Index: TODO
===================================================================
diff -u -r745cfb76b7b0dd189c8b6d71263dd066d4331a11 -rde5093e2960746e5727c31f6ef370f6389dbb51a
--- TODO	(.../TODO)	(revision 745cfb76b7b0dd189c8b6d71263dd066d4331a11)
+++ TODO	(.../TODO)	(revision de5093e2960746e5727c31f6ef370f6389dbb51a)
@@ -3721,6 +3721,11 @@
 - adding method epoch incr to NsfAddObjectMethod() and NsfAddClassMethod()
 - added function CmdListAddSorted() to improve mixinof management
 
+serializer.tcl: 
+- Use directdispatch to query existing traces without the need
+  of an extra method. By this change, the serializer works in
+  constant time independent on the number of existing objects.
+
 ========================================================================
 TODO:
 
@@ -3967,9 +3972,16 @@
 For future releases (after first alpha/beta release)
 
    * Consider alternate method name/place for subcmds (and/or slots) on classes
-     - currently, there are potentail conflicts between slots and ensemble objects
+     - currently, there are potential conflicts between slots and ensemble objects
      - provide a different place in the namesspaces could simplify this
 
+   * The speed of method definiton depends on the number of objects, 
+     since every defined method might be a filter, so FilterInvalidateObjOrders()
+     is called on each filter. It would be useful to keep a list of currently
+     defined filter names to perform the invalidation only when a method is defined
+     with the same name as the currently registered filter (that should be always
+     a small number).
+
    * Ensembles
      - It could be possible to reduce stack frames in ensembles. Just a
        top ensemble frame could be sufficient.
Index: library/serialize/serializer.tcl
===================================================================
diff -u -rc4997e0189bb712287aa53d12bb3e332acfb781d -rde5093e2960746e5727c31f6ef370f6389dbb51a
--- library/serialize/serializer.tcl	(.../serializer.tcl)	(revision c4997e0189bb712287aa53d12bb3e332acfb781d)
+++ library/serialize/serializer.tcl	(.../serializer.tcl)	(revision de5093e2960746e5727c31f6ef370f6389dbb51a)
@@ -237,12 +237,6 @@
     :public method serialize-objects {list all} {
       set :post_cmds ""
 
-      # register for introspection purposes "trace" under a different
-      # name for every object system
-      foreach oss [ObjectSystemSerializer info instances] {
-        $oss registerTrace 1
-      }
-
       :topoSort $list $all
       #foreach i [lsort [array names :level]] { :warn "$i: [set :level($i)]"}
       set result ""
@@ -258,10 +252,6 @@
         set namespace($e) 1
         set namespace([namespace qualifiers $e]) 1
       }
-      # remove "trace" from all object systems
-      foreach oss [ObjectSystemSerializer info instances] {
-        $oss registerTrace 0
-      }
       
       # Handling of variable traces: traces might require a 
       # different topological sort, which is hard to handle.
@@ -510,14 +500,6 @@
       return $cmd
     }
     
-    :public method registerTrace {on} {
-      if {$on} {
-        ::nsf::method::alias ${:rootClass}  __trace__ -frame object ::trace
-      } else {
-        ::nsf::method::create ${:rootClass} __trace__ {} {}
-      }
-    }
-
     #
     # Handle association between objects and responsible serializers
     #
@@ -645,7 +627,10 @@
 
     :method collect-var-traces {o s} {
       foreach v [$o info vars] {
-        set t [$o __trace__ info variable $v]
+	# Use directdispatch to query existing traces without the need
+	# of an extra method.
+        set t [::nsf::directdispatch $o -frame object ::trace info variable $v]
+
         if {$t ne ""} {
           foreach ops $t { 
             foreach {op cmd} $ops break