Apparatus and method for storing complex structures by conversion of arrays to strings

1. Field of the Invention An executable process, configured for storing and retrieving data from a storage medium having a prescribed storage definition, is configured for converting an array having a prescribed data structure into a string having array descriptors that specify the prescribed data structure. The array descriptors are used to identify for each a element its corresponding element name and element value. The array descriptors also identify for each element its relative depth within the array, for example whether a given array element is a subelement of another array element. Hence, the array can be stored and recovered from the storage medium without modification of the prescribed storage definition and without loss of the data structure of the array.