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Revision 1.15 by root, Sat Mar 24 01:15:22 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.96 by root, Wed Mar 26 01:40:42 2008 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3=encoding utf-8
4
3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast 5JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
4 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 # oo-interface 20 # OO-interface
15 21
16 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; 22 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
17 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); 23 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
18 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text); 24 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
19 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
20=head1 DESCRIPTION 34=head1 DESCRIPTION
21 35
22This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 36This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its
23primary 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
24I<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
42overriden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheritign 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.
25 47
26As 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
27to 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
28modules, 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
29their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
36 58
37=head2 FEATURES 59=head2 FEATURES
38 60
39=over 4 61=over 4
40 62
41=item * correct handling of unicode issues 63=item * correct Unicode handling
42 64
43This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when 65This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does
44it does so. 66so, and even documents what "correct" means.
45 67
46=item * round-trip integrity 68=item * round-trip integrity
47 69
48When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 70When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported
49by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 71by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
50(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2"). 72(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks
73like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING
74section below to learn about those.
51 75
52=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 76=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
53 77
54There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON strings by default, 78There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
55and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security 79and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
56feature). 80feature).
57 81
58=item * fast 82=item * fast
59 83
60Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 84Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
61of speed, too. 85this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
62 86
63=item * simple to use 87=item * simple to use
64 88
65This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 89This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an objetc
66interface. 90oriented interface interface.
67 91
68=item * reasonably versatile output formats 92=item * reasonably versatile output formats
69 93
70You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format 94You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
71possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format (for 95possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format
72when your transport is not 8-bit clean), or a pretty-printed format (for 96(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole
73when you want to read that stuff). Or you can combine those features in 97Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that
74whatever way you like. 98stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
75 99
76=back 100=back
77 101
78=cut 102=cut
79 103
80package JSON::XS; 104package JSON::XS;
81 105
82BEGIN { 106use strict;
107
83 $VERSION = '0.31'; 108our $VERSION = '2.1';
84 @ISA = qw(Exporter); 109our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
85 110
86 @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json); 111our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
87 require Exporter;
88 112
113sub to_json($) {
89 require XSLoader; 114 require Carp;
90 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 115 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::to_json has been renamed to encode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
91} 116}
92 117
118sub from_json($) {
119 require Carp;
120 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");
121}
122
123use Exporter;
124use XSLoader;
125
93=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 126=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
94 127
95The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 128The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
96exported by default: 129exported by default:
97 130
98=over 4 131=over 4
99 132
100=item $json_string = to_json $perl_scalar 133=item $json_text = encode_json $perl_scalar
101 134
102Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to 135Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string
103a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains 136(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error.
104octets only). Croaks on error.
105 137
106This function call is functionally identical to C<< JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) >>. 138This function call is functionally identical to:
107 139
140 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
141
142except being faster.
143
108=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_string 144=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
109 145
110The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to 146The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
111parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON string, returning the resulting simple 147to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
112scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 148reference. Croaks on error.
113 149
114This function call is functionally identical to C<< JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_string) >>. 150This function call is functionally identical to:
151
152 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
153
154except being faster.
155
156=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
157
158Returns 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
160and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
161
162See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
163Perl.
115 164
116=back 165=back
166
167
168=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL
169
170Since this often leads to confusion, here are a few very clear words on
171how Unicode works in Perl, modulo bugs.
172
173=over 4
174
175=item 1. Perl strings can store characters with ordinal values > 255.
176
177This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
178Perl string - very natural.
179
180=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
181
182... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
183printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
184string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
185on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
186data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
187
188=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
189encoding of your string.
190
191Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
192XS or want to dive into the internals of perl. Otherwise it will only
193confuse you, as, despite the name, it says nothing about how your string
194is encoded. You can have Unicode strings with that flag set, with that
195flag clear, and you can have binary data with that flag set and that flag
196clear. Other possibilities exist, too.
197
198If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
199exist.
200
201=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
202validly interpreted as a Unicode codepoint.
203
204If 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.
206
207=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
208
209It's a fact. Learn to live with it.
210
211=back
212
213I hope this helps :)
214
117 215
118=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 216=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
119 217
120The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 218The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
121decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 219decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
128strings. All boolean flags described below are by default I<disabled>. 226strings. All boolean flags described below are by default I<disabled>.
