--- JSON-XS/README 2007/03/24 01:15:22 1.5 +++ JSON-XS/README 2007/05/09 16:35:21 1.11 @@ -4,12 +4,17 @@ SYNOPSIS use JSON::XS; - # exported functions, croak on error + # exported functions, they croak on error + # and expect/generate UTF-8 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref; $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text; - # oo-interface + # objToJson and jsonToObj aliases to to_json and from_json + # are exported for compatibility to the JSON module, + # but should not be used in new code. + + # OO-interface $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); @@ -32,17 +37,18 @@ vice versa. FEATURES - * correct handling of unicode issues + * correct unicode handling This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when it does so. * round-trip integrity When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on - the Perl level. (e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2"). + the Perl level. (e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" + just because it looks like a number). * strict checking of JSON correctness - There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON strings by + There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security feature). @@ -57,29 +63,36 @@ * reasonably versatile output formats You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii - format (for when your transport is not 8-bit clean), or a - pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that stuff). Or you - can combine those features in whatever way you like. + format (for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports + the whole unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you + want to read that stuff). Or you can combine those features in + whatever way you like. FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are exported by default: - $json_string = to_json $perl_scalar + $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error. - This function call is functionally identical to - "JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)". + This function call is functionally identical to: + + $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) - $perl_scalar = from_json $json_string + except being faster. + + $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text The opposite of "to_json": expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and - tries to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON string, returning the + tries to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error. - This function call is functionally identical to - "JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_string)". + This function call is functionally identical to: + + $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) + + except being faster. OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or @@ -93,36 +106,79 @@ The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can be chained: - my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8(1)->space_after(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]}) + my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]}) => {"a": [1, 2]} $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) If $enable is true (or missing), then the "encode" method will not - generate characters outside the code range 0..127. Any unicode - characters outside that range will be escaped using either a single - \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, - as per RFC4627. + generate characters outside the code range 0..127 (which is ASCII). + Any unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using + either a single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL + escape sequence, as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can + be treated as a native unicode string, an ascii-encoded, + latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string, or any other superset of + ASCII. If $enable is false, then the "encode" method will not escape - Unicode characters unless necessary. + Unicode characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other + flags. This results in a faster and more compact format. + + The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be + transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not + contain any 8 bit characters. - JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode (chr 0x10401) - => \ud801\udc01 + JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) + => ["\ud801\udc01"] + + $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable]) + If $enable is true (or missing), then the "encode" method will + encode the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping + any characters outside the code range 0..255. The resulting string + can be treated as a latin1-encoded JSON text or a native unicode + string. The "decode" method will not be affected in any way by this + flag, as "decode" by default expects unicode, which is a strict + superset of latin1. + + If $enable is false, then the "encode" method will not escape + Unicode characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other + flags. + + The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as + JSON text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a + smaller encoded size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON + text is encoded in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such + when storing and transfering), a rare encoding for JSON. It is + therefore most useful when you want to store data structures known + to contain binary data efficiently in files or databases, not when + talking to other JSON encoders/decoders. + + JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"] + => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not) $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) If $enable is true (or missing), then the "encode" method will - encode the JSON string into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, + encode the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the "decode" method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the range 0..255, they are thus useful for - bytewise/binary I/O. + bytewise/binary I/O. In future versions, enabling this option might + enable autodetection of the UTF-16 and UTF-32 encoding families, as + described in RFC4627. If $enable is false, then the "encode" method will return the JSON string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while "decode" expects thus a unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. - Example, output UTF-16-encoded JSON: + Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: + + use Encode; + $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); + + Example, decode UTF-32LE-encoded JSON: + + use Encode; + $object = JSON::XS->new->decode (decode "UTF-32LE", $jsontext); $json = $json->pretty ([$enable]) This enables (or disables) all of the "indent", "space_before" and @@ -147,10 +203,9 @@ properly. If $enable is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and - the resulting JSON strings is guarenteed not to contain any - "newlines". + the resulting JSON text is guarenteed not to contain any "newlines". - This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. + This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) If $enable is true (or missing), then the "encode" method will add @@ -160,7 +215,7 @@ If $enable is false, then the "encode" method will not add any extra space at those places. - This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. You will also + This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. You will also most likely combine this setting with "space_after". Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled: @@ -176,7 +231,7 @@ If $enable is false, then the "encode" method will not add any extra space at those places. - This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. + This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: @@ -192,12 +247,12 @@ between runs of the same script). This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be - encoded as the same JSON string (given the same overall settings). - If it is disabled, the same hash migh be encoded differently even if + encoded as the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If + it is disabled, the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. - This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. + This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) If $enable is true (or missing), then the "encode" method can @@ -206,7 +261,7 @@ "decode" will accept those JSON values instead of croaking. If $enable is false, then the "encode" method will croak if it isn't - passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON strings must either be an + passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON texts must either be an object or array. Likewise, "decode" will croak if given something that is not a JSON object or array. @@ -220,11 +275,16 @@ Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either "encode" or "decode" to their minimum size possible. This can save - memory when your JSON strings are either very very long or you have + memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store - everything but uses less space in general. + everything but uses less space in general (and some buggy Perl or C + code might even rely on that internal representation being used). + + The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future + versions, but it will always try to save space at the expense of + time. If $enable is true (or missing), the string returned by "encode" will