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Revision 1.50 by root, Mon Jul 2 00:29:38 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.115 by root, Tue Feb 17 23:29:38 2009 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast 3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
4
5=encoding utf-8
6
7JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ
8 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html)
4 9
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 10=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 11
7 use JSON::XS; 12 use JSON::XS;
8 13
9 # exported functions, they croak on error 14 # exported functions, they croak on error
10 # and expect/generate UTF-8 15 # and expect/generate UTF-8
11 16
12 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref; 17 $utf8_encoded_json_text = encode_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
13 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text; 18 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = decode_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
14 19
15 # OO-interface 20 # OO-interface
16 21
17 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; 22 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
18 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); 23 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
19 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text); 24 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
20 25
26 # Note that JSON version 2.0 and above will automatically use JSON::XS
27 # if available, at virtually no speed overhead either, so you should
28 # be able to just:
29
30 use JSON;
31
32 # and do the same things, except that you have a pure-perl fallback now.
33
21=head1 DESCRIPTION 34=head1 DESCRIPTION
22 35
23This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 36This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its
24primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be 37primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be
25I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C. 38I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C.
39
40Beginning with version 2.0 of the JSON module, when both JSON and
41JSON::XS are installed, then JSON will fall back on JSON::XS (this can be
42overridden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheriting constructor
43and methods). If JSON::XS is not available, it will fall back to the
44compatible JSON::PP module as backend, so using JSON instead of JSON::XS
45gives you a portable JSON API that can be fast when you need and doesn't
46require a C compiler when that is a problem.
26 47
27As this is the n-th-something JSON module on CPAN, what was the reason 48As this is the n-th-something JSON module on CPAN, what was the reason
28to write yet another JSON module? While it seems there are many JSON 49to write yet another JSON module? While it seems there are many JSON
29modules, none of them correctly handle all corner cases, and in most cases 50modules, none of them correctly handle all corner cases, and in most cases
30their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
31reports for other reasons. 52reports for other reasons.
32 53
33See COMPARISON, below, for a comparison to some other JSON modules.
34
35See MAPPING, below, on how JSON::XS maps perl values to JSON values and 54See MAPPING, below, on how JSON::XS maps perl values to JSON values and
36vice versa. 55vice versa.
37 56
38=head2 FEATURES 57=head2 FEATURES
39 58
40=over 4 59=over 4
41 60
42=item * correct unicode handling 61=item * correct Unicode handling
43 62
44This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when 63This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does
45it does so. 64so, and even documents what "correct" means.
46 65
47=item * round-trip integrity 66=item * round-trip integrity
48 67
49When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 68When you serialise a perl data structure using only data types supported
50by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 69by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
51(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks 70(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks
52like a number). 71like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING
72section below to learn about those.
53 73
54=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 74=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
55 75
56There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 76There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
57and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security 77and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
58feature). 78feature).
59 79
60=item * fast 80=item * fast
61 81
62Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 82Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
63of speed, too. 83this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
64 84
65=item * simple to use 85=item * simple to use
66 86
67This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 87This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an object
68interface. 88oriented interface interface.
69 89
70=item * reasonably versatile output formats 90=item * reasonably versatile output formats
71 91
72You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format 92You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
73possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 93possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ASCII format
74(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole 94(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole
75unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that 95Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that
76stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like. 96stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
77 97
78=back 98=back
79 99
80=cut 100=cut
81 101
82package JSON::XS; 102package JSON::XS;
83 103
104no warnings;
84use strict; 105use strict;
85 106
86our $VERSION = '1.4'; 107our $VERSION = '2.232';
87our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 108our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
88 109
89our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json); 110our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
111
112sub to_json($) {
113 require Carp;
114 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::to_json has been renamed to encode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
115}
116
117sub from_json($) {
118 require Carp;
119 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::from_json has been renamed to decode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
120}
90 121
91use Exporter; 122use Exporter;
92use XSLoader; 123use XSLoader;
93 124
94=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 125=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
95 126
96The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 127The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
97exported by default: 128exported by default:
98 129
99=over 4 130=over 4
100 131
101=item $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar 132=item $json_text = encode_json $perl_scalar
102 133
103Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to 134Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string
104a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains 135(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error.
105octets only). Croaks on error.
106 136
107This function call is functionally identical to: 137This function call is functionally identical to:
108 138
109 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) 139 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
110 140
111except being faster. 141Except being faster.
