diff --git a/objectbroker/aquisition.py b/objectbroker/Aquisition.py
similarity index 100%
rename from objectbroker/aquisition.py
rename to objectbroker/Aquisition.py
diff --git a/objectbroker/objectbroker.py b/objectbroker/ObjectBroker.py
similarity index 100%
rename from objectbroker/objectbroker.py
rename to objectbroker/ObjectBroker.py
diff --git a/objectbroker/objectstore.py b/objectbroker/ObjectStore.py
similarity index 100%
rename from objectbroker/objectstore.py
rename to objectbroker/ObjectStore.py
diff --git a/objectbroker/persistence.py b/objectbroker/Persistence.py
similarity index 100%
rename from objectbroker/persistence.py
rename to objectbroker/Persistence.py
diff --git a/objectbroker/Serializer.py b/objectbroker/Serializer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a9d8e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/objectbroker/Serializer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import weakref
+import collections
+
+from objectbroker.Persistence import Persistence,NoPersistence
+
+class Serializer:
+	"""Base class for object serialization with support for persistence"""
+
+	def __init__(self, objStore, objCache = weakref.WeakValueDictionary() ):
+		self.__objStore = objStore
+		self.__objCache = objCache
+
+
+	def serialize(self, o):
+		slist = {}
+		state = self.objectToState( o, slist )
+		self.__objStore.save(state, slist)
+
+	def unserialize(self, pid):
+		o = self.objectFromCache( pid )
+		if o is None:
+			state = self.__objStore.load( pid )
+			o = self.stateToObject( state )
+		return o
+
+	def objectToState(self, o, states = {} ):
+		"""Create a state dict for an object <o>.
+		Returns the state dict.
+		After method returns, <states> will contain entries for all referenced persistent objects."""
+
+		if not isinstance(o, Persistence):
+			raise TypeError("needs to be based on Persistence class to be used as persistent object")
+
+		if Persistence._persistence_id( o ) in states:
+			return states[ Persistence._persistence_id( o ) ]
+
+		state = {}
+		state["pid"] = Persistence._persistence_id( o )
+		state["module"] = o.__class__.__module__
+		state["class"] = o.__class__.__name__
+		state["fields"] = {}
+		state["pfields"] = {}
+
+		nopersistence   = self.collectClassAttribute(o.__class__,"NOPERSIST")
+		persistnone     = self.collectClassAttribute(o.__class__,"PERSISTNONE")
+
+		states[ state["pid"] ] = state
+
+		d = object.__getattribute__(o, "__dict__")
+		for n in d.keys():
+			a = getattr( o, n )
+			if (not isinstance( a, collections.Callable)) or isinstance( a, object ):
+				if (isinstance( a, NoPersistence)) or (n in nopersistence):
+					state["fields"][n] = a
+				elif n in persistnone:
+					state["fields"][n] = None
+				elif (isinstance( a, Persistence)):
+					state["pfields"][n] = self.objectToState( a, states )["pid"]
+				else:
+					state["fields"][n] = a
+				
+		return state
+
+	def stateToObject(self, state):
+		"""Returns an object that is constructed of the given state.
+		If the cache already holds a reference to an object with the same persistence id,
+		this reference is returned without any alternation of the object."""