129 227
130The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can 228The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can
131be chained: 229be chained:
132 230
133 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8(1)->space_after(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 231 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
134 => {"a": [1, 2]} 232 => {"a": [1, 2]}
135 233
136=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) 234=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
137 235
236=item $enabled = $json->get_ascii
237
138If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will 238If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
139not generate characters outside the code range C<0..127>. Any unicode 239generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
140characters outside that range will be escaped using either a single 240Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
141\uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, as per 241single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
142RFC4627. 242as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
243Unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
244or any other superset of ASCII.
143 245
144If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 246If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
145characters unless necessary. 247characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
248in a faster and more compact format.
146 249
250See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
251document.
252
253The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
254transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
255contain any 8 bit characters.
256
147 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode (chr 0x10401) 257 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
148 => \ud801\udc01 258 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
259
260=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
261
262=item $enabled = $json->get_latin1
263
264If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
265the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
266outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
267latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method
268will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
269expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
270
271If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
272characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
273
274See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
275document.
276
277The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
278text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
279size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
280in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
281transferring), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
282you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
283in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
284
285 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
286 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
149 287
150=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 288=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
151 289
290=item $enabled = $json->get_utf8
291
152If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 292If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
153the JSON string into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 293the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
154C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please 294C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
155note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the 295note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
156range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. 296range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
297versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16
298and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627.
157 299
158If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 300If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
159string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 301string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
160unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 302Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
161to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 303to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
162 304
305See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
306document.
307
163Example, output UTF-16-encoded JSON: 308Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
309
310 use Encode;
311 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
312
313Example, decode UTF-32LE-encoded JSON:
314
315 use Encode;
316 $object = JSON::XS->new->decode (decode "UTF-32LE", $jsontext);
164 317
165=item $json = $json->pretty ([$enable]) 318=item $json = $json->pretty ([$enable])
166 319
167This enables (or disables) all of the C<indent>, C<space_before> and 320This enables (or disables) all of the C<indent>, C<space_before> and
168C<space_after> (and in the future possibly more) flags in one call to 321C<space_after> (and in the future possibly more) flags in one call to
179 ] 332 ]
180 } 333 }
181 334
182=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable]) 335=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable])
183 336
337=item $enabled = $json->get_indent
338
184If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 339If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
185format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 340format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
186into its own line, identing them properly. 341into its own line, indenting them properly.
187 342
188If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 343If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
189resulting JSON strings is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>. 344resulting JSON text is guaranteed not to contain any C<newlines>.
190 345
191This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 346This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
192 347
193=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) 348=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
349
350=item $enabled = $json->get_space_before
194 351
195If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 352If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
196optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 353optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
197 354
198If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 355If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
199space at those places. 356space at those places.
200 357
201This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. You will also most 358This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. You will also
202likely combine this setting with C<space_after>. 359most likely combine this setting with C<space_after>.
203 360
204Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled: 361Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
205 362
206 {"key" :"value"} 363 {"key" :"value"}
207 364
208=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable]) 365=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
366
367=item $enabled = $json->get_space_after
209 368
210If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 369If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
211optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 370optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
212and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array 371and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array
213members. 372members.
214 373
215If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 374If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
216space at those places. 375space at those places.
217 376
218This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 377This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
219 378
220Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: 379Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
221 380
222 {"key": "value"} 381 {"key": "value"}
223 382
383=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
384
385=item $enabled = $json->get_relaxed
386
387If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
388extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
389affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
390JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
391parse application-specific files written by humans (configuration files,
392resource files etc.)
393
394If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<decode> will only accept
395valid JSON texts.
396
397Currently accepted extensions are:
398
399=over 4
400
401=item * list items can have an end-comma
402
403JSON I<separates> array elements and key-value pairs with commas. This
404can be annoying if you write JSON texts manually and want to be able to
405quickly append elements, so this extension accepts comma at the end of
406such items not just between them:
407
408 [
409 1,
410 2, <- this comma not normally allowed
411 ]
412 {
413 "k1": "v1",
414 "k2": "v2", <- this comma not normally allowed
415 }
416
417=item * shell-style '#'-comments
418
419Whenever JSON allows whitespace, shell-style comments are additionally
420allowed. They are terminated by the first carriage-return or line-feed
421character, after which more white-space and comments are allowed.