112 142
113=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text 143=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
114 144
115The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to 145The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
116parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting simple 146to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
117scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 147reference. Croaks on error.
118 148
119This function call is functionally identical to: 149This function call is functionally identical to:
120 150
121 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 151 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
122 152
123except being faster. 153Except being faster.
124 154
125=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar 155=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
126 156
127Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or 157Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
128JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively 158JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
132Perl. 162Perl.
133 163
134=back 164=back
135 165
136 166
167=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL
168
169Since this often leads to confusion, here are a few very clear words on
170how Unicode works in Perl, modulo bugs.
171
172=over 4
173
174=item 1. Perl strings can store characters with ordinal values > 255.
175
176This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
177Perl string - very natural.
178
179=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
180
181... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
182printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
183string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
184on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
185data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
186
187=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
188encoding of your string.
189
190Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
191XS or want to dive into the internals of perl. Otherwise it will only
192confuse you, as, despite the name, it says nothing about how your string
193is encoded. You can have Unicode strings with that flag set, with that
194flag clear, and you can have binary data with that flag set and that flag
195clear. Other possibilities exist, too.
196
197If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
198exist.
199
200=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
201validly interpreted as a Unicode code point.
202
203If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a
204Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
205
206=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
207
208It's a fact. Learn to live with it.
209
210=back
211
212I hope this helps :)
213
214
137=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 215=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
138 216
139The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 217The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
140decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 218decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
141 219
152 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 230 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
153 => {"a": [1, 2]} 231 => {"a": [1, 2]}
154 232
155=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) 233=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
156 234
235=item $enabled = $json->get_ascii
236
157If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 237If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
158generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any 238generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
159unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a 239Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
160single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, 240single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
161as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native 241as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
162unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string, 242Unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
163or any other superset of ASCII. 243or any other superset of ASCII.
164 244
165If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 245If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
166characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results 246characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
167in a faster and more compact format. 247in a faster and more compact format.
168 248
249See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
250document.
251
169The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be 252The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
170transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not 253transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
171contain any 8 bit characters. 254contain any 8 bit characters.
172 255
173 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 256 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
174 => ["\ud801\udc01"] 257 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
175 258
176=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable]) 259=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
177 260
261=item $enabled = $json->get_latin1
262
178If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 263If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
179the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters 264the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
180outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a 265outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
181latin1-encoded JSON text or a native unicode string. The C<decode> method 266latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method
182will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default 267will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
183expects unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1. 268expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
184 269
185If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 270If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
186characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. 271characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
272
273See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
274document.
187 275
188The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON 276The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
189text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded 277text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
190size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded 278size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
191in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and 279in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
192transfering), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when 280transferring), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
193you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently 281you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
194in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders. 282in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
195 283
196 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"] 284 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
197 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not) 285 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
198 286
199=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 287=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
288
289=item $enabled = $json->get_utf8
200 290
201If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 291If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
202the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 292the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
203C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please 293C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
204note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the 294note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
205range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future 295range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
206versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16 296versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16
207and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627. 297and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627.
208 298
209If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 299If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
210string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 300string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
211unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 301Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
212to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 302to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
303
304See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
305document.
213 306
214Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: 307Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
215 308
216 use Encode; 309 use Encode;
217 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); 310 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
238 ] 331 ]
239 } 332 }
240 333
241=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable]) 334=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable])
242 335
336=item $enabled = $json->get_indent
337
243If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 338If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
244format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 339format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
245into its own line, identing them properly. 340into its own line, indenting them properly.
246 341
247If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 342If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
248resulting JSON text is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>. 343resulting JSON text is guaranteed not to contain any C<newlines>.
249 344
250This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 345This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
251 346
252=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) 347=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
348
349=item $enabled = $json->get_space_before
253 350
254If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 351If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
255optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 352optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
256 353
257If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 354If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
263Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled: 360Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
264 361
265 {"key" :"value"} 362 {"key" :"value"}
266 363
267=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable]) 364=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
365
366=item $enabled = $json->get_space_after
268 367
269If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 368If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
270optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 369optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
271and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array 370and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array
272members. 371members.
