Issue writing to file: pointer to a class which contains pointers to other classes

[Sheemer]

Hi. I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I wrote a model loader for Milkshape 3D files and it works fine and dandy. However, it is currently reading in the files as text based documents. After loading in the models I am trying to write them out to file in binary to reduce the file size of the models.

I am trying to write out a pointer to my model class, and this MOSTLY works. Any data values I write out do indeed work properly and even load back in properly. The problem is that my model class has pointers to other classes contained within it. The class I am focusing on right now is called Mesh.

So, when I write out Model, the data get written, but the information contained in Model->Mesh does not. What seems to happen is that it writes out the memory address of the pointer instead.

So, I tried writing Copy Constructors and operator assignments for Model and Mesh, but neither of these have helped solve the issue.

Below is the class definitions and Copy Constructors/Operator Assignments.

class Mesh
{
public:

	// Constructor
	Mesh();
	// Copy Constructor
	Mesh(const Mesh&);
	// Operator Assignment
	Mesh & operator= (const Mesh &M);
	// Destructor
	~Mesh();
	// Mesh bones
	void MeshBone(int bonenum);
	// Find face neigbours for shadowing
	void NeighbourFaces();
	// Set triangle planes
	void SetPlanes();

	// Name Length
	int namelength;
	// Name
	char *name;
	// Flag
	int flag;
	// Material Index
	int matindex;
	
	// Number of Vertices
	int vertnum;
	// Vertices
	Vertex *verts;

	// Number of Normals
	int normnum;
	// Normals
	Normal *norms;

	// Number of Triangles
	int trinum;
	// Triangles
	Triangle *tris;

	// bone
	int bone;
};



class Model
{
public:

	// Constructor
	Model();
	// Copy Constructor
	Model(const Model&);
	// Operator Assignment
	Model & operator= (const Model &M);
	// Destructor
	~Model();
	// Set parent bones
	void SetPBones();

	void Exit();
	// Load Model
	int LoadModel(char *filename);
	// Draw Model
	void Draw();
	// Remove Quotes
	void RemoveQuotes(char *array);
	// Degree to Radian
	float DegtoRad(float degree);
	// Radion to Degree
	float RadtoDeg(float radian);
	// Triangle bones
	void TriBones();

	// Number of Meshes
	int meshnum;
	// Meshes
	Mesh *mesh;

	// Number of Materials
	int matnum;
	// Materials
	Material *material;

	// Number of Bones
	int bonenum;
	// Bones
	Bone *bone;

	// Total Frames
	int tframe;
	// Current Frame
	int cframe;
	
	// Did Model Load? 1 for yes
	int loaded;
	// animated model
	int animate;
};



Mesh::Mesh(const Mesh &M)
{
	namelength = M.namelength;
	flag = M.flag;
	matindex = M.matindex;
	vertnum = M.vertnum;
	normnum = M.normnum;
	trinum = M.trinum;
	bone = M.bone;
	name = new char[namelength];
	//strcpy(name, M.name);
	name = M.name;
	verts = new Vertex;
	verts = M.verts;
	norms = new Normal;
	norms = M.norms;
	tris = new Triangle;
	tris = M.tris;
};

Mesh & Mesh::operator = (const Mesh &M)
{
	if (this == &M)
		return *this;

	else
	{
		namelength = M.namelength;
		flag = M.flag;
		matindex = M.matindex;
		vertnum = M.vertnum;
		normnum = M.normnum;
		trinum = M.trinum;
		bone = M.bone;
		delete [] name;
		name = new char[namelength];
		//strcpy(name, M.name);
		name = M.name;
		delete verts;
		verts = new Vertex;
		verts = M.verts;
		delete norms;
		norms = new Normal;
		norms = M.norms;
		delete tris;
		tris = new Triangle;
		tris = M.tris;
		return *this;
	}
};



Model::Model(const Model &M)
{
	mesh = new Mesh;
	mesh = M.mesh;
	material = new Material;
	material = M.material;
	bone = new Bone;
	bone = M.bone;
	meshnum = M.meshnum;
	matnum = M.matnum;
	bonenum = M.bonenum;
	tframe = M.tframe;
	cframe = M.cframe;
	loaded = M.loaded;
	animate = M.animate;
};

Model & Model::operator = (const Model &M)
{
	if (this == &M)
		return *this;

	else
	{
		delete mesh;
		mesh = new Mesh;
		mesh = M.mesh;
		delete material;
		material = new Material;
		material = M.material;
		delete bone;
		bone = new Bone;
		bone = M.bone;
		meshnum = M.meshnum;
		matnum = M.matnum;
		bonenum = M.bonenum;
		tframe = M.tframe;
		cframe = M.cframe;
		loaded = M.loaded;
		animate = M.animate;
		return *this;
	}
};

Finally, for my writing I am using the format of:

Model *model = new Model;
model->LoadModel(filename);

ofstream saver("model.txt", ios::out | ios::binary);
saver.write( (char *) model, sizeof(Model));
saver.close();

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to solve this issue? Thanks. Also, this is my first post so I apologize if the code snipets don't come out in a box like I was hoping.

*Addition*
I have since made a small test program and have found that if I don't use pointers the information seems to write perfectly fine. It's only when I make pointers that the problem occurs. If possible I'd rather not modify my entire loader, so help would still be appreciated.

*Addition*
Now that I think about it, it is likely not possible to simply write an object that has dynamically allocated memory anyways. I guess I'll just write a function to save it out.