422
423 [
424 1, # this comment not allowed in JSON
425 # neither this one...
426 ]
427
428=back
429
224=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 430=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
431
432=item $enabled = $json->get_canonical
225 433
226If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 434If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
227by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 435by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
228 436
229If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 437If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
230pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 438pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
231of the same script). 439of the same script).
232 440
233This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 441This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
234the same JSON string (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 442the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
235the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 443the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
236as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 444as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
237 445
238This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 446This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
239 447
240=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 448=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
449
450=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
241 451
242If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 452If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
243non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 453non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
244which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 454which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
245values instead of croaking. 455values instead of croaking.
246 456
247If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will croak if it isn't 457If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will croak if it isn't
248passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON strings must either be an object 458passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON texts must either be an object
249or array. Likewise, C<decode> will croak if given something that is not a 459or array. Likewise, C<decode> will croak if given something that is not a
250JSON object or array. 460JSON object or array.
251 461
252Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>, 462Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>,
253resulting in an invalid JSON text: 463resulting in an invalid JSON text:
254 464
255 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 465 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
256 => "Hello, World!" 466 => "Hello, World!"
257 467
468=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
469
470=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
471
472If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
473barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
474B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
475disabled or no C<TO_JSON> method found) or a representation of the
476object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<TO_JSON> method found) is being
477encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
478
479If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
480exception when it encounters a blessed object.
481
482=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
483
484=item $enabled = $json->get_convert_blessed
485
486If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
487blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
488on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
489and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
490C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
491to do.
492
493The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
494returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
495way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
496(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
497methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
498usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with any C<to_json>
499function or method.
500
501This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
502future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
503enabled by this setting.
504
505If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
506to do when a blessed object is found.
507
508=item $json = $json->filter_json_object ([$coderef->($hashref)])
509
510When C<$coderef> is specified, it will be called from C<decode> each
511time it decodes a JSON object. The only argument is a reference to the
512newly-created hash. If the code references returns a single scalar (which
513need not be a reference), this value (i.e. a copy of that scalar to avoid
514aliasing) is inserted into the deserialised data structure. If it returns
515an empty list (NOTE: I<not> C<undef>, which is a valid scalar), the
516original deserialised hash will be inserted. This setting can slow down
517decoding considerably.
518
519When C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, any existing callback will
520be removed and C<decode> will not change the deserialised hash in any
521way.
522
523Example, convert all JSON objects into the integer 5:
524
525 my $js = JSON::XS->new->filter_json_object (sub { 5 });
526 # returns [5]
527 $js->decode ('[{}]')
528 # throw an exception because allow_nonref is not enabled
529 # so a lone 5 is not allowed.
530 $js->decode ('{"a":1, "b":2}');
531
532=item $json = $json->filter_json_single_key_object ($key [=> $coderef->($value)])
533
534Works remotely similar to C<filter_json_object>, but is only called for
535JSON objects having a single key named C<$key>.
536
537This C<$coderef> is called before the one specified via
538C<filter_json_object>, if any. It gets passed the single value in the JSON
539object. If it returns a single value, it will be inserted into the data
540structure. If it returns nothing (not even C<undef> but the empty list),
541the callback from C<filter_json_object> will be called next, as if no
542single-key callback were specified.
543
544If C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, the corresponding callback will be
545disabled. There can only ever be one callback for a given key.
546
547As this callback gets called less often then the C<filter_json_object>
548one, decoding speed will not usually suffer as much. Therefore, single-key
549objects make excellent targets to serialise Perl objects into, especially
550as single-key JSON objects are as close to the type-tagged value concept
551as JSON gets (it's basically an ID/VALUE tuple). Of course, JSON does not
552support this in any way, so you need to make sure your data never looks
553like a serialised Perl hash.
554
555Typical names for the single object key are C<__class_whatever__>, or
556C<$__dollars_are_rarely_used__$> or C<}ugly_brace_placement>, or even
557things like C<__class_md5sum(classname)__>, to reduce the risk of clashing
558with real hashes.