278 377
279Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: 378Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
280 379
281 {"key": "value"} 380 {"key": "value"}
282 381
382=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
383
384=item $enabled = $json->get_relaxed
385
386If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
387extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
388affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
389JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
390parse application-specific files written by humans (configuration files,
391resource files etc.)
392
393If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<decode> will only accept
394valid JSON texts.
395
396Currently accepted extensions are:
397
398=over 4
399
400=item * list items can have an end-comma
401
402JSON I<separates> array elements and key-value pairs with commas. This
403can be annoying if you write JSON texts manually and want to be able to
404quickly append elements, so this extension accepts comma at the end of
405such items not just between them:
406
407 [
408 1,
409 2, <- this comma not normally allowed
410 ]
411 {
412 "k1": "v1",
413 "k2": "v2", <- this comma not normally allowed
414 }
415
416=item * shell-style '#'-comments
417
418Whenever JSON allows whitespace, shell-style comments are additionally
419allowed. They are terminated by the first carriage-return or line-feed
420character, after which more white-space and comments are allowed.
421
422 [
423 1, # this comment not allowed in JSON
424 # neither this one...
425 ]
426
427=back
428
283=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 429=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
430
431=item $enabled = $json->get_canonical
284 432
285If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 433If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
286by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 434by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
287 435
288If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 436If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
289pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 437pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
290of the same script). 438of the same script).
291 439
292This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 440This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
293the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 441the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
294the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 442the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
295as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 443as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
296 444
297This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 445This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
298 446
299=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 447=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
448
449=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
300 450
301If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 451If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
302non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 452non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
303which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 453which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
304values instead of croaking. 454values instead of croaking.
312resulting in an invalid JSON text: 462resulting in an invalid JSON text:
313 463
314 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 464 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
315 => "Hello, World!" 465 => "Hello, World!"
316 466
467=item $json = $json->allow_unknown ([$enable])
468
469=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_unknown
470
471If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will I<not> throw an
472exception when it encounters values it cannot represent in JSON (for
473example, filehandles) but instead will encode a JSON C<null> value. Note
474that blessed objects are not included here and are handled separately by
475c<allow_nonref>.
476
477If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
478exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as JSON.
479
480This option does not affect C<decode> in any way, and it is recommended to
481leave it off unless you know your communications partner.
482
317=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable]) 483=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
484
485=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
318 486
319If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 487If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
320barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the 488barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
321B<convert_blessed> option will decide wether C<null> (C<convert_blessed> 489B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
322disabled or no C<to_json> method found) or a representation of the 490disabled or no C<TO_JSON> method found) or a representation of the
323object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<to_json> method found) is being 491object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<TO_JSON> method found) is being
324encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>. 492encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
325 493
326If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an 494If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
327exception when it encounters a blessed object. 495exception when it encounters a blessed object.
328 496
329=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable]) 497=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
498
499=item $enabled = $json->get_convert_blessed
330 500
331If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a 501If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
332blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method 502blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
333on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context 503on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
334and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no 504and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
338The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON> 508The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
339returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same 509returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
340way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle 510way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
341(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other 511(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
342methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are 512methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
343usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with the C<to_json> 513usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with any C<to_json>
344function. 514function or method.
345 515
346This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the 516This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
347future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are 517future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
348enabled by this setting. 518enabled by this setting.
349 519
350If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what 520If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
351to do when a blessed object is found. 521to do when a blessed object is found.
352 522
523=item $json = $json->filter_json_object ([$coderef->($hashref)])
524
525When C<$coderef> is specified, it will be called from C<decode> each
526time it decodes a JSON object. The only argument is a reference to the
527newly-created hash. If the code references returns a single scalar (which
528need not be a reference), this value (i.e. a copy of that scalar to avoid
529aliasing) is inserted into the deserialised data structure. If it returns
530an empty list (NOTE: I<not> C<undef>, which is a valid scalar), the
531original deserialised hash will be inserted. This setting can slow down
532decoding considerably.
533
534When C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, any existing callback will
535be removed and C<decode> will not change the deserialised hash in any
536way.
537
538Example, convert all JSON objects into the integer 5:
539
540 my $js = JSON::XS->new->filter_json_object (sub { 5 });
541 # returns [5]
542 $js->decode ('[{}]')
543 # throw an exception because allow_nonref is not enabled
544 # so a lone 5 is not allowed.
