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1=head1 NAME
2
3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
4
1=encoding utf-8 5=encoding utf-8
2
3=head1 NAME
4
5JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
6 6
7JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ 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) 8 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html)
9 9
10=head1 SYNOPSIS 10=head1 SYNOPSIS
37primary 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
38I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C. 38I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C.
39 39
40Beginning with version 2.0 of the JSON module, when both JSON and 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 41JSON::XS are installed, then JSON will fall back on JSON::XS (this can be
42overriden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheritign constructor 42overridden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheriting constructor
43and methods). If JSON::XS is not available, it will fall back to the 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 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 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. 46require a C compiler when that is a problem.
47 47
49to 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
50modules, 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
51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
52reports for other reasons. 52reports for other reasons.
53 53
54See COMPARISON, below, for a comparison to some other JSON modules.
55
56See 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
57vice versa. 55vice versa.
58 56
59=head2 FEATURES 57=head2 FEATURES
60 58
65This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does 63This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does
66so, and even documents what "correct" means. 64so, and even documents what "correct" means.
67 65
68=item * round-trip integrity 66=item * round-trip integrity
69 67
70When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 68When you serialise a perl data structure using only data types supported
71by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 69by JSON and Perl, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl
72(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks 70level. (e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because
73like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING 71it looks like a number). There I<are> minor exceptions to this, read the
74section below to learn about those. 72MAPPING section below to learn about those.
75 73
76=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 74=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
77 75
78There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 76There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
79and 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
84Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable, 82Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
85this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too. 83this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
86 84
87=item * simple to use 85=item * simple to use
88 86
89This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an objetc 87This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an object
90oriented interface interface. 88oriented interface.
91 89
92=item * reasonably versatile output formats 90=item * reasonably versatile output formats
93 91
94You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format 92You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
95possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 93possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ASCII format
96(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
97Unicode 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
98stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like. 96stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
99 97
100=back 98=back
101 99
102=cut 100=cut
103 101
104package JSON::XS; 102package JSON::XS;
105 103
106use strict; 104use common::sense;
107 105
108our $VERSION = '2.1'; 106our $VERSION = 2.34;
109our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 107our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
110 108
111our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json); 109our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
112 110
113sub to_json($) { 111sub to_json($) {
137 135
138This function call is functionally identical to: 136This function call is functionally identical to:
139 137
140 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) 138 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
141 139
142except being faster. 140Except being faster.
143 141
144=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text 142=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
145 143
146The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries 144The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
147to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting 145to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
149 147
150This function call is functionally identical to: 148This function call is functionally identical to:
151 149
152 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 150 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
153 151
154except being faster. 152Except being faster.
155 153
156=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar 154=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
157 155
158Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or 156Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
159JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively 157JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
197 195
198If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't 196If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
199exist. 197exist.
200 198
201=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be 199=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
202validly interpreted as a Unicode codepoint. 200validly interpreted as a Unicode code point.
203 201
204If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a 202If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a
205Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string. 203Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
206 204
207=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string. 205=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
434If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 432If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
435by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 433by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
436 434
437If C<$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
438pairs 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
439of the same script). 437of the same script, and can change even within the same run from 5.18
438onwards).
440 439
441This 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
442the 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,
443the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 442the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
444as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 443as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
445 444
446This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 445This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
447 446
447This setting has currently no effect on tied hashes.
448
448=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 449=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
449 450
450=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref 451=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
451 452
452If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 453If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
462Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>, 463Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>,
463resulting in an invalid JSON text: 464resulting in an invalid JSON text:
464 465
465 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 466 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
466 => "Hello, World!" 467 => "Hello, World!"
468
469=item $json = $json->allow_unknown ([$enable])
470
471=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_unknown
472
473If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will I<not> throw an
474exception when it encounters values it cannot represent in JSON (for
475example, filehandles) but instead will encode a JSON C<null> value. Note
476that blessed objects are not included here and are handled separately by
477c<allow_nonref>.
478
479If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
480exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as JSON.
481
482This option does not affect C<decode> in any way, and it is recommended to
483leave it off unless you know your communications partner.
467 484
468=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable]) 485=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
469 486
470=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed 487=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
471 488
612=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth]) 629=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
613 630
614=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth 631=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
615 632
616Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding 633Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
617or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or 634or decoding. If a higher nesting level is detected in JSON text or a Perl
618higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will 635data structure, then the encoder and decoder will stop and croak at that
619stop and croak at that point. 636point.
620 637
621Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder 638Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
622needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[> 639needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
623characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a 640characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
624given character in a string. 641given character in a string.
