.clone();
     System.out.println(eClone);
     System.out.println("The clone"s name is " + eClone.getName());
     System.out.println("The clones"s pay is " + eClone.getSalary());
     eClone.setName("Polly");
     eClone.setSalary(2000);
     System.out.println("The employee"s name is " + e.getName());
     System.out.println("The employees"s pay is " + e.getSalary());
     System.out.println("The clone"s name is " + eClone.getName());
     System.out.println("The clones"s pay is " + eClone.getSalary());
   } catch (Exception e) {
     System.out.println("Exception " + e);
   }
 }

} class Employee implements Cloneable {

 private StringBuffer name;
 private int salary;
 public Employee(String name, int salary) {
   this.name = new StringBuffer(name);
   this.salary = salary;
 }
 public Employee() {
 }
 public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   try {
     return super.clone();
   } catch (CloneNotSupportedException cnse) {
     System.out.println("CloneNotSupportedException thrown " + cnse);
     throw new CloneNotSupportedException();
   }
 }
 public String getName() {
   return name.toString();
 }
 public void setName(String name) {
   this.name.delete(0, this.name.length());
   this.name.append(name);
 }
 public void setSalary(int salary) {
   this.salary = salary;
 }
 public int getSalary() {
   return this.salary;
 }

}</source>

Construct clone of an object

   <source lang="java">

class Box {

 double width;
 double height;
 double depth;
 Box(Box ob) { 
   width = ob.width;
   height = ob.height;
   depth = ob.depth;
 }
 Box(double w, double h, double d) {
   width = w;
   height = h;
   depth = d;
 }
 Box() {
   width = -1; 
   height = -1;
   depth = -1; 
 }
 Box(double len) {
   width = height = depth = len;
 }
 double volume() {
   return width * height * depth;
 }

} class BoxWeight extends Box {

 double weight; 
 BoxWeight(double w, double h, double d, double m) {
   width = w;
   height = h;
   depth = d;
   weight = m;
 }

} class DemoBoxWeight {

 public static void main(String args[]) {
   BoxWeight mybox1 = new BoxWeight(10, 20, 15, 34.3);
   BoxWeight mybox2 = new BoxWeight(2, 3, 4, 0.076);
   double vol;
   vol = mybox1.volume();
   System.out.println(vol);
   System.out.println(mybox1.weight);
   System.out.println();
   vol = mybox2.volume();
   System.out.println(vol);
   System.out.println(mybox2.weight);
 }

}</source>

construct clone of an object and call constructor in the super class

   <source lang="java">

class Box {

 private double width;
 private double height;
 private double depth;
 Box(Box ob) { 
   width = ob.width;
   height = ob.height;
   depth = ob.depth;
 }
 Box(double w, double h, double d) {
   width = w;
   height = h;
   depth = d;
 }
 Box() {
   width = -1; 
   height = -1;
   depth = -1; 
 }
 Box(double len) {
   width = height = depth = len;
 }
 double volume() {
   return width * height * depth;
 }

} class BoxWeight extends Box {

 double weight;
 BoxWeight(BoxWeight ob) { 
   super(ob);
   weight = ob.weight;
 }
 BoxWeight(double w, double h, double d, double m) {
   super(w, h, d); 
   weight = m;
 }
 BoxWeight() {
   super();
   weight = -1;
 }
 BoxWeight(double len, double m) {
   super(len);
   weight = m;
 }

} class DemoSuper {

 public static void main(String args[]) {
   BoxWeight mybox1 = new BoxWeight(10, 20, 15, 34.3);
   BoxWeight mybox2 = new BoxWeight(2, 3, 4, 0.076);
   BoxWeight mybox3 = new BoxWeight();
   BoxWeight mycube = new BoxWeight(3, 2);
   BoxWeight myclone = new BoxWeight(mybox1);
   double vol;
   vol = mybox1.volume();
   System.out.println("Volume of mybox1 is " + vol);
   System.out.println("Weight of mybox1 is " + mybox1.weight);
   System.out.println();
   vol = mybox2.volume();
   System.out.println("Volume of mybox2 is " + vol);
   System.out.println("Weight of mybox2 is " + mybox2.weight);
   System.out.println();
   vol = mybox3.volume();
   System.out.println("Volume of mybox3 is " + vol);
   System.out.println("Weight of mybox3 is " + mybox3.weight);
   System.out.println();
   vol = myclone.volume();
   System.out.println("Volume of myclone is " + vol);
   System.out.println("Weight of myclone is " + myclone.weight);
   System.out.println();
   vol = mycube.volume();
   System.out.println("Volume of mycube is " + vol);
   System.out.println("Weight of mycube is " + mycube.weight);
   System.out.println();
 }

}</source>

Copy an serializable object deeply

   <source lang="java">

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream; import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; import java.io.Serializable; /*

