Make CovariateRow's serializable; add R utility functions.

src/main/java/ca/joeltherrien/randomforest/CovariateRow.java

@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@ import ca.joeltherrien.randomforest.covariates.Covariate;
 import lombok.Getter;
 import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
 
+import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 @RequiredArgsConstructor
-public class CovariateRow {
+public class CovariateRow implements Serializable {
 
     private final Map<String, Covariate.Value> valueMap;
 

src/main/java/ca/joeltherrien/randomforest/utils/RUtils.java

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package ca.joeltherrien.randomforest.utils;
 
+import java.io.*;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.zip.GZIPInputStream;
+import java.util.zip.GZIPOutputStream;
 
 /**
  * These static methods are designed to make the R interface more performant; and to avoid using R loops.
@@ -30,5 +33,33 @@ public final class RUtils {
         return times;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Convenience method to help R package serialize Java objects.
+     *
+     * @param object The object to be serialized.
+     * @param filename The path to the object to be saved.
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public static void serializeObject(Serializable object, String filename) throws IOException {
+        final ObjectOutputStream outputStream = new ObjectOutputStream(new GZIPOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(filename)));
+        outputStream.writeObject(object);
+        outputStream.close();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Convenience method to help R package load serialized Java objects.
+     *
+     * @param filename The path to the object saved.
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public static Object loadObject(String filename) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+        final ObjectInputStream inputStream = new ObjectInputStream(new GZIPInputStream(new FileInputStream(filename)));
+        final Object object = inputStream.readObject();
+        inputStream.close();
+
+        return object;
+
+    }
+
 
 }