625 642
626Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures 643Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
627that the object is only a single hash/object or array. 644that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
628 645
629The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
630of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be 646If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be used, which
631used, which is rarely useful. 647is rarely useful.
648
649Note that nesting is implemented by recursion in C. The default value has
650been chosen to be as large as typical operating systems allow without
651crashing.
632 652
633See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 653See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
634 654
635=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size]) 655=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
636 656
637=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size 657=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
638 658
639Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is 659Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
640being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode> 660being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
641is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not 661is called on a string that is longer then this many bytes, it will not
642attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no 662attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
643effect on C<encode> (yet). 663effect on C<encode> (yet).
644 664
645The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest> 665If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when
646power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the 666C<0> is specified).
647limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
648 667
649See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 668See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
650 669
651=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 670=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
652 671
681 => ([], 3) 700 => ([], 3)
682 701
683=back 702=back
684 703
685 704
705=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
706
707In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
708texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
709Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
710JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
711a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
712using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but
713is much more efficient (and can be implemented with a minimum of method
714calls).
715
716JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text once it is sure it
717has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very simple but
718truly incremental parser. This means that it sometimes won't stop as
719early as the full parser, for example, it doesn't detect mismatched
720parentheses. The only thing it guarantees is that it starts decoding as
721soon as a syntactically valid JSON text has been seen. This means you need
722to set resource limits (e.g. C<max_size>) to ensure the parser will stop
723parsing in the presence if syntax errors.
724
725The following methods implement this incremental parser.
726
727=over 4
728
729=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
730
731This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
732extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
733functions are optional).
734
735If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
736existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
737
738After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
739return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
740in as many chunks as you want.
741
742If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
743exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
744object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. If there is a parse error,
745this method will croak just as C<decode> would do (one can then use
746C<incr_skip> to skip the erroneous part). This is the most common way of
747using the method.
748
749And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
750from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
751otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
752objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back. If
753an error occurs, an exception will be raised as in the scalar context
754case. Note that in this case, any previously-parsed JSON texts will be
755lost.
756
757Example: Parse some JSON arrays/objects in a given string and return
758them.
759
760 my @objs = JSON::XS->new->incr_parse ("[5][7][1,2]");
761
762=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
763
764This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
765is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
766C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
767all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
768although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
769real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
770method before having parsed anything.
771
772This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
773JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
774(such as commas).
775
776=item $json->incr_skip
777
778This will reset the state of the incremental parser and will remove
779the parsed text from the input buffer so far. This is useful after
780C<incr_parse> died, in which case the input buffer and incremental parser
781state is left unchanged, to skip the text parsed so far and to reset the
782parse state.
783
784The difference to C<incr_reset> is that only text until the parse error
785occurred is removed.
786
787=item $json->incr_reset
788
789This completely resets the incremental parser, that is, after this call,
790it will be as if the parser had never parsed anything.
791
792This is useful if you want to repeatedly parse JSON objects and want to
793ignore any trailing data, which means you have to reset the parser after
794each successful decode.
795
796=back
797
798=head2 LIMITATIONS
799
800All options that affect decoding are supported, except
801C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to
802work sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can concatenate
803them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does not hold true
804for JSON numbers, however.
805
806For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
807start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
808of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
809takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
810
811=head2 EXAMPLES
812
813Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
814works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
815the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
816
817 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
818
819 my $json = new JSON::XS;
820
821 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
822 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
823
824 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
825 # $tail now contains " hello"
826
827Easy, isn't it?
828
829Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
830you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
831array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
832use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
833the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
834with C<telnet>...).
835
836Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
837manner):
838
839 my $json = new JSON::XS;
840
841 # read some data from the socket
842 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
843
844 # split and decode as many requests as possible
845 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
846 # act on the $request
847 }
848 }
849
850Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
851or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
852[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
853and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
854
855 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
856 my $json = new JSON::XS;
857
858 # void context, so no parsing done
859 $json->incr_parse ($text);
860
861 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
862 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
863 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
864 # do something with $obj
865
866 # now skip the optional comma
867 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
868 }
869
870Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
871JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
872but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
873the real world :).
874
875Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
876can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
877JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
878own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
879example):
880
881 my $json = new JSON::XS;
882
883 # open the monster
884 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
885 or die "bigfile: $!";
886
887 # first parse the initial "["
888 for (;;) {
889 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
890 or die "read error: $!";
891 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
892
893 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
894 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
895 # we append data to.
896 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
897 }
898
899 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
900 # parsing all the elements.