* JBoss, Home of Professional Open Source
* Copyright 2005, JBoss Inc., and individual contributors as indicated
* by the @authors tag. See the copyright.txt in the distribution for a
* full listing of individual contributors.
*
* This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
* under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as
* published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of
* the License, or (at your option) any later version.
*
* This software is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
* Lesser General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License along with this software; if not, write to the Free
* Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
* 02110-1301 USA, or see the FSF site: http://www.fsf.org.
*/

public class Main {

 // ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Cloning Methods //
 // ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /**
  * Copy an serializable object deeply.
  * 
  * @param obj
  *          Object to copy.
  * @return Copied object.
  * 
  * @throws IOException
  * @throws ClassNotFoundException
  */
 public static Object copy(final Serializable obj) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
   ObjectOutputStream out = null;
   ObjectInputStream in = null;
   Object copy = null;
   try {
     // write the object
     ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
     out = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
     out.writeObject(obj);
     out.flush();
     // read in the copy
     byte data[] = baos.toByteArray();
     ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(data);
     in = new ObjectInputStream(bais);
     copy = in.readObject();
   } finally {
     out.close();
     in.close();
   }
   return copy;
 }

}</source>

Copying Objects implements Cloneable

   <source lang="java">

class Flea implements Cloneable {

 public Flea() {
 }
 public void setName(String aName) {
   name = aName;
 }
 public String getName() {
   return name;
 }
 public String getSpecies() {
   return species;
 }
 public void sound() {
   System.out.println("Psst");
 }
 public String toString() {
   return super.toString() + "\nIt"s " + name + " the " + species;
 }
 public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   return super.clone();
 }
 private String name;
 private String species;

} public class MainClass {

 public static void main(String[] args) {
   try {
     Flea myPet = new Flea();
     myPet.setName("my name");
     Flea yourPet = (Flea) myPet.clone();
     yourPet.setName("Gnasher");
     System.out.println("\nYour pet details:\n" + yourPet);
     System.out.println("\nMy pet details:\n" + myPet);
   } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
     e.printStackTrace(System.err);
   }
 }

}</source>

Your pet details:
Flea@360be0
It"s Gnasher the null
My pet details:
Flea@45a877
It"s my name the null

Deep clone Object

   <source lang="java">

/*

* Copyright (C) 2001-2003 Colin Bell
* colbell@users.sourceforge.net
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
* version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
* Lesser General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
*/

import java.io.*; import java.text.NumberFormat; import java.util.regex.Matcher; import java.util.regex.Pattern; /**

* General purpose utilities functions.
*
* @author 
*/

public class Utilities {

 /**
  * Creates a clone of any serializable object. Collections and arrays
  * may be cloned if the entries are serializable.
  *
  * Caution super class members are not cloned if a super class is not serializable.
  */
 public static Object cloneObject(Object toClone, final ClassLoader classLoader)
 {
    if(null == toClone)
    {
       return null;
    }
    else
    {
       try
       {
          ByteArrayOutputStream bOut = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
          ObjectOutputStream oOut = new ObjectOutputStream(bOut);
          oOut.writeObject(toClone);
          oOut.close();
          ByteArrayInputStream bIn = new ByteArrayInputStream(bOut.toByteArray());
          bOut.close();
          ObjectInputStream oIn = new ObjectInputStream(bIn)
          {
             protected Class<?> resolveClass(ObjectStreamClass desc) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException
             {
               return Class.forName(desc.getName(), false, classLoader);
             }
          };
          bIn.close();
          Object copy = oIn.readObject();
          oIn.close();
          return copy;
       }
       catch (Exception e)
       {
          throw new RuntimeException(e);
       }
    }
 }

}</source>

Deep clone serializing/de-serializng Clone

   <source lang="java">

/*

* Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
* contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
* this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
* The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
* (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
* the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
* 
*      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
* 
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream; import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; /**

* Utility for object cloning
* 
* @author 
*/

public class CloneUtil {

   /**
    * Provides a deep clone serializing/de-serializng objToClone     
    * 
    * @param objToClone The object to be cloned
    * @return The cloned object
    */
   public static final Object deepClone(Object objToClone)
   {
       try
       {
           ByteArrayOutputStream bytearrayoutputstream = new ByteArrayOutputStream(100);
           ObjectOutputStream objectoutputstream = new ObjectOutputStream(bytearrayoutputstream);
           objectoutputstream.writeObject(objToClone);
           byte abyte0[] = bytearrayoutputstream.toByteArray();
           objectoutputstream.close();
           ByteArrayInputStream bytearrayinputstream = new ByteArrayInputStream(abyte0);
           ObjectInputStream objectinputstream = new ObjectInputStream(bytearrayinputstream);
           Object clone = objectinputstream.readObject();
           objectinputstream.close();
           return clone;
       }
       catch (Exception exception)
       {
           // nothing
       }
       return null;
   }

}</source>

Demonstrate the clone() method.

