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Revision 1.21 by root, Sun Mar 25 02:32:40 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.122 by root, Fri Jul 17 14:33:45 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 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)
9
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 10=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 11
7 use JSON::XS; 12 use JSON::XS;
8 13
9 # exported functions, croak on error 14 # exported functions, they croak on error
15 # and expect/generate UTF-8
10 16
11 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref; 17 $utf8_encoded_json_text = encode_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
12 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text; 18 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = decode_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
13 19
14 # objToJson and jsonToObj are exported for JSON
15 # compatibility, but should not be used in new code.
16
17 # oo-interface 20 # OO-interface
18 21
19 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; 22 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
20 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); 23 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
21 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text); 24 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
22 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
23=head1 DESCRIPTION 34=head1 DESCRIPTION
24 35
25This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 36This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its
26primary 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
27I<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.
28 47
29As 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
30to 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
31modules, 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
32their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
33reports for other reasons. 52reports for other reasons.
34 53
35See COMPARISON, below, for a comparison to some other JSON modules.
36
37See 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
38vice versa. 55vice versa.
39 56
40=head2 FEATURES 57=head2 FEATURES
41 58
42=over 4 59=over 4
43 60
44=item * correct unicode handling 61=item * correct Unicode handling
45 62
46This 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
47it does so. 64so, and even documents what "correct" means.
48 65
49=item * round-trip integrity 66=item * round-trip integrity
50 67
51When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 68When you serialise a perl data structure using only data types supported
52by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 69by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
53(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
54like a number). 71like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING
72section below to learn about those.
55 73
56=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 74=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
57 75
58There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 76There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
59and 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
60feature). 78feature).
61 79
62=item * fast 80=item * fast
63 81
64Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 82Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
65of speed, too. 83this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
66 84
67=item * simple to use 85=item * simple to use
68 86
69This 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
70interface. 88oriented interface interface.
71 89
72=item * reasonably versatile output formats 90=item * reasonably versatile output formats
73 91
74You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format 92You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
75possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 93possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ASCII format
76(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
77unicode 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
78stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like. 96stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
79 97
80=back 98=back
81 99
82=cut 100=cut
83 101
84package JSON::XS; 102package JSON::XS;
85 103
86use strict; 104use common::sense;
87 105
88BEGIN {
89 our $VERSION = '0.8'; 106our $VERSION = '2.24';
90 our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 107our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
91 108
92 our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json objToJson jsonToObj); 109our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
93 require Exporter;
94 110
111sub to_json($) {
95 require XSLoader; 112 require Carp;
96 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 113 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::to_json has been renamed to encode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
97} 114}
98 115
116sub from_json($) {
117 require Carp;
118 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");
119}
120
121use Exporter;
122use XSLoader;
123
99=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 124=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
100 125
101The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 126The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
102exported by default: 127exported by default:
103 128
104=over 4 129=over 4
105 130
106=item $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar 131=item $json_text = encode_json $perl_scalar
107 132
108Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to 133Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string
109a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains 134(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error.
110octets only). Croaks on error.
111 135
112This function call is functionally identical to: 136This function call is functionally identical to:
113 137
114 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) 138 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
115 139
116except being faster. 140Except being faster.
117 141
118=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text 142=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
119 143
120The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to 144The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
121parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting simple 145to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
122scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 146reference. Croaks on error.
123 147
124This function call is functionally identical to: 148This function call is functionally identical to:
125 149
126 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 150 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
127 151
128except being faster. 152Except being faster.
153
154=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
155
156Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
157JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
158and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
159
160See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
161Perl.
129 162
130=back 163=back
164
165
166=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL
167
168Since this often leads to confusion, here are a few very clear words on
169how Unicode works in Perl, modulo bugs.
170
171=over 4
172
173=item 1. Perl strings can store characters with ordinal values > 255.
174
175This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
176Perl string - very natural.
177
178=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
179
180... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
181printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
182string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
183on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
184data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
185
186=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
187encoding of your string.