901 for (;;) {
902 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
903 for (;;) {
904 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
905 # do something with $obj
906 last;
907 }
908
909 # add more data
910 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
911 or die "read error: $!";
912 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
913 }
914
915 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
916 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
917 for (;;) {
918 # first skip whitespace
919 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
920
921 # if we find "]", we are done
922 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
923 print "finished.\n";
924 exit;
925 }
926
927 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
928 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
929 last;
930 }
931
932 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
933 if (length $json->incr_text) {
934 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
935 }
936
937 # else add more data
938 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
939 or die "read error: $!";
940 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
941 }
942
943This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
944that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
945the above example :).
946
947
948
686=head1 MAPPING 949=head1 MAPPING
687 950
688This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 951This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
689vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 952vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
690circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 953circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
725If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent 988If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
726it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as 989it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
727a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of 990a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
728precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in 991precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
729which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be 992which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
730re-encoded toa JSON string). 993re-encoded to a JSON string).
731 994
732Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be 995Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
733represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of 996represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
734precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but 997precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
735the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number). 998the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
999
1000Note that precision is not accuracy - binary floating point values cannot
1001represent most decimal fractions exactly, and when converting from and to
1002floating point, JSON::XS only guarantees precision up to but not including
1003the least significant bit.
736 1004
737=item true, false 1005=item true, false
738 1006
739These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>, 1007These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
740respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers 1008respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
777Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an 1045Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
778exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and 1046exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
779C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can 1047C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
780also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability. 1048also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
781 1049
782 encode_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true] 1050 encode_json [\0, JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
783 1051
784=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false 1052=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
785 1053
786These special values become JSON true and JSON false values, 1054These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
787respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want. 1055respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
825 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1093 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
826 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1094 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
827 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours. 1095 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
828 1096
829You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me 1097You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
830if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why its needed 1098if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
831:). 1099:).
1100
1101Note that numerical precision has the same meaning as under Perl (so
1102binary to decimal conversion follows the same rules as in Perl, which
1103can differ to other languages). Also, your perl interpreter might expose
1104extensions to the floating point numbers of your platform, such as
1105infinities or NaN's - these cannot be represented in JSON, and it is an
1106error to pass those in.
832 1107
833=back 1108=back
834 1109
835 1110
836=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES 1111=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
837 1112
838The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify 1113The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
839encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be 1114encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
840some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison: 1115some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
841 1116
842C<utf8> controls wether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected 1117C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
843by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only 1118by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
844control wether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective 1119control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
845codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although 1120codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
846some combinations make less sense than others. 1121some combinations make less sense than others.
847 1122
848Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to 1123Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
849C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of 1124C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
863=item C<utf8> flag disabled 1138=item C<utf8> flag disabled
864 1139
865When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate 1140When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
866and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode 1141and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
867values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such 1142values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
868characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except 1143characters are decoded as-is, no changes to them will be done, except
869"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters, 1144"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
870respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do 1145respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
871funny/weird/dumb stuff). 1146funny/weird/dumb stuff).
872 1147
873This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you 1148This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
929proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world. 1204proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
930 1205
931=back 1206=back
932 1207
933 1208
934=head1 COMPARISON 1209=head2 JSON and ECMAscript
935 1210
936As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 1211JSON syntax is based on how literals are represented in javascript (the
937JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 1212not-standardised predecessor of ECMAscript) which is presumably why it is
938problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1213called "JavaScript Object Notation".
939followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer
940from any of these problems or limitations.
941 1214
942=over 4 1215However, JSON is not a subset (and also not a superset of course) of
1216ECMAscript (the standard) or javascript (whatever browsers actually
1217implement).
943 1218
944=item JSON 2.xx 1219If you want to use javascript's C<eval> function to "parse" JSON, you
1220might run into parse errors for valid JSON texts, or the resulting data
1221structure might not be queryable:
945 1222
946A marvellous piece of engineering, this module either uses JSON::XS 1223One of the problems is that U+2028 and U+2029 are valid characters inside
947directly when available (so will be 100% compatible with it, including 1224JSON strings, but are not allowed in ECMAscript string literals, so the
948speed), or it uses JSON::PP, which is basically JSON::XS translated to 1225following Perl fragment will not output something that can be guaranteed
949Pure Perl, which should be 100% compatible with JSON::XS, just a bit 1226to be parsable by javascript's C<eval>:
950slower.
951 1227
952You cannot really lose by using this module, especially as it tries very 1228 use JSON::XS;
953hard to work even with ancient Perl versions, while JSON::XS does not.
954 1229
955=item JSON 1.07 1230 print encode_json [chr 0x2028];
956 1231
957Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1232The right fix for this is to use a proper JSON parser in your javascript
1233programs, and not rely on C<eval> (see for example Douglas Crockford's
1234F<json2.js> parser).
