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Revision 1.10 by root, Mon Oct 28 22:03:20 2013 UTC vs.
Revision 1.19 by root, Wed Nov 20 01:09:46 2013 UTC

46In short, CBOR is a faster and very compact binary alternative to JSON, 46In short, CBOR is a faster and very compact binary alternative to JSON,
47with the added ability of supporting serialisation of Perl objects. (JSON 47with the added ability of supporting serialisation of Perl objects. (JSON
48often compresses better than CBOR though, so if you plan to compress the 48often compresses better than CBOR though, so if you plan to compress the
49data later you might want to compare both formats first). 49data later you might want to compare both formats first).
50 50
51To give you a general idea about speed, with texts in the megabyte range,
52C<CBOR::XS> usually encodes roughly twice as fast as L<Storable> or
53L<JSON::XS> and decodes about 15%-30% faster than those. The shorter the
54data, the worse L<Storable> performs in comparison.
55
56As for compactness, C<CBOR::XS> encoded data structures are usually about
5720% smaller than the same data encoded as (compact) JSON or L<Storable>.
58
51The primary goal of this module is to be I<correct> and the secondary goal 59The primary goal of this module is to be I<correct> and the secondary goal
52is to be I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C. 60is to be I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C.
53 61
54See MAPPING, below, on how CBOR::XS maps perl values to CBOR values and 62See MAPPING, below, on how CBOR::XS maps perl values to CBOR values and
55vice versa. 63vice versa.
58 66
59package CBOR::XS; 67package CBOR::XS;
60 68
61use common::sense; 69use common::sense;
62 70
63our $VERSION = 0.05; 71our $VERSION = 0.08;
64our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 72our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
65 73
66our @EXPORT = qw(encode_cbor decode_cbor); 74our @EXPORT = qw(encode_cbor decode_cbor);
67 75
68use Exporter; 76use Exporter;
149If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when 157If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when
150C<0> is specified). 158C<0> is specified).
151 159
152See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 160See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
153 161
162=item $cbor = $cbor->allow_unknown ([$enable])
163
164=item $enabled = $cbor->get_allow_unknown
165
166If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will I<not> throw an
167exception when it encounters values it cannot represent in CBOR (for
168example, filehandles) but instead will encode a CBOR C<error> value.
169
170If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
171exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as CBOR.
172
173This option does not affect C<decode> in any way, and it is recommended to
174leave it off unless you know your communications partner.
175
176=item $cbor = $cbor->allow_sharable ([$enable])
177
178=item $enabled = $cbor->get_allow_sharable
179
180If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will not double-encode
181values that have been seen before (e.g. when the same object, such as an
182array, is referenced multiple times), but instead will emit a reference to
183the earlier value.
184
185This means that such values will only be encoded once, and will not result
186in a deep cloning of the value on decode, in decoders supporting the value
187sharing extension.
188
189Detecting shared values incurs a runtime overhead when values are encoded
190that have a reference counter large than one, and might unnecessarily
191increase the encoded size, as potentially shared values are encode as
192sharable whether or not they are actually shared.
193
194At the moment, all shared values will be detected, even weird and unusual
195cases, such as an array with multiple "copies" of the I<same> scalar,
196which are hard but not impossible to create in Perl (L<Storable> for
197example doesn't handle these cases). If this turns out ot be a performance
198issue then future versions might limit the shared value detection to
199references only.
200
201If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will encode
202exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as CBOR.
203
204This option does not affect C<decode> in any way - shared values and
205references will always be decoded properly if present. It is recommended
206to leave it off unless you know your communications partner supports the
207value sharing extensions to CBOR (http://cbor.schmorp.de/value-sharing).
208
154=item $cbor_data = $cbor->encode ($perl_scalar) 209=item $cbor_data = $cbor->encode ($perl_scalar)
155 210
156Converts the given Perl data structure (a scalar value) to its CBOR 211Converts the given Perl data structure (a scalar value) to its CBOR
157representation. 212representation.