559
560Example, decode JSON objects of the form C<< { "__widget__" => <id> } >>
561into the corresponding C<< $WIDGET{<id>} >> object:
562
563 # return whatever is in $WIDGET{5}:
564 JSON::XS
565 ->new
566 ->filter_json_single_key_object (__widget__ => sub {
567 $WIDGET{ $_[0] }
568 })
569 ->decode ('{"__widget__": 5')
570
571 # this can be used with a TO_JSON method in some "widget" class
572 # for serialisation to json:
573 sub WidgetBase::TO_JSON {
574 my ($self) = @_;
575
576 unless ($self->{id}) {
577 $self->{id} = ..get..some..id..;
578 $WIDGET{$self->{id}} = $self;
579 }
580
581 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
582 }
583
258=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 584=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
259 585
586=item $enabled = $json->get_shrink
587
260Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 588Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
261strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 589strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
262C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 590C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
263memory when your JSON strings are either very very long or you have many 591memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
264short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form 592short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form
265if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called 593if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
266UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less 594UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less
267space in general. 595space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
596internal representation being used).
268 597
598The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future versions,
599but it will always try to save space at the expense of time.
600
269If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will be shrunk-to-fit, 601If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will
270while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be shrunk-to-fit. 602be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be
603shrunk-to-fit.
271 604
272If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used. 605If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used.
273If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster. 606If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster.
274 607
275In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting 608In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
276strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 609strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
277internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 610internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
278 611
612=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
613
614=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
615
616Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
617or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or
618higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will
619stop and croak at that point.
620
621Nesting 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<[>
623characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
624given character in a string.
625
626Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
627that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
628
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
631used, which is rarely useful.
632
633See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
634
635=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
636
637=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
638
639Set 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>
641is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not
642attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
643effect on C<encode> (yet).
644
645The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest>
646power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the
647limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
648
649See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
650
279=item $json_string = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 651=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
280 652
281Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 653Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference
282to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 654to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be
283converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays 655converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays
284become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined 656become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined
285Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true> 657Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true>
286nor C<false> values will be generated. 658nor C<false> values will be generated.
287 659
288=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_string) 660=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_text)
289 661
290The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON string and tries to parse it, 662The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON text and tries to parse it,
291returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 663returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error.
292 664
293JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 665JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
294Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 666Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
295C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 667C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
296 668
669=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
670
671This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
672when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
673silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
674so far.
675
676This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
677(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
678to know where the JSON text ends.
679
680 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
681 => ([], 3)
682
297=back 683=back
684
685
686=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
687
688[This section is still EXPERIMENTAL]
689
690In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
691texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
692Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
693JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
694a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
695using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but is
696much more efficient (JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text
697once it is sure it has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very
698simple but truly incremental parser).
699
700The following two methods deal with this.
701
702=over 4
703
704=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
705
706This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
707extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
708functions are optional).
709
710If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
711existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
712
713After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
714return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
715in as many chunks as you want.
716
717If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
718exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
719object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. If there is a parse error,
720this method will croak just as C<decode> would do (one can then use
721C<incr_skip> to skip the errornous part). This is the most common way of
722using the method.
723
724And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
725from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
726otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
727objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back. If
728an error occurs, an exception will be raised as in the scalar context
729case. Note that in this case, any previously-parsed JSON texts will be
730lost.
731
732If there is a parse
733
734=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
735
736This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
737is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
738C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
739all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
740although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
741real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
742method before having parsed anything.
743
744This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
745JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
746(such as commas).
747
748=back
749
750=head2 LIMITATIONS
751
752All options that affect decoding are supported, except
753C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to
754work sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can concatenate
755them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does not hold true
756for JSON numbers, however.
757
758For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
759start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
760of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
761takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
762
763=head2 EXAMPLES
764
765Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
766works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
767the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
768
769 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
770
771 my $json = new JSON::XS;
772
773 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
774 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
775
776 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
777 # $tail now contains " hello"
778
779Easy, isn't it?
780
781Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
782you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
783array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
784use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
785the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
786with C<telnet>...).
787
788Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
789manner):
790
791 my $json = new JSON::XS;
792
793 # read some data from the socket
794 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
795
796 # split and decode as many requests as possible
797 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
798 # act on the $request
799 }
800 }
801
802Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
803or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
804[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
805and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
806
807 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
808 my $json = new JSON::XS;
809
810 # void context, so no parsing done
811 $json->incr_parse ($text);
812
813 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
814 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
815 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
816 # do something with $obj
817
818 # now skip the optional comma
819 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
820 }
821
822Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
823JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
824but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
825the real world :).