188
189Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
190XS or want to dive into the internals of perl. Otherwise it will only
191confuse you, as, despite the name, it says nothing about how your string
192is encoded. You can have Unicode strings with that flag set, with that
193flag clear, and you can have binary data with that flag set and that flag
194clear. Other possibilities exist, too.
195
196If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
197exist.
198
199=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
200validly interpreted as a Unicode code point.
201
202If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a
203Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
204
205=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
206
207It's a fact. Learn to live with it.
208
209=back
210
211I hope this helps :)
212
131 213
132=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 214=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
133 215
134The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 216The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
135decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 217decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
147 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 229 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
148 => {"a": [1, 2]} 230 => {"a": [1, 2]}
149 231
150=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) 232=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
151 233
234=item $enabled = $json->get_ascii
235
152If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 236If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
153generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any 237generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
154unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a 238Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
155single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, 239single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
156as per RFC4627. 240as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
241Unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
242or any other superset of ASCII.
157 243
158If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 244If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
159characters unless required by the JSON syntax. This results in a faster 245characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
160and more compact format. 246in a faster and more compact format.
247
248See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
249document.
250
251The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
252transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
253contain any 8 bit characters.
161 254
162 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 255 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
163 => ["\ud801\udc01"] 256 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
164 257
258=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
259
260=item $enabled = $json->get_latin1
261
262If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
263the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
264outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
265latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method
266will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
267expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
268
269If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
270characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
271
272See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
273document.
274
275The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
276text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
277size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
278in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
279transferring), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
280you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
281in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
282
283 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
284 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
285
165=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 286=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
287
288=item $enabled = $json->get_utf8
166 289
167If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 290If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
168the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 291the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
169C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please 292C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
170note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the 293note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
171range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future 294range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
172versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16 295versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16
173and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627. 296and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627.
174 297
175If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 298If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
176string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 299string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
177unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 300Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
178to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 301to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
302
303See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
304document.
179 305
180Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: 306Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
181 307
182 use Encode; 308 use Encode;
183 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); 309 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
204 ] 330 ]
205 } 331 }
206 332
207=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable]) 333=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable])
208 334
335=item $enabled = $json->get_indent
336
209If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 337If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
210format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 338format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
211into its own line, identing them properly. 339into its own line, indenting them properly.
212 340
213If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 341If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
214resulting JSON text is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>. 342resulting JSON text is guaranteed not to contain any C<newlines>.
215 343
216This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 344This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
217 345
218=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) 346=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
347
348=item $enabled = $json->get_space_before
219 349
220If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 350If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
221optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 351optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
222 352
223If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 353If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
229Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled: 359Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
230 360
231 {"key" :"value"} 361 {"key" :"value"}
232 362
233=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable]) 363=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
364
365=item $enabled = $json->get_space_after
234 366
235If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 367If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
236optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 368optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
237and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array 369and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array
238members. 370members.
244 376
245Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: 377Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
246 378
247 {"key": "value"} 379 {"key": "value"}
248 380
381=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
382
383=item $enabled = $json->get_relaxed
384
385If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
386extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
387affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
388JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
389parse application-specific files written by humans (configuration files,
390resource files etc.)
391
392If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<decode> will only accept
393valid JSON texts.
394
395Currently accepted extensions are:
396
397=over 4
398
399=item * list items can have an end-comma
400
401JSON I<separates> array elements and key-value pairs with commas. This
402can be annoying if you write JSON texts manually and want to be able to
403quickly append elements, so this extension accepts comma at the end of
404such items not just between them:
405
406 [
407 1,
408 2, <- this comma not normally allowed
409 ]
410 {
411 "k1": "v1",
412 "k2": "v2", <- this comma not normally allowed
413 }
414
415=item * shell-style '#'-comments
416
417Whenever JSON allows whitespace, shell-style comments are additionally
418allowed. They are terminated by the first carriage-return or line-feed
419character, after which more white-space and comments are allowed.
420
421 [
422 1, # this comment not allowed in JSON
423 # neither this one...
424 ]
425
426=back
427
249=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 428=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
429
430=item $enabled = $json->get_canonical
250 431
251If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 432If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
252by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 433by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
253 434
254If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 435If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
255pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 436pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
256of the same script). 437of the same script).