545 $js->decode ('{"a":1, "b":2}');
546
547=item $json = $json->filter_json_single_key_object ($key [=> $coderef->($value)])
548
549Works remotely similar to C<filter_json_object>, but is only called for
550JSON objects having a single key named C<$key>.
551
552This C<$coderef> is called before the one specified via
553C<filter_json_object>, if any. It gets passed the single value in the JSON
554object. If it returns a single value, it will be inserted into the data
555structure. If it returns nothing (not even C<undef> but the empty list),
556the callback from C<filter_json_object> will be called next, as if no
557single-key callback were specified.
558
559If C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, the corresponding callback will be
560disabled. There can only ever be one callback for a given key.
561
562As this callback gets called less often then the C<filter_json_object>
563one, decoding speed will not usually suffer as much. Therefore, single-key
564objects make excellent targets to serialise Perl objects into, especially
565as single-key JSON objects are as close to the type-tagged value concept
566as JSON gets (it's basically an ID/VALUE tuple). Of course, JSON does not
567support this in any way, so you need to make sure your data never looks
568like a serialised Perl hash.
569
570Typical names for the single object key are C<__class_whatever__>, or
571C<$__dollars_are_rarely_used__$> or C<}ugly_brace_placement>, or even
572things like C<__class_md5sum(classname)__>, to reduce the risk of clashing
573with real hashes.
574
575Example, decode JSON objects of the form C<< { "__widget__" => <id> } >>
576into the corresponding C<< $WIDGET{<id>} >> object:
577
578 # return whatever is in $WIDGET{5}:
579 JSON::XS
580 ->new
581 ->filter_json_single_key_object (__widget__ => sub {
582 $WIDGET{ $_[0] }
583 })
584 ->decode ('{"__widget__": 5')
585
586 # this can be used with a TO_JSON method in some "widget" class
587 # for serialisation to json:
588 sub WidgetBase::TO_JSON {
589 my ($self) = @_;
590
591 unless ($self->{id}) {
592 $self->{id} = ..get..some..id..;
593 $WIDGET{$self->{id}} = $self;
594 }
595
596 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
597 }
598
353=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 599=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
600
601=item $enabled = $json->get_shrink
354 602
355Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 603Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
356strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 604strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
357C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 605C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
358memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many 606memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
376strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 624strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
377internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 625internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
378 626
379=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth]) 627=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
380 628
629=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
630
381Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding 631Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
382or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or 632or decoding. If a higher nesting level is detected in JSON text or a Perl
383higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will 633data structure, then the encoder and decoder will stop and croak at that
384stop and croak at that point. 634point.
385 635
386Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder 636Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
387needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[> 637needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
388characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a 638characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
389given character in a string. 639given character in a string.
390 640
391Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures 641Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
392that the object is only a single hash/object or array. 642that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
393 643
394The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
395of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be 644If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be used, which
396used, which is rarely useful. 645is rarely useful.
646
647Note that nesting is implemented by recursion in C. The default value has
648been chosen to be as large as typical operating systems allow without
649crashing.
397 650
398See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 651See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
399 652
400=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size]) 653=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
654
655=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
401 656
402Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is 657Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
403being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode> 658being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
404is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not 659is called on a string that is longer then this many bytes, it will not
405attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no 660attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
406effect on C<encode> (yet). 661effect on C<encode> (yet).
407 662
408The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest> 663If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when
409power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the 664C<0> is specified).
410limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
411 665
412See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 666See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
413 667
414=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 668=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
415 669
444 => ([], 3) 698 => ([], 3)
445 699
446=back 700=back
447 701
448 702
703=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
704
705In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
706texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
707Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
708JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
709a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
710using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but
711is much more efficient (and can be implemented with a minimum of method
712calls).
713
714JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text once it is sure it
715has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very simple but
716truly incremental parser. This means that it sometimes won't stop as
717early as the full parser, for example, it doesn't detect parenthese
718mismatches. The only thing it guarantees is that it starts decoding as
719soon as a syntactically valid JSON text has been seen. This means you need
720to set resource limits (e.g. C<max_size>) to ensure the parser will stop
721parsing in the presence if syntax errors.
722
723The following methods implement this incremental parser.
724
725=over 4
726
727=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
728
729This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
730extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
731functions are optional).
732
733If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
734existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
735
736After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
737return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
738in as many chunks as you want.