158 213
229error). See the L<Types::Serialiser> manpage for details. 284error). See the L<Types::Serialiser> manpage for details.
230 285
231=item CBOR tag 256 (perl object) 286=item CBOR tag 256 (perl object)
232 287
233The tag value C<256> (TODO: pending iana registration) will be used 288The tag value C<256> (TODO: pending iana registration) will be used
234to deserialise a Perl object serialised with C<FREEZE>. See "OBJECT 289to deserialise a Perl object serialised with C<FREEZE>. See L<OBJECT
235SERIALISATION", below, for details. 290SERIALISATION>, below, for details.
236 291
237=item CBOR tag 55799 (magic header) 292=item CBOR tag 55799 (magic header)
238 293
239The tag 55799 is ignored (this tag implements the magic header). 294The tag 55799 is ignored (this tag implements the magic header).
240 295
283C<1>, which get turned into false and true in CBOR. 338C<1>, which get turned into false and true in CBOR.
284 339
285=item CBOR::XS::Tagged objects 340=item CBOR::XS::Tagged objects
286 341
287Objects of this type must be arrays consisting of a single C<[tag, value]> 342Objects of this type must be arrays consisting of a single C<[tag, value]>
288pair. The (numerical) tag will be encoded as a CBOR tag, the value will be 343pair. The (numerical) tag will be encoded as a CBOR tag, the value will
289encoded as appropriate for the value. 344be encoded as appropriate for the value. You cna use C<CBOR::XS::tag> to
345create such objects.
290 346
291=item Types::Serialiser::true, Types::Serialiser::false, Types::Serialiser::error 347=item Types::Serialiser::true, Types::Serialiser::false, Types::Serialiser::error
292 348
293These special values become CBOR true, CBOR false and CBOR undefined 349These special values become CBOR true, CBOR false and CBOR undefined
294values, respectively. You can also use C<\1>, C<\0> and C<\undef> directly 350values, respectively. You can also use C<\1>, C<\0> and C<\undef> directly
295if you want. 351if you want.
296 352
297=item other blessed objects 353=item other blessed objects
298 354
299Other blessed objects are serialised via C<TO_CBOR> or C<FREEZE>. See 355Other blessed objects are serialised via C<TO_CBOR> or C<FREEZE>. See
300"OBJECT SERIALISATION", below, for details. 356L<OBJECT SERIALISATION>, below, for details.
301 357
302=item simple scalars 358=item simple scalars
303 359
304TODO 360TODO
305Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 361Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
446=head1 MAGIC HEADER 502=head1 MAGIC HEADER
447 503
448There is no way to distinguish CBOR from other formats 504There is no way to distinguish CBOR from other formats
449programmatically. To make it easier to distinguish CBOR from other 505programmatically. To make it easier to distinguish CBOR from other
450formats, the CBOR specification has a special "magic string" that can be 506formats, the CBOR specification has a special "magic string" that can be
451prepended to any CBOR string without changing it's meaning. 507prepended to any CBOR string without changing its meaning.
452 508
453This string is available as C<$CBOR::XS::MAGIC>. This module does not 509This string is available as C<$CBOR::XS::MAGIC>. This module does not
454prepend this string tot he CBOR data it generates, but it will ignroe it 510prepend this string to the CBOR data it generates, but it will ignore it
455if present, so users can prepend this string as a "file type" indicator as 511if present, so users can prepend this string as a "file type" indicator as
456required. 512required.
513
514
515=head1 THE CBOR::XS::Tagged CLASS
516
517CBOR has the concept of tagged values - any CBOR value can be tagged with
518a numeric 64 bit number, which are centrally administered.
519
520C<CBOR::XS> handles a few tags internally when en- or decoding. You can
521also create tags yourself by encoding C<CBOR::XS::Tagged> objects, and the
522decoder will create C<CBOR::XS::Tagged> objects itself when it hits an
523unknown tag.
524
525These objects are simply blessed array references - the first member of
526the array being the numerical tag, the second being the value.