257 438
258This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 439This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
259the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 440the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
260the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 441the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
261as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 442as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
262 443
263This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 444This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
264 445
446This setting has currently no effect on tied hashes.
447
265=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 448=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
449
450=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
266 451
267If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 452If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
268non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 453non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
269which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 454which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
270values instead of croaking. 455values instead of croaking.
278resulting in an invalid JSON text: 463resulting in an invalid JSON text:
279 464
280 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 465 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
281 => "Hello, World!" 466 => "Hello, World!"
282 467
468=item $json = $json->allow_unknown ([$enable])
469
470=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_unknown
471
472If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will I<not> throw an
473exception when it encounters values it cannot represent in JSON (for
474example, filehandles) but instead will encode a JSON C<null> value. Note
475that blessed objects are not included here and are handled separately by
476c<allow_nonref>.
477
478If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
479exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as JSON.
480
481This option does not affect C<decode> in any way, and it is recommended to
482leave it off unless you know your communications partner.
483
484=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
485
486=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
487
488If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
489barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
490B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
491disabled or no C<TO_JSON> method found) or a representation of the
492object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<TO_JSON> method found) is being
493encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
494
495If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
496exception when it encounters a blessed object.
497
498=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
499
500=item $enabled = $json->get_convert_blessed
501
502If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
503blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
504on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
505and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
506C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
507to do.
508
509The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
510returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
511way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
512(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
513methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
514usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with any C<to_json>
515function or method.
516
517This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
518future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
519enabled by this setting.
520
521If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
522to do when a blessed object is found.
523
524=item $json = $json->filter_json_object ([$coderef->($hashref)])
525
526When C<$coderef> is specified, it will be called from C<decode> each
527time it decodes a JSON object. The only argument is a reference to the
528newly-created hash. If the code references returns a single scalar (which
529need not be a reference), this value (i.e. a copy of that scalar to avoid
530aliasing) is inserted into the deserialised data structure. If it returns
531an empty list (NOTE: I<not> C<undef>, which is a valid scalar), the
532original deserialised hash will be inserted. This setting can slow down
533decoding considerably.
534
535When C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, any existing callback will
536be removed and C<decode> will not change the deserialised hash in any
537way.
538
539Example, convert all JSON objects into the integer 5:
540
541 my $js = JSON::XS->new->filter_json_object (sub { 5 });
542 # returns [5]
543 $js->decode ('[{}]')
544 # throw an exception because allow_nonref is not enabled
545 # so a lone 5 is not allowed.
546 $js->decode ('{"a":1, "b":2}');
547
548=item $json = $json->filter_json_single_key_object ($key [=> $coderef->($value)])
549
550Works remotely similar to C<filter_json_object>, but is only called for
551JSON objects having a single key named C<$key>.
552
553This C<$coderef> is called before the one specified via
554C<filter_json_object>, if any. It gets passed the single value in the JSON
555object. If it returns a single value, it will be inserted into the data
556structure. If it returns nothing (not even C<undef> but the empty list),
557the callback from C<filter_json_object> will be called next, as if no
558single-key callback were specified.
559
560If C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, the corresponding callback will be
561disabled. There can only ever be one callback for a given key.
562
563As this callback gets called less often then the C<filter_json_object>
564one, decoding speed will not usually suffer as much. Therefore, single-key
565objects make excellent targets to serialise Perl objects into, especially
566as single-key JSON objects are as close to the type-tagged value concept
567as JSON gets (it's basically an ID/VALUE tuple). Of course, JSON does not
568support this in any way, so you need to make sure your data never looks
569like a serialised Perl hash.
570
571Typical names for the single object key are C<__class_whatever__>, or
572C<$__dollars_are_rarely_used__$> or C<}ugly_brace_placement>, or even
573things like C<__class_md5sum(classname)__>, to reduce the risk of clashing
574with real hashes.