739
740If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
741exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
742object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. If there is a parse error,
743this method will croak just as C<decode> would do (one can then use
744C<incr_skip> to skip the errornous part). This is the most common way of
745using the method.
746
747And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
748from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
749otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
750objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back. If
751an error occurs, an exception will be raised as in the scalar context
752case. Note that in this case, any previously-parsed JSON texts will be
753lost.
754
755=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
756
757This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
758is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
759C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
760all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
761although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
762real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
763method before having parsed anything.
764
765This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
766JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
767(such as commas).
768
769=item $json->incr_skip
770
771This will reset the state of the incremental parser and will remove
772the parsed text from the input buffer so far. This is useful after
773C<incr_parse> died, in which case the input buffer and incremental parser
774state is left unchanged, to skip the text parsed so far and to reset the
775parse state.
776
777The difference to C<incr_reset> is that only text until the parse error
778occured is removed.
779
780=item $json->incr_reset
781
782This completely resets the incremental parser, that is, after this call,
783it will be as if the parser had never parsed anything.
784
785This is useful if you want to repeatedly parse JSON objects and want to
786ignore any trailing data, which means you have to reset the parser after
787each successful decode.
788
789=back
790
791=head2 LIMITATIONS
792
793All options that affect decoding are supported, except
794C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to
795work sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can concatenate
796them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does not hold true
797for JSON numbers, however.
798
799For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
800start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
801of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
802takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
803
804=head2 EXAMPLES
805
806Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
807works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
808the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
809
810 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
811
812 my $json = new JSON::XS;
813
814 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
815 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
816
817 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
818 # $tail now contains " hello"
819
820Easy, isn't it?
821
822Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
823you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
824array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
825use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
826the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
827with C<telnet>...).
828
829Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
830manner):
831
832 my $json = new JSON::XS;
833
834 # read some data from the socket
835 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
836
837 # split and decode as many requests as possible
838 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
839 # act on the $request
840 }
841 }
842
843Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
844or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
845[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
846and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
847
848 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
849 my $json = new JSON::XS;
850
851 # void context, so no parsing done
852 $json->incr_parse ($text);
853
854 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
855 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
856 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
857 # do something with $obj
858
859 # now skip the optional comma
860 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
861 }
862
863Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
864JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
865but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
866the real world :).
867
868Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
869can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
870JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
871own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
872example):
873
874 my $json = new JSON::XS;
875
876 # open the monster
877 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
878 or die "bigfile: $!";
879
880 # first parse the initial "["
881 for (;;) {
882 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
883 or die "read error: $!";
884 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
885
886 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
887 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
888 # we append data to.
889 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
890 }
891
892 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
893 # parsing all the elements.
894 for (;;) {
895 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
896 for (;;) {
897 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
898 # do something with $obj
899 last;
900 }
901
902 # add more data
903 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
904 or die "read error: $!";
905 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
906 }
907
908 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
909 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
910 for (;;) {
911 # first skip whitespace
912 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
913
914 # if we find "]", we are done
915 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
916 print "finished.\n";
917 exit;
918 }
919
920 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
921 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
922 last;
923 }
924
925 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
926 if (length $json->incr_text) {
927 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
928 }
929
930 # else add more data
931 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
932 or die "read error: $!";
933 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
934 }
935
936This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
937that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
938the above example :).
939
940
941
449=head1 MAPPING 942=head1 MAPPING
450 943
451This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 944This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
452vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 945vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
453circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 946circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
454(what you put in comes out as something equivalent). 947(what you put in comes out as something equivalent).
455 948
456For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 949For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
457lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 950lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppercase I<Perl>
458refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 951refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
459 952
460 953
461=head2 JSON -> PERL 954=head2 JSON -> PERL
462 955
463=over 4 956=over 4
464 957
465=item object 958=item object
466 959
467A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object 960A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object
468keys is preserved (JSON does not preserver object key ordering itself). 961keys is preserved (JSON does not preserve object key ordering itself).
469 962
470=item array 963=item array
471 964
472A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl. 965A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl.
473 966
477are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual 970are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual
478decoding is necessary. 971decoding is necessary.
479 972
480=item number 973=item number
481 974
482A JSON number becomes either an integer or numeric (floating point) 975A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
483scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On the 976string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
484Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all the 977the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
485conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 978the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
486represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 979might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
980
981If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
982it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
983a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
984precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
985which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
986re-encoded toa JSON string).
