MFC class CArchive is designed to facilitate saving or loading a complex web of C++ objects to or from persistent storage. Storing objects to a file can be complex because objects often contain other objects, and two or more object pointers can point to the same object. Loading objects from a file is even more complex because the objects, and any objects they contain or reference, must be created dynamically. CArchive makes this complexity transparent to you.
Used with CFile, CArchive manages disk storage via MFC's serialization mechanism. Used with CSocketFile, CArchive manages sending or receiving data over a network via Windows Sockets. This lets you use similar interfaces for these very different data streaming tasks.
See Also CObject, CFile, CSocketFile