   <source lang="java">

class TestClone implements Cloneable {

 int a;
 double b;
 TestClone cloneTest() {
   try {
     return (TestClone) super.clone();
   } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
     System.out.println("Cloning not allowed.");
     return this;
   }
 }

} class CloneDemo {

 public static void main(String args[]) {
   TestClone x1 = new TestClone();
   TestClone x2;
   x1.a = 10;
   x1.b = 20.98;
   x2 = x1.cloneTest(); // clone x1
   System.out.println("x1: " + x1.a + " " + x1.b);
   System.out.println("x2: " + x2.a + " " + x2.b);
 }

}</source>

Manipulate properties after clone operation

   <source lang="java">

public class Main {

 public static void main(String[] args) {
   try {
     Employee e = new Employee("B", 1000);
     System.out.println(e);
     System.out.println("The employee"s name is " + e.getName());
     System.out.println("The employees"s pay is " + e.getSalary());
     Employee eClone = (Employee) e.clone();
     System.out.println(eClone);
     System.out.println("The clone"s name is " + eClone.getName());
     System.out.println("The clones"s pay is " + eClone.getSalary());
     eClone.setName("A");
     eClone.setSalary(2000);
     System.out.println("The employee"s name is " + e.getName());
     System.out.println("The employees"s pay is " + e.getSalary());
     System.out.println("The clone"s name is " + eClone.getName());
     System.out.println("The clones"s pay is " + eClone.getSalary());
   } catch (Exception e) {
     System.out.println("Exception " + e);
   }
 }

} class Employee implements Cloneable {

 private StringBuffer name;
 private int salary;
 public Employee(String name, int salary) {
   this.name = new StringBuffer(name);
   this.salary = salary;
 }
 public Employee() {
 }
 public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   try {
     Employee o = (Employee) super.clone();
     o.name = new StringBuffer(name.toString());
     return o;
   } catch (CloneNotSupportedException cnse) {
     System.out.println("CloneNotSupportedException thrown " + cnse);
     throw new CloneNotSupportedException();
   }
 }
 public String getName() {
   return name.toString();
 }
 public void setName(String name) {
   this.name.delete(0, this.name.length());
   this.name.append(name);
 }
 public void setSalary(int salary) {
   this.salary = salary;
 }
 public int getSalary() {
   return this.salary;
 }

}</source>

Override the clone() method.

   <source lang="java">

class TestClone implements Cloneable {

 int a;
 double b;
 public Object clone() {
   try {
     return super.clone();
   } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
     System.out.println("Cloning not allowed.");
     return this;
   }
 }

} class CloneDemo2 {

 public static void main(String args[]) {
   TestClone x1 = new TestClone();
   TestClone x2;
   x1.a = 10;
   x1.b = 20.98;
   x2 = (TestClone) x1.clone();
   System.out.println("x1: " + x1.a + " " + x1.b);
   System.out.println("x2: " + x2.a + " " + x2.b);
 }

}</source>

public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException

   <source lang="java">

public class Main {

 public static void main(String[] args) throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   CloneDemo2 cd2 = new CloneDemo2();
   System.out.println(cd2.salary);
   AnotherClass ac = new AnotherClass();
   System.out.println(ac.gradeLetter);
   AnotherClass y = (AnotherClass) ac.clone();
   System.out.println(y.gradeLetter);
 }

} class CloneDemo2 implements Cloneable {

 double salary = 50000.0;

} class AnotherClass implements Cloneable {

 char gradeLetter = "C";
 public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   return super.clone();
 }

}</source>

Serializable Clone

   <source lang="java">

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream; import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; public abstract class SerializableClone {

 public static Object clone(final Object obj) throws Exception {
   ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
   ObjectOutputStream oout = new ObjectOutputStream(out);
   oout.writeObject(obj);
   ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(out.toByteArray()));
   return in.readObject();
 }

}</source>

Shallow copy then deep copy

   <source lang="java">

class A {

 int l = 1;

} class B extends A implements Cloneable {

 int m = 2;

} class CloneDemo4 extends B {

 int n = 3;
 A a = new A();
 public static void main(String[] args) throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   CloneDemo4 c = new CloneDemo4();
   CloneDemo4 c2 = (CloneDemo4) c.clone();
   System.out.println(c.l);
   System.out.println(c2.l);
   System.out.println(c.m);
   System.out.println(c2.m);
   System.out.println(c.n);
   System.out.println(c2.n);
   System.out.println(c.a == c2.a);
 }
 protected Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
   // First, perform a shallow copy.
   CloneDemo4 temp = (CloneDemo4) super.clone();
   if (a != null)
     temp.a = new A();
   return temp;
 }

}</source>

Uses serialization to perform deep copy cloning.

   <source lang="java">

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream; import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; import java.io.Serializable; public class Main implements Cloneable, Serializable {

 public Object clone() {
   Object clonedObj = null;
   try {
     ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
     ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
     oos.writeObject(this);
     oos.close();
     ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(baos.toByteArray());
     ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(bais);
     clonedObj = ois.readObject();
     ois.close();
   } catch (Exception cnfe) {
     System.out.println("Class not found " + cnfe);
   }
   return clonedObj;
 }

}</source>