575
576Example, decode JSON objects of the form C<< { "__widget__" => <id> } >>
577into the corresponding C<< $WIDGET{<id>} >> object:
578
579 # return whatever is in $WIDGET{5}:
580 JSON::XS
581 ->new
582 ->filter_json_single_key_object (__widget__ => sub {
583 $WIDGET{ $_[0] }
584 })
585 ->decode ('{"__widget__": 5')
586
587 # this can be used with a TO_JSON method in some "widget" class
588 # for serialisation to json:
589 sub WidgetBase::TO_JSON {
590 my ($self) = @_;
591
592 unless ($self->{id}) {
593 $self->{id} = ..get..some..id..;
594 $WIDGET{$self->{id}} = $self;
595 }
596
597 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
598 }
599
283=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 600=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
284 601
602=item $enabled = $json->get_shrink
603
285Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 604Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
286strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 605strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
287C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 606C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
288memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many 607memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
289short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form 608short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form
290if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called 609if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
291UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less 610UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less
292space in general. 611space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
612internal representation being used).
293 613
614The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future versions,
615but it will always try to save space at the expense of time.
616
294If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will be shrunk-to-fit, 617If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will
295while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be shrunk-to-fit. 618be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be
619shrunk-to-fit.
296 620
297If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used. 621If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used.
298If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster. 622If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster.
299 623
300In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting 624In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
301strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 625strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
302internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 626internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
627
628=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
629
630=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
631
632Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
633or decoding. If a higher nesting level is detected in JSON text or a Perl
634data structure, then the encoder and decoder will stop and croak at that
635point.
636
637Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
638needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
639characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
640given character in a string.
641
642Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
643that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
644
645If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be used, which
646is rarely useful.
647
648Note that nesting is implemented by recursion in C. The default value has
649been chosen to be as large as typical operating systems allow without
650crashing.
651
652See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
653
654=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
655
656=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
657
658Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
659being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
660is called on a string that is longer then this many bytes, it will not
661attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
662effect on C<encode> (yet).
663
664If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when
665C<0> is specified).
666
667See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
303 668
304=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 669=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
305 670
306Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 671Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference
307to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 672to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be
317 682
318JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 683JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
319Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 684Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
320C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 685C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
321 686
687=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
688
689This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
690when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
691silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
692so far.
693
694This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
695(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
696to know where the JSON text ends.
697
698 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
699 => ([], 3)
700
322=back 701=back
702
703
704=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
705
706In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
707texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
708Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
709JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
710a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
711using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but
712is much more efficient (and can be implemented with a minimum of method
713calls).
714
715JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text once it is sure it
716has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very simple but
717truly incremental parser. This means that it sometimes won't stop as
718early as the full parser, for example, it doesn't detect parenthese
719mismatches. The only thing it guarantees is that it starts decoding as
720soon as a syntactically valid JSON text has been seen. This means you need
721to set resource limits (e.g. C<max_size>) to ensure the parser will stop
722parsing in the presence if syntax errors.
723
724The following methods implement this incremental parser.
725
726=over 4
727
728=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
729
730This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
731extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
732functions are optional).
733
734If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
735existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
736
737After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
738return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
739in as many chunks as you want.
740
741If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
742exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
743object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. If there is a parse error,
744this method will croak just as C<decode> would do (one can then use
745C<incr_skip> to skip the errornous part). This is the most common way of
746using the method.
747
748And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
749from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
750otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
751objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back. If
752an error occurs, an exception will be raised as in the scalar context
753case. Note that in this case, any previously-parsed JSON texts will be
754lost.
755
756=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
757
758This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
759is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
760C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
761all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
762although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
763real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
764method before having parsed anything.
765
766This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
767JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
768(such as commas).
769
770=item $json->incr_skip
771
772This will reset the state of the incremental parser and will remove
773the parsed text from the input buffer so far. This is useful after
774C<incr_parse> died, in which case the input buffer and incremental parser
775state is left unchanged, to skip the text parsed so far and to reset the
776parse state.
777
778The difference to C<incr_reset> is that only text until the parse error
779occured is removed.
780
781=item $json->incr_reset
782
783This completely resets the incremental parser, that is, after this call,
784it will be as if the parser had never parsed anything.
785
786This is useful if you want to repeatedly parse JSON objects and want to
787ignore any trailing data, which means you have to reset the parser after
788each successful decode.
