Serialized inner class does not contain reference to outerclass.

public class Outer {

private String message;
public Inner inner = new Inner();

public Outer(String message)

{ this.message = message; }

public class Inner {
public void doStuff()

{ System.out.println(message); }

}

}

Outer outer = new Outer("hello");
Inner inner = outer.inner();

inner.doStuff(); // prints "hello"

// serialize and deserialize
Inner inner2 = xstream.fromXml(xstream.toXml(inner));

inner.doStuff(); // prints null