public final byte[] serialize(Object object) throws IOException {
        if (object == null)
            return null;

        ByteArrayOutputStream bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        SerializationService serializationSvc = serializationSvcRef.getServiceWithException();
        ObjectOutputStream oout = serializationSvc.createObjectOutputStream(new DeflaterOutputStream(bout));
        oout.writeObject(object);
        oout.flush();
        oout.close();
        byte[] bytes = bout.toByteArray();
        return bytes;
    }
public final byte [ ] serialize ( Object object ) throws IOException { if ( object == null ) return null ; ByteArrayOutputStream bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream ( ) ; SerializationService serializationSvc = serializationSvcRef . getServiceWithException ( ) ; ObjectOutputStream oout = serializationSvc . createObjectOutputStream ( new DeflaterOutputStream ( bout ) ) ; oout . writeObject ( object ) ; oout . flush ( ) ; oout . close ( ) ; byte [ ] bytes = bout . toByteArray ( ) ; return bytes ; }
Utility method that serializes an object to bytes.

@param object object to serialize.
@return bytes representing the object. Null if the object is null.
@throws IOException if an error occurs serializing the object.