789
790=back
791
792=head2 LIMITATIONS
793
794All options that affect decoding are supported, except
795C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to
796work sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can concatenate
797them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does not hold true
798for JSON numbers, however.
799
800For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
801start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
802of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
803takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
804
805=head2 EXAMPLES
806
807Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
808works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
809the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
810
811 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
812
813 my $json = new JSON::XS;
814
815 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
816 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
817
818 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
819 # $tail now contains " hello"
820
821Easy, isn't it?
822
823Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
824you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
825array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
826use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
827the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
828with C<telnet>...).
829
830Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
831manner):
832
833 my $json = new JSON::XS;
834
835 # read some data from the socket
836 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
837
838 # split and decode as many requests as possible
839 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
840 # act on the $request
841 }
842 }
843
844Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
845or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
846[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
847and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
848
849 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
850 my $json = new JSON::XS;
851
852 # void context, so no parsing done
853 $json->incr_parse ($text);
854
855 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
856 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
857 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
858 # do something with $obj
859
860 # now skip the optional comma
861 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
862 }
863
864Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
865JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
866but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
867the real world :).
868
869Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
870can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
871JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
872own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
873example):
874
875 my $json = new JSON::XS;
876
877 # open the monster
878 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
879 or die "bigfile: $!";
880
881 # first parse the initial "["
882 for (;;) {
883 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
884 or die "read error: $!";
885 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
886
887 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
888 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
889 # we append data to.
890 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
891 }
892
893 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
894 # parsing all the elements.
895 for (;;) {
896 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
897 for (;;) {
898 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
899 # do something with $obj
900 last;
901 }
902
903 # add more data
904 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
905 or die "read error: $!";
906 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
907 }
908
909 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
910 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
911 for (;;) {
912 # first skip whitespace
913 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
914
915 # if we find "]", we are done
916 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
917 print "finished.\n";
918 exit;
919 }
920
921 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
922 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
923 last;
924 }
925
926 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
927 if (length $json->incr_text) {
928 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
929 }
930
931 # else add more data
932 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
933 or die "read error: $!";
934 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
935 }
936
937This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
938that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
939the above example :).
940
941
323 942
324=head1 MAPPING 943=head1 MAPPING
325 944
326This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 945This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
327vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 946vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
328circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 947circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
329(what you put in comes out as something equivalent). 948(what you put in comes out as something equivalent).
330 949
331For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 950For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
332lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 951lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppercase I<Perl>
333refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 952refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
334 953
954
335=head2 JSON -> PERL 955=head2 JSON -> PERL
336 956
337=over 4 957=over 4
338 958
339=item object 959=item object
340 960
341A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object 961A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object
342keys is preserved (JSON does not preserver object key ordering itself). 962keys is preserved (JSON does not preserve object key ordering itself).
343 963
344=item array 964=item array
345 965
346A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl. 966A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl.
347 967
351are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual 971are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual
352decoding is necessary. 972decoding is necessary.
353 973
354=item number 974=item number
355 975
356A JSON number becomes either an integer or numeric (floating point) 976A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
357scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On the 977string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
358Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all the 978the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
359conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 979the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
360represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 980might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
981
982If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
983it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
984a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
985precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
986which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
987re-encoded toa JSON string).
988
989Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
990represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
991precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
992the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
361 993
362=item true, false 994=item true, false
363 995
364These JSON atoms become C<0>, C<1>, respectively. Information is lost in 996These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
365this process. Future versions might represent those values differently, 997respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
366but they will be guarenteed to act like these integers would normally in 998C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
367Perl. 999the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
368 1000
369=item null 1001=item null
370 1002
371A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 1003A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
372 1004
373=back 1005=back
1006
374 1007
375=head2 PERL -> JSON 1008=head2 PERL -> JSON
376 1009
377The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a 1010The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
378truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by 1011truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
381=over 4 1014=over 4
382 1015
383=item hash references 1016=item hash references
384 1017
385Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 1018Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
386in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a pseudo-random order that 1019in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
387can change between runs of the same program but stays generally the same 1020pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
388within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash 1021stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
389keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure 1022optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
390will serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of 1023the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
391JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead. 1024settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
1025and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
1026against another for equality.