987
988Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
989represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
990precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
991the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
487 992
488=item true, false 993=item true, false
489 994
490These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>, 995These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
491respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers 996respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
492C<1> and C<0>. You can check wether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using 997C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
493the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function. 998the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
494 999
495=item null 1000=item null
496 1001
497A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 1002A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
528Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an 1033Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
529exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and 1034exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
530C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can 1035C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
531also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability. 1036also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
532 1037
533 to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true] 1038 encode_json [\0, JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
534 1039
535=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false 1040=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
536 1041
537These special values become JSON true and JSON false values, 1042These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
538respectively. You cna alos use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want. 1043respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
539 1044
540=item blessed objects 1045=item blessed objects
541 1046
542Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 1047Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON. See the
543underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 1048C<allow_blessed> and C<convert_blessed> methods on various options on
544change in future versions. 1049how to deal with this: basically, you can choose between throwing an
1050exception, encoding the reference as if it weren't blessed, or provide
1051your own serialiser method.
545 1052
546=item simple scalars 1053=item simple scalars
547 1054
548Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 1055Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
549difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 1056difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
550JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 1057JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
551before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 1058before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
552 1059
553 # dump as number 1060 # dump as number
554 to_json [2] # yields [2] 1061 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
555 to_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 1062 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
556 my $value = 5; to_json [$value] # yields [5] 1063 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
557 1064
558 # used as string, so dump as string 1065 # used as string, so dump as string
559 print $value; 1066 print $value;
560 to_json [$value] # yields ["5"] 1067 encode_json [$value] # yields ["5"]
561 1068
562 # undef becomes null 1069 # undef becomes null
563 to_json [undef] # yields [null] 1070 encode_json [undef] # yields [null]
564 1071
565You can force the type to be a string by stringifying it: 1072You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it:
566 1073
567 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number 1074 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number
568 "$x"; # stringified 1075 "$x"; # stringified
569 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify 1076 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify
570 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often 1077 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often
571 1078
572You can force the type to be a number by numifying it: 1079You can force the type to be a JSON number by numifying it:
573 1080
574 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1081 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
575 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1082 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
576 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 1083 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
577 1084
578You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 1085You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
579less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 1086if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
1087:).
580 1088
581=back 1089=back
582 1090
583 1091
584=head1 COMPARISON 1092=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
585 1093
586As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 1094The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
587JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 1095encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
588problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1096some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
589followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 1097
590from any of these problems or limitations. 1098C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
1099by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
1100control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
1101codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
1102some combinations make less sense than others.
1103
1104Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
1105C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
1106these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
1107- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
1108decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
1109
1110Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
1111simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
1112takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
1113octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
1114and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
1115the same time, which can be confusing.
591 1116
592=over 4 1117=over 4
593 1118
594=item JSON 1.07 1119=item C<utf8> flag disabled
595 1120
596Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1121When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
1122and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
1123values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
1124characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except
1125"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
1126respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
1127funny/weird/dumb stuff).
597 1128
598Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles unicode values is 1129This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
599undocumented. One can get far by feeding it unicode strings and doing 1130want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
600en-/decoding oneself, but unicode escapes are not working properly). 1131the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
1132filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
1133to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
601 1134
602No roundtripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 1135=item C<utf8> flag enabled
603the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
604decode into the number 2.
605 1136
606=item JSON::PC 0.01 1137If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
1138characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
1139expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
1140of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
1141that.
607 1142
608Very fast. 1143The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
1144will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
1145octet/binary string in Perl.
609 1146
610Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 1147=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
611 1148
612No roundtripping. 1149With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
1150with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
1151characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
613 1152
614Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 1153If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
615values will make it croak). 1154character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
1155Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
1156ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
1157the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
616 1158
617Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 1159If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
618which is not a valid JSON text. 1160regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
1161C<\uXXXX> then before.
619 1162
620Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1163Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
621getting fixed). 1164encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
1165encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
1166a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
622 1167
623=item JSON::Syck 0.21 1168Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
1169values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
1170to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
1171Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
624 1172
625Very buggy (often crashes). 1173So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
1174they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
626 1175
627Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 1176The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
628undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 1177as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
629single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
630generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
631 1178
632Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode 1179The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
633escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to 1180with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
634I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour). 1181as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
635 11828-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
636No roundtripping (simple cases work, but this depends on wether the scalar 1183when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
637value was used in a numeric context or not). 1184might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
638 1185proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
639Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
640
641Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
642getting fixed).