826
827Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
828can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
829JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
830own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
831example):
832
833 my $json = new JSON::XS;
834
835 # open the monster
836 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
837 or die "bigfile: $!";
838
839 # first parse the initial "["
840 for (;;) {
841 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
842 or die "read error: $!";
843 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
844
845 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
846 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
847 # we append data to.
848 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
849 }
850
851 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
852 # parsing all the elements.
853 for (;;) {
854 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
855 for (;;) {
856 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
857 # do something with $obj
858 last;
859 }
860
861 # add more data
862 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
863 or die "read error: $!";
864 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
865 }
866
867 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
868 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
869 for (;;) {
870 # first skip whitespace
871 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
872
873 # if we find "]", we are done
874 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
875 print "finished.\n";
876 exit;
877 }
878
879 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
880 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
881 last;
882 }
883
884 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
885 if (length $json->incr_text) {
886 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
887 }
888
889 # else add more data
890 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
891 or die "read error: $!";
892 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
893 }
894
895This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
896that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
897the above example :).
898
899
298 900
299=head1 MAPPING 901=head1 MAPPING
300 902
301This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 903This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
302vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 904vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
303circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 905circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
304(what you put in comes out as something equivalent). 906(what you put in comes out as something equivalent).
305 907
306For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 908For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
307lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 909lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppercase I<Perl>
308refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 910refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
309 911
912
310=head2 JSON -> PERL 913=head2 JSON -> PERL
311 914
312=over 4 915=over 4
313 916
314=item object 917=item object
315 918
316A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object 919A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object
317keys is preserved (JSON does not preserver object key ordering itself). 920keys is preserved (JSON does not preserve object key ordering itself).
318 921
319=item array 922=item array
320 923
321A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl. 924A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl.
322 925
326are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual 929are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual
327decoding is necessary. 930decoding is necessary.
328 931
329=item number 932=item number
330 933
331A JSON number becomes either an integer or numeric (floating point) 934A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
332scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On the 935string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
333Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all the 936the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
334conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 937the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
335represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 938might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
939
940If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
941it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
942a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
943precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
944which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
945re-encoded toa JSON string).
946
947Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
948represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
949precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
950the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
336 951
337=item true, false 952=item true, false
338 953
339These JSON atoms become C<0>, C<1>, respectively. Information is lost in 954These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
340this process. Future versions might represent those values differently, 955respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
341but they will be guarenteed to act like these integers would normally in 956C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
342Perl. 957the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
343 958
344=item null 959=item null
345 960
346A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 961A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
347 962
348=back 963=back
964
349 965
350=head2 PERL -> JSON 966=head2 PERL -> JSON
351 967
352The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a 968The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
353truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by 969truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
356=over 4 972=over 4
357 973
358=item hash references 974=item hash references
359 975
360Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 976Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
361in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a pseudo-random order that 977in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
362can change between runs of the same program but stays generally the same 978pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
363within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash 979stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
364keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure 980optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
365will serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of 981the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
366JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead. 982settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
983and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
984against another for equality.
367 985
368=item array references 986=item array references
369 987
370Perl array references become JSON arrays. 988Perl array references become JSON arrays.
371 989
990=item other references
991
992Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
993exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
994C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
995also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
996
997 encode_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
998
999=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
1000
1001These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
1002respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
1003
372=item blessed objects 1004=item blessed objects
373 1005
374Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 1006Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON. See the
375underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 1007C<allow_blessed> and C<convert_blessed> methods on various options on
376change in future versions. 1008how to deal with this: basically, you can choose between throwing an
1009exception, encoding the reference as if it weren't blessed, or provide
1010your own serialiser method.