392 1027
393=item array references 1028=item array references
394 1029
395Perl array references become JSON arrays. 1030Perl array references become JSON arrays.
396 1031
1032=item other references
1033
1034Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
1035exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
1036C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
1037also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
1038
1039 encode_json [\0, JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
1040
1041=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
1042
1043These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
1044respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
1045
397=item blessed objects 1046=item blessed objects
398 1047
399Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 1048Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON. See the
400underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 1049C<allow_blessed> and C<convert_blessed> methods on various options on
401change in future versions. 1050how to deal with this: basically, you can choose between throwing an
1051exception, encoding the reference as if it weren't blessed, or provide
1052your own serialiser method.
402 1053
403=item simple scalars 1054=item simple scalars
404 1055
405Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 1056Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
406difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 1057difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
407JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 1058JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
408before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 1059before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
409 1060
410 # dump as number 1061 # dump as number
411 to_json [2] # yields [2] 1062 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
412 to_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 1063 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
413 my $value = 5; to_json [$value] # yields [5] 1064 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
414 1065
415 # used as string, so dump as string 1066 # used as string, so dump as string
416 print $value; 1067 print $value;
417 to_json [$value] # yields ["5"] 1068 encode_json [$value] # yields ["5"]
418 1069
419 # undef becomes null 1070 # undef becomes null
420 to_json [undef] # yields [null] 1071 encode_json [undef] # yields [null]
421 1072
422You can force the type to be a string by stringifying it: 1073You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it:
423 1074
424 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number 1075 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number
425 "$x"; # stringified 1076 "$x"; # stringified
426 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify 1077 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify
427 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often 1078 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often
428 1079
429You can force the type to be a number by numifying it: 1080You can force the type to be a JSON number by numifying it:
430 1081
431 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1082 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
432 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1083 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
433 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 1084 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
434 1085
435You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 1086You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
436less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 1087if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
437 1088:).
438=item circular data structures
439
440Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out.
441 1089
442=back 1090=back
443 1091
444=head1 COMPARISON
445 1092
446As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 1093=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
447JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 1094
448problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1095The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
449followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 1096encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
450from any of these problems or limitations. 1097some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
1098
1099C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
1100by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
1101control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
1102codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
1103some combinations make less sense than others.
1104
1105Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
1106C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
1107these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
1108- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
1109decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
1110
1111Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
1112simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
1113takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
1114octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
1115and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
1116the same time, which can be confusing.
451 1117
452=over 4 1118=over 4
453 1119
454=item JSON 1.07 1120=item C<utf8> flag disabled
455 1121
456Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1122When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
1123and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
1124values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
1125characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except
1126"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
1127respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
1128funny/weird/dumb stuff).
457 1129
458Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles unicode values is 1130This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
459undocumented. One can get far by feeding it unicode strings and doing 1131want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
460en-/decoding oneself, but unicode escapes are not working properly). 1132the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
1133filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
1134to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
461 1135
462No roundtripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 1136=item C<utf8> flag enabled
463the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
464decode into the number 2.
465 1137
466=item JSON::PC 0.01 1138If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
1139characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
1140expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
1141of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
1142that.
467 1143
468Very fast. 1144The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
1145will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
1146octet/binary string in Perl.
469 1147
470Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 1148=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
471 1149
472No roundtripping. 1150With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
1151with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
1152characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
473 1153
474Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 1154If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
475values will make it croak). 1155character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
1156Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
1157ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
1158the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
476 1159
477Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 1160If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
478which is not a valid JSON text. 1161regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
1162C<\uXXXX> then before.
479 1163
480Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1164Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
481getting fixed). 1165encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
1166encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
1167a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
482 1168
483=item JSON::Syck 0.21 1169Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
1170values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
1171to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
1172Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
484 1173
485Very buggy (often crashes). 1174So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
1175they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
486 1176
487Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 1177The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
488undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 1178as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
489single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
490generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
491 1179
492Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode 1180The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
493escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to 1181with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
494I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour). 1182as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
495 11838-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
496No roundtripping (simple cases work, but this depends on wether the scalar 1184when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
497value was used in a numeric context or not). 1185might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
498 1186proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
499Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
500
501Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
502getting fixed).