643
644Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
645return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
646issue: imagine two banks transfering money between each other using
647JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
648while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
649good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
650the transaction will still not succeed).
651
652=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
653
654Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
655
656Undocumented unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
657still don't get parsed properly).
658
659Very inflexible.
660
661No roundtripping.
662
663Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
664result in nothing being output)
665
666Does not check input for validity.
667 1186
668=back 1187=back
669 1188
670 1189
1190=head2 JSON and ECMAscript
1191
1192JSON syntax is based on how literals are represented in javascript (the
1193not-standardised predecessor of ECMAscript) which is presumably why it is
1194called "JavaScript Object Notation".
1195
1196However, JSON is not a subset (and also not a superset of course) of
1197ECMAscript (the standard) or javascript (whatever browsers actually
1198implement).
1199
1200If you want to use javascript's C<eval> function to "parse" JSON, you
1201might run into parse errors for valid JSON texts, or the resulting data
1202structure might not be queryable:
1203
1204One of the problems is that U+2028 and U+2029 are valid characters inside
1205JSON strings, but are not allowed in ECMAscript string literals, so the
1206following Perl fragment will not output something that can be guaranteed
1207to be parsable by javascript's C<eval>:
1208
1209 use JSON::XS;
1210
1211 print encode_json [chr 0x2028];
1212
1213The right fix for this is to use a proper JSON parser in your javascript
1214programs, and not rely on C<eval>.
1215
1216If this is not an option, you can, as a stop-gap measure, simply encode to
1217ASCII-only JSON:
1218
1219 use JSON::XS;
1220
1221 print JSON::XS->new->ascii->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1222
1223And if you are concerned about the size of the resulting JSON text, you
1224can run some regexes to only escape U+2028 and U+2029:
1225
1226 use JSON::XS;
1227
1228 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1229 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa8/\\u2028/g; # escape U+2028
1230 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa9/\\u2029/g; # escape U+2029
1231 print $json;
1232
1233This works because U+2028/U+2029 are not allowed outside of strings and
1234are not used for syntax, so replacing them unconditionally just works.
1235
1236Note, however, that fixing the broken JSON parser is better than working
1237around it in every other generator. The above regexes should work well in
1238other languages, as long as they operate on UTF-8. It is equally valid to
1239replace all occurences of U+2028/2029 directly by their \\u-escaped forms
1240in unicode texts, so they can simply be used to fix any parsers relying on
1241C<eval> by first applying the regexes on the encoded texts.
1242
1243Another problem is that some javascript implementations reserve
1244some property names for their own purposes (which probably makes
1245them non-ECMAscript-compliant). For example, Iceweasel reserves the
1246C<__proto__> property name for it's own purposes.
1247
1248If that is a problem, you could parse try to filter the resulting JSON
1249output for these property strings, e.g.:
1250
1251 $json =~ s/"__proto__"\s*:/"__proto__renamed":/g;
1252
1253This works because C<__proto__> is not valid outside of strings, so every
1254occurence of C<"__proto__"\s*:> must be a string used as property name.
1255
1256If you know of other incompatibilities, please let me know.
1257
1258
671=head2 JSON and YAML 1259=head2 JSON and YAML
672 1260
673You often hear that JSON is a subset (or a close subset) of YAML. This is, 1261You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
674however, a mass hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is 1262hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
675no way to configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML. 1263so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
1264JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
1265cases.
676 1266
677If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this 1267If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
678algorithm (subject to change in future versions): 1268algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
679 1269
680 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1); 1270 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
681 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n"; 1271 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
682 1272
683This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid 1273This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
684YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key 1274YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
685lengths that JSON doesn't have, so you should make sure that your hash 1275lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
1276unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are
686keys are noticably shorter than the 1024 characters YAML allows. 1277noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that
1278you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP
1279(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in
1280strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON
1281generators might).
687 1282
688There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general 1283There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1284specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
689you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa, 1285general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
690or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high 1286versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
691that you will run into severe interoperability problems. 1287high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
1288least expect it.
1289
1290=over 4
1291
1292=item (*)
1293
1294I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1295authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1296acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1297bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1298educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1299problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1300and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1301
1302In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1303clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1304proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1305that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1306educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1307real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1308point out that it isn't true.
