diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_spec.hh b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_spec.hh
index 6fbdf996..e3cb5938 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_spec.hh
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_spec.hh
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@
 
 #include <OpenMesh/Core/Utils/typename.hh>
 
+#include <iostream>
+
 //== NAMESPACES ===============================================================
 
 namespace OpenMesh {
@@ -321,7 +323,84 @@ struct FunctorRestore {
   bool          swap_;
 };
 
-#include <OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_fundamentals.inl>
+template <typename T>
+struct binary< std::vector< T > > {
+  typedef std::vector< T >       value_type;
+  typedef typename value_type::value_type elem_type;
+
+  static const bool is_streamable = binary<T>::is_streamable;
+  static size_t size_of(bool _store_size = true)
+  { return IO::UnknownSize; }
+
+  static size_t size_of(const value_type& _v, bool _store_size = true)
+  {
+    if(binary<T>::size_of() != IO::UnknownSize)
+    {
+      unsigned int   N     = _v.size();
+      auto res = sizeof(elem_type)*_v.size() + (_store_size? sizeof(decltype(N)) : 0);
+      return res;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      size_t size = 0;
+      for(auto v : _v)
+      {
+        size += binary<T>::size_of(v);
+        if(_store_size)
+        {
+          unsigned int   N     = _v.size();
+          size += binary<unsigned int>::size_of();
+        }
+      }
+
+      return size;
+    }
+  }
+
+  static std::string string_for_value_type(void) { return get_string_for_type(value_type()); }
+  static
+  size_t store(std::ostream& _os, const value_type& _v, bool _swap=false, bool _store_size = true) {
+    size_t bytes=0;
+    if(_store_size)
+    {
+      unsigned int N = _v.size();
+      bytes += binary<unsigned int>::store( _os, N, _swap );
+    }
+    if (_swap)
+        bytes += std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), static_cast<size_t>(0),
+        FunctorStore<elem_type>(_os,_swap) );
+    else {
+       auto bytes_of_vec = size_of(_v, false);
+       bytes += bytes_of_vec;
+      _os.write( reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&_v[0]), bytes_of_vec);
+    }
+    return _os.good() ? bytes : 0;
+  }
+
+  static size_t restore(std::istream& _is, value_type& _v, bool _swap=false, bool _restore_size = true) {
+
+    size_t bytes=0;
+
+    if(_restore_size)
+    {
+      unsigned int size_of_vec;
+      bytes += binary<unsigned int>::restore(_is, size_of_vec, _swap);
+      _v.resize(size_of_vec);
+    }
+
+    if ( _swap)
+      bytes += std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), size_t(0),
+             FunctorRestore<elem_type>(_is, _swap) );
+    else
+    {
+      auto bytes_of_vec = size_of(_v, false);
+      bytes += bytes_of_vec;
+      _is.read( reinterpret_cast<char*>(&_v[0]), bytes_of_vec );
+    }
+    return _is.good() ? bytes : 0;
+  }
+};
+
 #include <OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_string.inl>
 #include <OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_bool.inl>
 
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_bool.inl b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_bool.inl
index f5f9d19c..8362cd93 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_bool.inl
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_bool.inl
@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@ template <> struct binary< std::vector<bool> >
 
   static const bool is_streamable = true;
 
-  static size_t size_of(void) { return UnknownSize; }
-  static size_t size_of(const value_type& _v)
+  static size_t size_of(bool _store_size = true) { return UnknownSize; }
+  static size_t size_of(const value_type& _v, bool _store_size = true)
   {
     return _v.size() / 8 + ((_v.size() % 8)!=0); 
   }
   static std::string string_for_value_type(void) { return get_string_for_type(value_type()); }
   static
-  size_t store( std::ostream& _ostr, const value_type& _v, bool ) 
+  size_t store( std::ostream& _ostr, const value_type& _v, bool, bool _store_size = true )
   {
     size_t bytes = 0;
     