377 1011
378=item simple scalars 1012=item simple scalars
379 1013
380Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 1014Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
381difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 1015difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
382JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 1016JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
383before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 1017before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
384 1018
385 # dump as number 1019 # dump as number
386 to_json [2] # yields [2] 1020 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
387 to_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 1021 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
388 my $value = 5; to_json [$value] # yields [5] 1022 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
389 1023
390 # used as string, so dump as string 1024 # used as string, so dump as string
391 print $value; 1025 print $value;
392 to_json [$value] # yields ["5"] 1026 encode_json [$value] # yields ["5"]
393 1027
394 # undef becomes null 1028 # undef becomes null
395 to_json [undef] # yields [null] 1029 encode_json [undef] # yields [null]
396 1030
397You can force the type to be a string by stringifying it: 1031You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it:
398 1032
399 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number 1033 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number
400 "$x"; # stringified 1034 "$x"; # stringified
401 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify 1035 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify
402 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often 1036 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often
403 1037
404You can force the type to be a number by numifying it: 1038You can force the type to be a JSON number by numifying it:
405 1039
406 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1040 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
407 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1041 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
408 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 1042 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
409 1043
410You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 1044You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
411less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 1045if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
412 1046:).
413=item circular data structures
414
415Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out.
416 1047
417=back 1048=back
418 1049
419=head1 COMPARISON
420 1050
421As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 1051=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
422JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 1052
423problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1053The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
424followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 1054encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
425from any of these problems or limitations. 1055some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
1056
1057C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
1058by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
1059control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
1060codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
1061some combinations make less sense than others.
1062
1063Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
1064C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
1065these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
1066- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
1067decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
1068
1069Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
1070simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
1071takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
1072octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
1073and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
1074the same time, which can be confusing.
426 1075
427=over 4 1076=over 4
428 1077
429=item JSON 1.07 1078=item C<utf8> flag disabled
430 1079
431Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1080When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
1081and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
1082values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
1083characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except
1084"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
1085respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
1086funny/weird/dumb stuff).
432 1087
433Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles unicode values is 1088This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
434undocumented. One can get far by feeding it unicode strings and doing 1089want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
435en-/decoding oneself, but unicode escapes are not working properly). 1090the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
1091filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
1092to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
436 1093
437No roundtripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 1094=item C<utf8> flag enabled
438the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
439decode into the number 2.
440 1095
441=item JSON::PC 0.01 1096If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
1097characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
1098expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
1099of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
1100that.
442 1101
443Very fast. 1102The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
1103will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
1104octet/binary string in Perl.
444 1105
445Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 1106=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
446 1107
447No roundtripping. 1108With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
1109with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
1110characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
448 1111
449Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 1112If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
450values will make it croak). 1113character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
1114Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
1115ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
1116the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
451 1117
452Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 1118If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
453which is not a valid JSON string. 1119regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
1120C<\uXXXX> then before.
454 1121
455Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1122Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
456getting fixed). 1123encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
1124encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
1125a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
457 1126
458=item JSON::Syck 0.21 1127Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
1128values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
1129to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
1130Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
459 1131
460Very buggy (often crashes). 1132So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
1133they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
461 1134
462Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 1135The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
463undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 1136as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
464single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
465generate ASCII-only JSON strings).
466 1137
467Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode 1138The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
468escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to 1139with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
469I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour). 1140as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
470 11418-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
471No roundtripping (simple cases work, but this depends on wether the scalar 1142when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
472value was used in a numeric context or not). 1143might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
473 1144proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
474Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
475
476Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
477getting fixed).
478
479Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
480return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
481issue: imagine two banks transfering money between each other using
482JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
483while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
484good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
485the transaction will still not succeed).
486
487=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
488
489Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
490
491Undocumented unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
492still don't get parsed properly).
493
494Very inflexible.
495
496No roundtripping.
497
498Does not generate valid JSON (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
499result in nothing being output)
500
501Does not check input for validity.
502 1145
503=back 1146=back
1147
1148
1149=head2 JSON and YAML
1150
1151You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
1152hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
1153so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
1154JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
1155cases.
1156
1157If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
1158algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
1159
1160 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
1161 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
1162
1163This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
1164YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
1165lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
1166unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are
1167noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that
1168you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP
1169(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in
1170strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON
1171generators might).
1172
1173There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1174specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
1175general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
1176versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
1177high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
1178least expect it.
1179
1180=over 4
1181
1182=item (*)
1183
1184I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1185authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1186acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1187bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1188educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1189problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1190and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1191
1192In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1193clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1194proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1195that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1196educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1197real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1198point out that it isn't true.