1309
1310=back
692 1311
693 1312
694=head2 SPEED 1313=head2 SPEED
695 1314
696It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1315It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
697tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1316tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
698in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1317in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
699system. 1318system.
700 1319
701First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short 1320First comes a comparison between various modules using
702single-line JSON string: 1321a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1322L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
703 1323
704 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \ 1324 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1",
705 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]} 1325 "we were just talking"], "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7,
1326 true, false]}
706 1327
707It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses 1328It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
708the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface 1329the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
709with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables 1330with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
710shrink). Higher is better: 1331shrink). Higher is better:
711 1332
712 Storable | 15779.925 | 14169.946 |
713 -----------+------------+------------+
714 module | encode | decode | 1333 module | encode | decode |
715 -----------|------------|------------| 1334 -----------|------------|------------|
716 JSON | 4990.842 | 4088.813 | 1335 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
717 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 | 1336 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
718 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 | 1337 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
719 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 | 1338 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
720 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 | 1339 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
721 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 | 1340 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
723 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 | 1342 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
724 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 | 1343 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
725 -----------+------------+------------+ 1344 -----------+------------+------------+
726 1345
727That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding, 1346That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
728about three times faster on decoding, and over fourty times faster 1347about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
729than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares 1348than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
730favourably to Storable for small amounts of data. 1349favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
731 1350
732Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1351Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
733search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1352search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
734 1353
735 module | encode | decode | 1354 module | encode | decode |
736 -----------|------------|------------| 1355 -----------|------------|------------|
737 JSON | 55.260 | 34.971 | 1356 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
738 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 | 1357 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
739 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 | 1358 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
740 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 | 1359 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
741 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 | 1360 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
742 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 | 1361 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
746 -----------+------------+------------+ 1365 -----------+------------+------------+
747 1366
748Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly 1367Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
749decodes faster). 1368decodes faster).
750 1369
751On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules 1370On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
752(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 1371(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
753will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse 1372will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
754to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 1373to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
755comparison table for that case. 1374comparison table for that case.
756 1375
757 1376
758=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 1377=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
764any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am 1383any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
765trying hard on making that true, but you never know. 1384trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
766 1385
767Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should 1386Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
768limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your 1387limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
769resources run out, thats just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that 1388resources run out, that's just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
770can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is 1389can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
771usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode 1390usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
772it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON 1391it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
773text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you 1392text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
774might want to check the size before you accept the string. 1393might want to check the size before you accept the string.
775 1394
776Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and 1395Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
777arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64 1396arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
778machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but 1397machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
779only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak 1398only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
780to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. to be 1399to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
781conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process 1400conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
782has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the 1401has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
783C<max_depth> method. 1402C<max_depth> method.
784 1403
785And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think 1404Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
786of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, 1405case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
787though... 1406
1407Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1408structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1409information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1410will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
788 1411
789If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption 1412If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
790by javascript scripts in a browser you should have a look at 1413by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
791L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see wether 1414L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
792you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser 1415you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
793design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major 1416design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
794browser developers care only for features, not about doing security 1417browser developers care only for features, not about getting security
795right). 1418right).
796 1419
797 1420
1421=head1 THREADS
1422
1423This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1424plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1425horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1426process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1427
1428(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1429
1430
798=head1 BUGS 1431=head1 BUGS
799 1432
800While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1433While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
801not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1434not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. If you
802still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they 1435keep reporting bugs they will be fixed swiftly, though.
803will be fixed swiftly, though. 1436
1437Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1438service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
804 1439
805=cut 1440=cut
806 1441
807our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = "1"), "JSON::XS::Boolean" }; 1442our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
808our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = "0"), "JSON::XS::Boolean" }; 1443our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
809 1444
810sub true() { $true } 1445sub true() { $true }
811sub false() { $false } 1446sub false() { $false }
812 1447
813sub is_bool($) { 1448sub is_bool($) {
825 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 }, 1460 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
826 fallback => 1; 1461 fallback => 1;
827 1462
8281; 14631;
829 1464
1465=head1 SEE ALSO
1466
1467The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
1468
830=head1 AUTHOR 1469=head1 AUTHOR
831 1470
832 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1471 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
833 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1472 http://home.schmorp.de/
834 1473

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