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ template <> struct binary< std::vector<bool> >
   }
 
   static
-  size_t restore( std::istream& _istr, value_type& _v, bool )
+  size_t restore( std::istream& _istr, value_type& _v, bool, bool _restore_size = true )
   {
     size_t bytes = 0;
     
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_fundamentals.inl b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_fundamentals.inl
deleted file mode 100644
index ba995e0f..00000000
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_fundamentals.inl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,53 +0,0 @@
-
-#define BINARY_VECTOR( T ) \
-template <> struct binary< std::vector< T > > {                 \
-  typedef std::vector< T >       value_type;                    \
-  typedef value_type::value_type elem_type;                     \
-                                                                \
-  static const bool is_streamable = true;                       \
-                                                                \
-  static size_t size_of(void)                                   \
-  { return IO::UnknownSize; }                                   \
-                                                                \
-  static size_t size_of(const value_type& _v)                   \
-  { return sizeof(elem_type)*_v.size(); }                       \
-  static std::string string_for_value_type(void) { return get_string_for_type(value_type()); }\
-  static                                                        \
-  size_t store(std::ostream& _os, const value_type& _v, bool _swap=false) { \
-    size_t bytes=0;                                             \
-                                                                \
-    if (_swap)                                                  \
-        bytes = std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), bytes,   \
-			  FunctorStore<elem_type>(_os,_swap) ); \
-    else {                                                      \
-      bytes = size_of(_v);                                       \
-      _os.write( reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&_v[0]), bytes ); \
-    }                                                            \
-    return _os.good() ? bytes : 0;                              \
-  }                                                             \
-                                                                \
-  static size_t restore(std::istream& _is, value_type& _v, bool _swap=false) { \
-    size_t bytes=0;                                             \
-                                                                \
-    if ( _swap)                                                 \
-      bytes = std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), size_t(0),         \
-			       FunctorRestore<elem_type>(_is, _swap) );           \
-    else                                                        \
-    {                                                           \
-      bytes = size_of(_v);                                      \
-      _is.read( reinterpret_cast<char*>(&_v[0]), bytes );       \
-    }                                                           \
-    return _is.good() ? bytes : 0;                              \
-  }                                                             \
-}
-
-BINARY_VECTOR( short  );
-BINARY_VECTOR( unsigned short  );
-BINARY_VECTOR( int  );
-BINARY_VECTOR( unsigned int  );
-BINARY_VECTOR( long );
-BINARY_VECTOR( unsigned long );
-BINARY_VECTOR( float  );
-BINARY_VECTOR( double );
-
-#undef BINARY_VECTOR
diff --git a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_string.inl b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_string.inl
index d420b30a..43d3f0bc 100644
--- a/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_string.inl
+++ b/src/OpenMesh/Core/IO/SR_binary_vector_of_string.inl
@@ -18,21 +18,21 @@ template <> struct binary< std::vector< std::string > >
 
   // struct binary interface
 
-  static size_t size_of(void) { return UnknownSize; }
+  static size_t size_of(bool _store_size = true) { return UnknownSize; }
 
-  static size_t size_of(const value_type& _v)
+  static size_t size_of(const value_type& _v, bool _store_size = true)
   { return std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), size_t(0), Sum() ); }
 
   static std::string string_for_value_type(void) { return get_string_for_type(value_type()); }
   static 
-  size_t store(std::ostream& _os, const value_type& _v, bool _swap=false)
+  size_t store(std::ostream& _os, const value_type& _v, bool _swap=false, bool _store_size = true)
   {
     return std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), size_t(0), 
 			    FunctorStore<elem_type>(_os, _swap) );
   }                                                        
                                                              
   static
-  size_t restore(std::istream& _is, value_type& _v, bool _swap=false) 
+  size_t restore(std::istream& _is, value_type& _v, bool _swap=false, bool _restore_size = true)
   {
     return std::accumulate( _v.begin(), _v.end(), size_t(0), 
 			    FunctorRestore<elem_type>(_is, _swap) );