958 1235
959Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles Unicode values is 1236If this is not an option, you can, as a stop-gap measure, simply encode to
960undocumented. One can get far by feeding it Unicode strings and doing 1237ASCII-only JSON:
961en-/decoding oneself, but Unicode escapes are not working properly).
962 1238
963No round-tripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 1239 use JSON::XS;
964the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
965decode into the number 2.
966 1240
967=item JSON::PC 0.01 1241 print JSON::XS->new->ascii->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
968 1242
969Very fast. 1243Note that this will enlarge the resulting JSON text quite a bit if you
1244have many non-ASCII characters. You might be tempted to run some regexes
1245to only escape U+2028 and U+2029, e.g.:
970 1246
971Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 1247 # DO NOT USE THIS!
1248 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1249 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa8/\\u2028/g; # escape U+2028
1250 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa9/\\u2029/g; # escape U+2029
1251 print $json;
972 1252
973No round-tripping. 1253Note that I<this is a bad idea>: the above only works for U+2028 and
1254U+2029 and thus only for fully ECMAscript-compliant parsers. Many existing
1255javascript implementations, however, have issues with other characters as
1256well - using C<eval> naively simply I<will> cause problems.
974 1257
975Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 1258Another problem is that some javascript implementations reserve
976values will make it croak). 1259some property names for their own purposes (which probably makes
1260them non-ECMAscript-compliant). For example, Iceweasel reserves the
1261C<__proto__> property name for its own purposes.
977 1262
978Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 1263If that is a problem, you could parse try to filter the resulting JSON
979which is not a valid JSON text. 1264output for these property strings, e.g.:
980 1265
981Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1266 $json =~ s/"__proto__"\s*:/"__proto__renamed":/g;
982getting fixed).
983 1267
984=item JSON::Syck 0.21 1268This works because C<__proto__> is not valid outside of strings, so every
1269occurrence of C<"__proto__"\s*:> must be a string used as property name.
985 1270
986Very buggy (often crashes). 1271If you know of other incompatibilities, please let me know.
987
988Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much
989undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a
990single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
991generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
992
993Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (Unicode
994escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to
995I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour).
996
997No round-tripping (simple cases work, but this depends on whether the scalar
998value was used in a numeric context or not).
999
1000Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
1001
1002Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
1003getting fixed).
1004
1005Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
1006return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
1007issue: imagine two banks transferring money between each other using
1008JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
1009while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
1010good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
1011the transaction will still not succeed).
1012
1013=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
1014
1015Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
1016
1017Undocumented Unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
1018still don't get parsed properly).
1019
1020Very inflexible.
1021
1022No round-tripping.
1023
1024Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
1025result in nothing being output)
1026
1027Does not check input for validity.
1028
1029=back
1030 1272
1031 1273
1032=head2 JSON and YAML 1274=head2 JSON and YAML
1033 1275
1034You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass 1276You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
1044 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n"; 1286 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
1045 1287
1046This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid 1288This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
1047YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key 1289YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
1048lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible 1290lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
1049unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are 1291unicode character escape syntax, so you should make sure that your hash
1050noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that 1292keys are noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows
1051you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP 1293and that you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the
1052(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in 1294Unicode BMP (basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/>
1053strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON 1295sequences in strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but
1054generators might). 1296other JSON generators might).
1055 1297
1056There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML 1298There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1057specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In 1299specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
1058general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice 1300general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
1059versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are 1301versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
1078that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and 1320that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1079educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the 1321educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1080real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who 1322real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1081point out that it isn't true. 1323point out that it isn't true.
1082 1324
1325Addendum/2009: the YAML 1.2 spec is still incompatible with JSON, even
1326though the incompatibilities have been documented (and are known to Brian)
1327for many years and the spec makes explicit claims that YAML is a superset
1328of JSON. It would be so easy to fix, but apparently, bullying people and
1329corrupting userdata is so much easier.