+
+		o = self.objFromCache( state["pid"] )
+		if not o is None:
+		    return o
+
+		m = __import__(state["module"],fromlist=[state["class"]])
+		cls = getattr(m, state["class"] )
+		o = cls.__new__(cls)
+
+		objToCache( o, state["pid"] )
+
+		for n in state["fields"]:
+			setattr( o, n, state["fields"][n] )
+
+		for n in state["pfields"]:
+			setattr( o, n, self.stateToObject( state["pfields"][n] ))
+
+		return o
+	
+	def objFromCache(self, pid):
+		if not self.__objCache is None:
+			if pid in self.__objCache:
+				return self.__objCache[ pid ]
+		return None
+
+	def objToCache(self, o, pid = None):
+		if pid is None:
+			pid = Persistence._persistence_id( o )
+
+		if not self.__objCache is None:
+			if not pid in self.__objCache:
+				self.__objCache[ pid ] = o
+			
+	def collectClassAttribute(self, c, name, default = set() ):
+		collection = default
+		classes = (self.__class__,) + self.__class__.__bases__
+
+		for clazz in classes:
+			if hasattr(clazz, name):
+				if isinstance( collection, dict ):
+					collection.update( getattr( clazz, name ) )
+				else:
+					collection = collection + getattr( clazz, name )
+
+		return collection
diff --git a/objectbroker/XMLSerializer.py b/objectbroker/XMLSerializer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa77afa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/objectbroker/XMLSerializer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from objectbroker.Serializer import Serializer
+
+import os
+import os.path
+
+class XMLSerializer(Serializer):
+    
+    def __init__(self, path, objCache = None):
+        Serializer.__init__(self, objCache)
+        
+	def serialize(self, o):
+        raise Exception("Serializer needs to be subclassed")
+
+	def unserialize(self, bytes):
+        raise Exception("Serializer needs to be subclassed")
+                
+    def serializeState(self, state){
+        
+    }
+        
diff --git a/objectbroker/XMLStore.py b/objectbroker/XMLStore.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa5fd53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/objectbroker/XMLStore.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
+import pickle
+import os
+import os.path
+import base64
+
+class XMLStore:
+
+	def __init__(self, path, splitFiles = None):
+		if splitFiles is None:
+			splitFiles = path is None or os.path.isdir( path )
+			
+		self.__path = path
+		self.__split = splitFiles
+		
+		self.__xml = None
+		
+	def save(self, state, persistentStates = {}, xml = None):
+		print("save(self,{0},{1})".format(state,persistentStates))
+		
+		po = ET.Element("PersistentObject")
+		po.attrib["id"]		= state["pid"]
+		po.attrib["class"]	= state["class"]
+		po.attrib["module"]	= state["module"]
+
+		for field in state["fields"]:
+			attr = ET.SubElement(po,"Attribute")
+			attr.attrib["name"] = field
+			attr.attrib["protocol"] = "pickle"
+			attr.text = base64.b64encode( pickle.dumps(state["fields"][field]) ).decode("utf-8")
+
+		for pfield in state["pfields"]:
+			attr = ET.SubElement(po,"Attribute")
+			attr.attrib["name"] = pfield
+			attr.attrib["protocol"] = "persistence"
+			attr.text = state["pfields"][pfield]
+		
+		if xml is None:
+			xml = ET.Element("PersistentObjects")
+			xml.attrib["root"] = state["pid"]
+
+		xml.append( po )
+		
+		for pstate in persistentStates:
+			ps = persistentStates[ pstate ]
+			if not ps == state:
+				self.save( ps, xml = xml )
+			
+		self.__xml = xml
+			
+	def load(self, pid):
+		pass
+		
+	def lastXml(self):
+		return self.__xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/objectbroker/__init__.py b/objectbroker/__init__.py
index f989ac1..d62bd62 100644
--- a/objectbroker/__init__.py
+++ b/objectbroker/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
-from objectbroker.persistence import Persistence,NoPersistence
-from objectbroker.objectstore import DiscObjectStore
-from objectbroker.objectbroker import ObjectBroker
-from objectbroker.aquisition import Aquisition, AquisitionProxy
+from objectbroker.Persistence import Persistence,NoPersistence
+
+from objectbroker.Serializer import Serializer
+from objectbroker.XMLStore import XMLStore
+
+from objectbroker.ObjectStore import DiscObjectStore
+from objectbroker.ObjectBroker import ObjectBroker
+from objectbroker.Aquisition import Aquisition, AquisitionProxy
 from objectbroker.Proxy import InterceptedProxy