# 22. Virtuoso Functions Guide - serialize

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Functions Index

## serialize

convert any heterogeneous array or tree of arrays into a binary string and back
binary string deserialize (in str varchar);
binary string serialize (in tree any);
Description

These functions will convert any heterogeneous array or tree of arrays into a binary string and back. The format is platform independent.

    deserialize (serialize (x))

is the identity function.

These functions are useful for persisting heterogeneous arrays.

Note:

The serialization can be stored as a blob, so that there is no practical length limit. The string length is however limited to 16 MB.