503
504Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
505return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
506issue: imagine two banks transfering money between each other using
507JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
508while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
509good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
510the transaction will still not succeed).
511
512=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
513
514Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
515
516Undocumented unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
517still don't get parsed properly).
518
519Very inflexible.
520
521No roundtripping.
522
523Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
524result in nothing being output)
525
526Does not check input for validity.
527 1187
528=back 1188=back
1189
1190
1191=head2 JSON and ECMAscript
1192
1193JSON syntax is based on how literals are represented in javascript (the
1194not-standardised predecessor of ECMAscript) which is presumably why it is
1195called "JavaScript Object Notation".
1196
1197However, JSON is not a subset (and also not a superset of course) of
1198ECMAscript (the standard) or javascript (whatever browsers actually
1199implement).
1200
1201If you want to use javascript's C<eval> function to "parse" JSON, you
1202might run into parse errors for valid JSON texts, or the resulting data
1203structure might not be queryable:
1204
1205One of the problems is that U+2028 and U+2029 are valid characters inside
1206JSON strings, but are not allowed in ECMAscript string literals, so the
1207following Perl fragment will not output something that can be guaranteed
1208to be parsable by javascript's C<eval>:
1209
1210 use JSON::XS;
1211
1212 print encode_json [chr 0x2028];
1213
1214The right fix for this is to use a proper JSON parser in your javascript
1215programs, and not rely on C<eval> (see for example Douglas Crockford's
1216F<json2.js> parser).
1217
1218If this is not an option, you can, as a stop-gap measure, simply encode to
1219ASCII-only JSON:
1220
1221 use JSON::XS;
1222
1223 print JSON::XS->new->ascii->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1224
1225Note that this will enlarge the resulting JSON text quite a bit if you
1226have many non-ASCII characters. You might be tempted to run some regexes
1227to only escape U+2028 and U+2029, e.g.:
1228
1229 # DO NOT USE THIS!
1230 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1231 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa8/\\u2028/g; # escape U+2028
1232 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa9/\\u2029/g; # escape U+2029
1233 print $json;
1234
1235Note that I<this is a bad idea>: the above only works for U+2028 and
1236U+2029 and thus only for fully ECMAscript-compliant parsers. Many existing
1237javascript implementations, however, have issues with other characters as
1238well - using C<eval> naively simply I<will> cause problems.
1239
1240Another problem is that some javascript implementations reserve
1241some property names for their own purposes (which probably makes
1242them non-ECMAscript-compliant). For example, Iceweasel reserves the
1243C<__proto__> property name for it's own purposes.
1244
1245If that is a problem, you could parse try to filter the resulting JSON
1246output for these property strings, e.g.:
1247
1248 $json =~ s/"__proto__"\s*:/"__proto__renamed":/g;
1249
1250This works because C<__proto__> is not valid outside of strings, so every
1251occurence of C<"__proto__"\s*:> must be a string used as property name.
1252
1253If you know of other incompatibilities, please let me know.
1254
1255
1256=head2 JSON and YAML
1257
1258You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
1259hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
1260so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
1261JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
1262cases.
1263
1264If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
1265algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
1266
1267 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
1268 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
1269
1270This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
1271YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
1272lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
1273unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are
1274noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that
1275you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP
1276(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in
1277strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON
1278generators might).
1279
1280There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1281specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
1282general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
1283versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
1284high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
1285least expect it.
1286
1287=over 4
1288
1289=item (*)
1290
1291I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1292authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1293acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1294bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1295educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1296problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1297and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1298
1299In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1300clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1301proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1302that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1303educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1304real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1305point out that it isn't true.
1306
1307=back
1308
529 1309
530=head2 SPEED 1310=head2 SPEED
531 1311
532It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1312It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
533tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1313tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
534in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1314in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
535system. 1315system.