527
528You can interact with C<CBOR::XS::Tagged> objects in the following ways:
529
530=over 4
531
532=item $tagged = CBOR::XS::tag $tag, $value
533
534This function(!) creates a new C<CBOR::XS::Tagged> object using the given
535C<$tag> (0..2**64-1) to tag the given C<$value> (which can be any Perl
536value that can be encoded in CBOR, including serialisable Perl objects and
537C<CBOR::XS::Tagged> objects).
538
539=item $tagged->[0]
540
541=item $tagged->[0] = $new_tag
542
543=item $tag = $tagged->tag
544
545=item $new_tag = $tagged->tag ($new_tag)
546
547Access/mutate the tag.
548
549=item $tagged->[1]
550
551=item $tagged->[1] = $new_value
552
553=item $value = $tagged->value
554
555=item $new_value = $tagged->value ($new_value)
556
557Access/mutate the tagged value.
558
559=back
560
561=cut
562
563sub tag($$) {
564 bless [@_], CBOR::XS::Tagged::;
565}
566
567sub CBOR::XS::Tagged::tag {
568 $_[0][0] = $_[1] if $#_;
569 $_[0][0]
570}
571
572sub CBOR::XS::Tagged::value {
573 $_[0][1] = $_[1] if $#_;
574 $_[0][1]
575}
576
577=head2 EXAMPLES
578
579Here are some examples of C<CBOR::XS::Tagged> uses to tag objects.
580
581You can look up CBOR tag value and emanings in the IANA registry at
582L<http://www.iana.org/assignments/cbor-tags/cbor-tags.xhtml>.
583
584Prepend a magic header (C<$CBOR::XS::MAGIC>):
585
586 my $cbor = encode_cbor CBOR::XS::tag 55799, $value;
587 # same as:
588 my $cbor = $CBOR::XS::MAGIC . encode_cbor $value;
589
590Serialise some URIs and a regex in an array:
591
592 my $cbor = encode_cbor [
593 (CBOR::XS::tag 32, "http://www.nethype.de/"),
594 (CBOR::XS::tag 32, "http://software.schmorp.de/"),
595 (CBOR::XS::tag 35, "^[Pp][Ee][Rr][lL]\$"),
596 ];
597
598Wrap CBOR data in CBOR:
599
600 my $cbor_cbor = encode_cbor
601 CBOR::XS::tag 24,
602 encode_cbor [1, 2, 3];
603
604=head1 TAG HANDLING AND EXTENSIONS
605
606This section describes how this module handles specific tagged values and
607extensions. If a tag is not mentioned here, then the default handling
608applies (creating a CBOR::XS::Tagged object on decoding, and only encoding
609the tag when explicitly requested).
610
611Future versions of this module reserve the right to special case
612additional tags (such as bigfloat or base64url).
613
614=over 4
615
616=item <unassigned> (perl-object, L<http://cbor.schmorp.de/perl-object>)
617
618These tags are automatically created for serialisable objects using the
619C<FREEZE/THAW> methods (the L<Types::Serialier> object serialisation
620protocol).
621
622=item <unassigned>, <unassigned> (sharable, sharedref, L <http://cbor.schmorp.de/value-sharing>)
623
624These tags are automatically decoded when encountered, resulting in
625shared values in the decoded object. They are only encoded, however, when
626C<allow_sharable> is enabled.
627
628=item 22098 (indirection, L<http://cbor.schmorp.de/indirection>)
629
630This tag is automatically generated when a reference are encountered (with
631the exception of hash and array refernces). It is converted to a reference
632when decoding.
633
634=item 55799 (self-describe CBOR, RFC 7049)
635
636This value is not generated on encoding (unless explicitly requested by
637the user), and is simply ignored when decoding.
638
639=back
457 640
458 641
459=head1 CBOR and JSON 642=head1 CBOR and JSON
460 643
461CBOR is supposed to implement a superset of the JSON data model, and is, 644CBOR is supposed to implement a superset of the JSON data model, and is,

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