1330
1083=back 1331=back
1084 1332
1085 1333
1086=head2 SPEED 1334=head2 SPEED
1087 1335
1092 1340
1093First comes a comparison between various modules using 1341First comes a comparison between various modules using
1094a very short single-line JSON string (also available at 1342a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1095L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>). 1343L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
1096 1344
1097 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \ 1345 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1",
1098 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]} 1346 "we were just talking"], "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7,
1347 1, 0]}
1099 1348
1100It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses 1349It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
1101the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface 1350the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
1102with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables 1351with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
1103shrink). Higher is better: 1352shrink. JSON::DWIW/DS uses the deserialise function, while JSON::DWIW::FJ
1353uses the from_json method). Higher is better:
1104 1354
1105 module | encode | decode | 1355 module | encode | decode |
1106 -----------|------------|------------| 1356 --------------|------------|------------|
1107 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 | 1357 JSON::DWIW/DS | 86302.551 | 102300.098 |
1108 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 | 1358 JSON::DWIW/FJ | 86302.551 | 75983.768 |
1109 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 | 1359 JSON::PP | 15827.562 | 6638.658 |
1110 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 | 1360 JSON::Syck | 63358.066 | 47662.545 |
1111 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 | 1361 JSON::XS | 511500.488 | 511500.488 |
1112 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 | 1362 JSON::XS/2 | 291271.111 | 388361.481 |
1113 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 | 1363 JSON::XS/3 | 361577.931 | 361577.931 |
1114 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 | 1364 Storable | 66788.280 | 265462.278 |
1115 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
1116 -----------+------------+------------+ 1365 --------------+------------+------------+
1117 1366
1118That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding, 1367That is, JSON::XS is almost six times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
1119about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster 1368about five times faster on decoding, and over thirty to seventy times
1120than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares 1369faster than JSON's pure perl implementation. It also compares favourably
1121favourably to Storable for small amounts of data. 1370to Storable for small amounts of data.
1122 1371
1123Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1372Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
1124search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>). 1373search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
1125 1374
1126 module | encode | decode | 1375 module | encode | decode |
1127 -----------|------------|------------| 1376 --------------|------------|------------|
1128 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 | 1377 JSON::DWIW/DS | 1647.927 | 2673.916 |
1129 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 | 1378 JSON::DWIW/FJ | 1630.249 | 2596.128 |
1130 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
1131 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 | 1379 JSON::PP | 400.640 | 62.311 |
1132 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 | 1380 JSON::Syck | 1481.040 | 1524.869 |
1133 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 | 1381 JSON::XS | 20661.596 | 9541.183 |
1134 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 | 1382 JSON::XS/2 | 10683.403 | 9416.938 |
1135 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 | 1383 JSON::XS/3 | 20661.596 | 9400.054 |
1136 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 | 1384 Storable | 19765.806 | 10000.725 |
1137 -----------+------------+------------+ 1385 --------------+------------+------------+
1138 1386
1139Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly 1387Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
1140decodes faster). 1388decodes a bit faster).
1141 1389
1142On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules 1390On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
1143(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 1391(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
1144will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse 1392will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
1145to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 1393to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
1181information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS 1429information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1182will not end up in front of untrusted eyes. 1430will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
1183 1431
1184If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption 1432If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
1185by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at 1433by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1186L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether 1434L<http://blog.archive.jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security/> to
1187you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser 1435see whether you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really
1188design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major 1436are browser design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with
1189browser developers care only for features, not about getting security 1437it, as major browser developers care only for features, not about getting
1190right). 1438security right).
1191 1439
1192 1440
1193=head1 THREADS 1441=head1 THREADS
1194 1442
1195This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no 1443This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1196plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the 1444plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1197horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated 1445horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1198process simulations - use fork, its I<much> faster, cheaper, better). 1446process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1199 1447
1200(It might actually work, but you have been warned). 1448(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1201 1449
1202 1450
1451=head1 THE PERILS OF SETLOCALE
1452
1453Sometimes people avoid the Perl locale support and directly call the
1454system's setlocale function with C<LC_ALL>.
1455
1456This breaks both perl and modules such as JSON::XS, as stringification of
1457numbers no longer works correctly (e.g. C<$x = 0.1; print "$x"+1> might
1458print C<1>, and JSON::XS might output illegal JSON as JSON::XS relies on
1459perl to stringify numbers).
1460
1461The solution is simple: don't call C<setlocale>, or use it for only those
1462categories you need, such as C<LC_MESSAGES> or C<LC_CTYPE>.
1463
1464If you need C<LC_NUMERIC>, you should enable it only around the code that
1465actually needs it (avoiding stringification of numbers), and restore it
1466afterwards.
1467
1468
1203=head1 BUGS 1469=head1 BUGS
1204 1470
1205While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1471While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
1206not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1472not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. If you
1207still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they 1473keep reporting bugs they will be fixed swiftly, though.
1208will be fixed swiftly, though.
1209 1474
1210Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting 1475Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1211service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason. 1476service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
1212 1477
1213=cut 1478=cut
1233 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 }, 1498 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1234 fallback => 1; 1499 fallback => 1;
1235 1500
12361; 15011;
1237 1502
1503=head1 SEE ALSO
1504
1505The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
1506
1238=head1 AUTHOR 1507=head1 AUTHOR
1239 1508
1240 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1509 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1241 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1510 http://home.schmorp.de/
1242 1511

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