536 1316
537First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short JSON 1317First comes a comparison between various modules using
538string: 1318a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1319L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
539 1320
540 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], "id": null} 1321 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1",
1322 "we were just talking"], "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7,
1323 true, false]}
541 1324
542It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses the 1325It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
543functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface with 1326the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
544pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is better: 1327with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
1328shrink). Higher is better:
545 1329
546 module | encode | decode | 1330 module | encode | decode |
547 -----------|------------|------------| 1331 -----------|------------|------------|
548 JSON | 11488.516 | 7823.035 | 1332 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
549 JSON::DWIW | 94708.054 | 129094.260 | 1333 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
550 JSON::PC | 63884.157 | 128528.212 | 1334 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
551 JSON::Syck | 34898.677 | 42096.911 | 1335 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
552 JSON::XS | 654027.064 | 396423.669 | 1336 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
553 JSON::XS/2 | 371564.190 | 371725.613 | 1337 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
1338 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 |
1339 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
1340 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
554 -----------+------------+------------+ 1341 -----------+------------+------------+
555 1342
556That is, JSON::XS is more than six times faster than JSON::DWIW on 1343That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
557encoding, more than three times faster on decoding, and about thirty times 1344about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
558faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. 1345than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
1346favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
559 1347
560Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1348Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
561search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1349search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
562 1350
563 module | encode | decode | 1351 module | encode | decode |
564 -----------|------------|------------| 1352 -----------|------------|------------|
565 JSON | 273.023 | 44.674 | 1353 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
566 JSON::DWIW | 1089.383 | 1145.704 | 1354 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
567 JSON::PC | 3097.419 | 2393.921 | 1355 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
568 JSON::Syck | 514.060 | 843.053 | 1356 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
569 JSON::XS | 6479.668 | 3636.364 | 1357 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
570 JSON::XS/2 | 3774.221 | 3599.124 | 1358 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
1359 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 |
1360 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 |
1361 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 |
571 -----------+------------+------------+ 1362 -----------+------------+------------+
572 1363
573Again, JSON::XS leads by far. 1364Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
1365decodes faster).
574 1366
575On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules 1367On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
576(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 1368(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
577will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse 1369will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
578to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 1370to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
579comparison table for that case. 1371comparison table for that case.
580 1372
581=head1 RESOURCE LIMITS
582 1373
583JSON::XS does not impose any limits on the size of JSON texts or Perl 1374=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
584values they represent - if your machine can handle it, JSON::XS will 1375
585encode or decode it. Future versions might optionally impose structure 1376When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially
586depth and memory use resource limits. 1377hostile creatures requires relatively few measures.
1378
1379First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not have
1380any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
1381trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
1382
1383Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
1384limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
1385resources run out, that's just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
1386can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
1387usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
1388it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
1389text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
1390might want to check the size before you accept the string.
1391
1392Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
1393arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
1394machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
1395only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
1396to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
1397conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
1398has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
1399C<max_depth> method.
1400
1401Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
1402case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
1403
1404Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1405structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1406information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1407will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
1408
1409If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
1410by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1411L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
1412you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
1413design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
1414browser developers care only for features, not about getting security
1415right).
1416
1417
1418=head1 THREADS
1419
1420This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1421plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1422horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1423process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1424
1425(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1426
587 1427
588=head1 BUGS 1428=head1 BUGS
589 1429
590While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1430While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
591not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1431not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. If you
592still very young and not well-tested. If you keep reporting bugs they will 1432keep reporting bugs they will be fixed swiftly, though.
593be fixed swiftly, though. 1433
1434Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1435service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
594 1436
595=cut 1437=cut
596 1438
1439our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1440our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1441
1442sub true() { $true }
1443sub false() { $false }
1444
1445sub is_bool($) {
1446 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
1447# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
1448}
1449
1450XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
1451
1452package JSON::XS::Boolean;
1453
1454use overload
1455 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
1456 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
1457 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1458 fallback => 1;
1459
5971; 14601;
1461
1462=head1 SEE ALSO
1463
1464The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
598 1465
599=head1 AUTHOR 1466=head1 AUTHOR
600 1467
601 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1468 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
602 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1469 http://home.schmorp.de/

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