be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by "decode" will @@ -238,7 +298,27 @@ or floats internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. - $json_string = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) + $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth]) + Sets the maximum nesting level (default 512) accepted while encoding + or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or + higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder + will stop and croak at that point. + + Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the + encoder needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of + "{" or "[" characters without their matching closing parenthesis + crossed to reach a given character in a string. + + Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that + ensures that the object is only a single hash/object or array. + + The argument to "max_depth" will be rounded up to the next nearest + power of two. + + See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is + useful. + + $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be converted into JSON string or number sequences, @@ -247,15 +327,27 @@ become JSON "null" values. Neither "true" nor "false" values will be generated. - $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_string) - The opposite of "encode": expects a JSON string and tries to parse - it, returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on - error. + $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_text) + The opposite of "encode": expects a JSON text and tries to parse it, + returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error. JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. "true" becomes 1, "false" becomes 0 and "null" becomes "undef". + ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text) + This works like the "decode" method, but instead of raising an + exception when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON + object, it will silently stop parsing there and return the number of + characters consumed so far. + + This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer + protocol (which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) + and you need to know where the JSON text ends. + + JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail") + => ([], 3) + MAPPING This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most @@ -304,17 +396,28 @@ hash references Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent - ordering in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a - pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program - but stays generally the same within a single run of a program. - JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the - *canonical* flag), so the same datastructure will serialise to the - same JSON text (given same settings and version of JSON::XS), but - this incurs a runtime overhead. + ordering in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be + encoded in a pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the + same program but stays generally the same within a single run of a + program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash keys (determined by + the *canonical* flag), so the same datastructure will serialise to + the same JSON text (given same settings and version of JSON::XS), + but this incurs a runtime overhead and is only rarely useful, e.g. + when you want to compare some JSON text against another for + equality. array references Perl array references become JSON arrays. + other references + Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause + an exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers 0 + and 1, which get turned into "false" and "true" atoms in JSON. You + can also use "JSON::XS::false" and "JSON::XS::true" to improve + readability. + + to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true] + blessed objects Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this @@ -355,9 +458,6 @@ You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. - circular data structures - Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out. - COMPARISON As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will @@ -388,7 +488,7 @@ magic values will make it croak). Does not even generate valid JSON ("{1,2}" gets converted to "{1:2}" - which is not a valid JSON string. + which is not a valid JSON text. Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not getting fixed). @@ -399,7 +499,7 @@ Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and - preferably a way to generate ASCII-only JSON strings). + preferably a way to generate ASCII-only JSON texts). Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode escapes are not working properly, you need to set @@ -432,8 +532,8 @@ No roundtripping. - Does not generate valid JSON (key strings are often unquoted, empty - keys result in nothing being output) + Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, + empty keys result in nothing being output) Does not check input for validity. @@ -444,22 +544,26 @@ system. First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short JSON - string (83 bytes), showing the number of encodes/decodes per second - (JSON::XS is the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 is the OO - interface with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is - better: + string: + + {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], "id": null} + + It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses the + functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface with + pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is better: module | encode | decode | -----------|------------|------------| - JSON | 14006 | 6820 | - JSON::DWIW | 200937 | 120386 | - JSON::PC | 85065 | 129366 | - JSON::Syck | 59898 | 44232 | - JSON::XS | 1171478 | 342435 | - JSON::XS/2 | 730760 | 328714 | + JSON | 11488.516 | 7823.035 | + JSON::DWIW | 94708.054 | 129094.260 | + JSON::PC | 63884.157 | 128528.212 | + JSON::Syck | 34898.677 | 42096.911 | + JSON::XS | 654027.064 | 396423.669 | + JSON::XS/2 | 371564.190 | 371725.613 | -----------+------------+------------+ - That is, JSON::XS is 6 times faster than than JSON::DWIW and about 80 + That is, JSON::XS is more than six times faster than JSON::DWIW on + encoding, more than three times faster on decoding, and about thirty times faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals @@ -467,34 +571,55 @@ module | encode | decode | -----------|------------|------------| - JSON | 673 | 38 | - JSON::DWIW | 5271 | 770 | - JSON::PC | 9901 | 2491 | - JSON::Syck | 2360 | 786 | - JSON::XS | 37398 | 3202 | - JSON::XS/2 | 13765 | 3153 | + JSON | 273.023 | 44.674 | + JSON::DWIW | 1089.383 | 1145.704 | + JSON::PC | 3097.419 | 2393.921 | + JSON::Syck | 514.060 | 843.053 | + JSON::XS | 6479.668 | 3636.364 | + JSON::XS/2 | 3774.221 | 3599.124 | -----------+------------+------------+ - Again, JSON::XS leads by far in the encoding case, while still beating - every other module in the decoding case. + Again, JSON::XS leads by far. - On large strings containing lots of unicode characters, some modules - (such as JSON::PC) decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result will be - broken due to missing unicode handling. Others refuse to decode or - encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair comparison table - for that case. - -RESOURCE LIMITS - JSON::XS does not impose any limits on the size of JSON texts or Perl - values they represent - if your machine can handle it, JSON::XS will - encode or decode it. Future versions might optionally impose structure - depth and memory use resource limits. + On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some + modules (such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the + result will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others + refuse to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a + fair comparison table for that case. + +SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS + When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially + hostile creatures requires relatively few measures. + + First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not + have any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and + I am trying hard on making that true, but you never know. + + Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you + should limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when + your resources run out, thats just fine (e.g. by using a separate + process that can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or + characters is usually a good indication of the size of the resources + required to decode it into a Perl structure. + + Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and + arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64 + machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays + but only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on + croak to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. + to be conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your + process has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly + with the "max_depth" method. + + And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think + of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for + hints, though... BUGS While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is - still very young and not well-tested. If you keep reporting bugs they - will be fixed swiftly, though. + still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs + they will be fixed swiftly, though. AUTHOR Marc Lehmann