1199
1200=back
1201
504 1202
505=head2 SPEED 1203=head2 SPEED
506 1204
507It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1205It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
508tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1206tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
509in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1207in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
510system. 1208system.
511 1209
512First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short JSON 1210First comes a comparison between various modules using
513string (83 bytes), showing the number of encodes/decodes per second 1211a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1212L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
1213
1214 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
1215 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
1216
1217It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
514(JSON::XS is the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 is the OO 1218the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
515interface with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is 1219with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
516better: 1220shrink). Higher is better:
517 1221
518 module | encode | decode | 1222 module | encode | decode |
519 -----------|------------|------------| 1223 -----------|------------|------------|
520 JSON | 14006 | 6820 | 1224 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
521 JSON::DWIW | 200937 | 120386 | 1225 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
522 JSON::PC | 85065 | 129366 | 1226 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
523 JSON::Syck | 59898 | 44232 | 1227 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
524 JSON::XS | 1171478 | 342435 | 1228 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
525 JSON::XS/2 | 730760 | 328714 | 1229 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
1230 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 |
1231 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
1232 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
526 -----------+------------+------------+ 1233 -----------+------------+------------+
527 1234
528That is, JSON::XS is 6 times faster than than JSON::DWIW and about 80 1235That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
1236about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
529times faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. 1237than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
1238favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
530 1239
531Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1240Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
532search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1241search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
533 1242
534 module | encode | decode | 1243 module | encode | decode |
535 -----------|------------|------------| 1244 -----------|------------|------------|
536 JSON | 673 | 38 | 1245 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
537 JSON::DWIW | 5271 | 770 | 1246 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
538 JSON::PC | 9901 | 2491 | 1247 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
539 JSON::Syck | 2360 | 786 | 1248 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
540 JSON::XS | 37398 | 3202 | 1249 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
541 JSON::XS/2 | 13765 | 3153 | 1250 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
1251 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 |
1252 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 |
1253 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 |
542 -----------+------------+------------+ 1254 -----------+------------+------------+
543 1255
544Again, JSON::XS leads by far in the encoding case, while still beating 1256Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
545every other module in the decoding case. 1257decodes faster).
546 1258
547On large strings containing lots of unicode characters, some modules 1259On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
548(such as JSON::PC) decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result will be 1260(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
549broken due to missing unicode handling. Others refuse to decode or encode 1261will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
550properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair comparison table for that 1262to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
551case. 1263comparison table for that case.
552 1264
553=head1 RESOURCE LIMITS
554 1265
555JSON::XS does not impose any limits on the size of JSON texts or Perl 1266=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
556values they represent - if your machine can handle it, JSON::XS will 1267
557encode or decode it. Future versions might optionally impose structure 1268When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially
558depth and memory use resource limits. 1269hostile creatures requires relatively few measures.
1270
1271First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not have
1272any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
1273trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
1274
1275Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
1276limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
1277resources run out, that's just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
1278can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
1279usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
1280it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
1281text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
1282might want to check the size before you accept the string.
1283
1284Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
1285arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
1286machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
1287only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
1288to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
1289conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
1290has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
1291C<max_depth> method.
1292
1293Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
1294case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
1295
1296Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1297structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1298information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1299will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
1300
1301If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
1302by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1303L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
1304you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
1305design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
1306browser developers care only for features, not about getting security
1307right).
1308
1309
1310=head1 THREADS
1311
1312This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1313plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1314horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1315process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1316
1317(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1318
559 1319
560=head1 BUGS 1320=head1 BUGS
561 1321
562While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1322While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
563not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1323not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
564still very young and not well-tested. If you keep reporting bugs they will 1324still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
565be fixed swiftly, though. 1325will be fixed swiftly, though.
1326
1327Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1328service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
566 1329
567=cut 1330=cut
568 1331
1332our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1333our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1334
1335sub true() { $true }
1336sub false() { $false }
1337
1338sub is_bool($) {
1339 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
1340# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
1341}
1342
1343XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
1344
1345package JSON::XS::Boolean;
1346
1347use overload
1348 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
1349 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
1350 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1351 fallback => 1;
1352
5691; 13531;
1354
1355=head1 SEE ALSO
1356
1357The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
570 1358
571=head1 AUTHOR 1359=head1 AUTHOR
572 1360
573 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1361 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
574 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1362 http://home.schmorp.de/

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