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Revision 1.3 by root, Thu Mar 22 18:10:29 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.76 by root, Sun Dec 2 15:34:13 2007 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast 3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
4 4
5JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ
6 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html)
7
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 9
7 use JSON::XS; 10 use JSON::XS;
11
12 # exported functions, they croak on error
13 # and expect/generate UTF-8
14
15 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
16 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
17
18 # OO-interface
19
20 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
21 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
22 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
8 23
9=head1 DESCRIPTION 24=head1 DESCRIPTION
10 25
11This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 26This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its
12primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be 27primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be
18their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 33their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
19reports for other reasons. 34reports for other reasons.
20 35
21See COMPARISON, below, for a comparison to some other JSON modules. 36See COMPARISON, below, for a comparison to some other JSON modules.
22 37
38See MAPPING, below, on how JSON::XS maps perl values to JSON values and
39vice versa.
40
23=head2 FEATURES 41=head2 FEATURES
24 42
25=over 4 43=over 4
26 44
27=item * correct handling of unicode issues 45=item * correct Unicode handling
28 46
29This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how it does so. 47This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when
48it does so.
30 49
31=item * round-trip integrity 50=item * round-trip integrity
32 51
33When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 52When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported
34by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 53by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
35(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2"). 54(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks
55like a number).
36 56
37=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 57=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
38 58
39There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON strings by default, 59There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
40and only JSON is accepted as input (the latter is a security feature). 60and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
61feature).
41 62
42=item * fast 63=item * fast
43 64
44compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably. 65Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms
66of speed, too.
45 67
46=item * simple to use 68=item * simple to use
47 69
48This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 70This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO
49interface. 71interface.
50 72
51=item * reasonably versatile output formats 73=item * reasonably versatile output formats
52 74
53You can choose between the most compact format possible, a pure-ascii 75You can choose between the most compact guaranteed single-line format
54format, or a pretty-printed format. Or you can combine those features in 76possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format
55whatever way you like. 77(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole
78Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that
79stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
56 80
57=back 81=back
58 82
59=cut 83=cut
60 84
61package JSON::XS; 85package JSON::XS;
62 86
63BEGIN { 87use strict;
88
64 $VERSION = '0.1'; 89our $VERSION = '2.0';
65 @ISA = qw(Exporter); 90our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
66 91
67 @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json); 92our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json);
68 require Exporter;
69 93
70 require XSLoader; 94use Exporter;
71 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 95use XSLoader;
72}
73 96
74=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 97=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
75 98
76The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 99The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
77exported by default: 100exported by default:
78 101
79=over 4 102=over 4
80 103
81=item $json_string = to_json $perl_scalar 104=item $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar
82 105
83Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to 106Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string
84a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains 107(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error.
85octets only). Croaks on error.
86 108
87This function call is functionally identical to C<< JSON::XS->new->utf8 109This function call is functionally identical to:
88(1)->encode ($perl_scalar) >>.
89 110
111 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
112
113except being faster.
114
90=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_string 115=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text
91 116
92The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to 117The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
93parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON string, returning the resulting simple 118to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
94scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 119reference. Croaks on error.
95 120
96This function call is functionally identical to C<< JSON::XS->new->utf8 121This function call is functionally identical to:
97(1)->decode ($json_string) >>. 122
123 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
124
125except being faster.
126
127=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
128
129Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
130JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
131and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
132
133See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
134Perl.
98 135
99=back 136=back
137
138
139=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL
140
141Since this often leads to confusion, here are a few very clear words on
142how Unicode works in Perl, modulo bugs.
143
144=over 4
145
146=item 1. Perl strings can store characters with ordinal values > 255.
147
148This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
149Perl string - very natural.
150
151=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
152
153Unless you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or printing
154the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your string as
155locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending on various
156settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your data, it is
157I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical metadata.
158
159=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
160encoding of your string.
161
162Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
163XS or want to dive into the internals of perl. Otherwise it will only
164confuse you, as, despite the name, it says nothing about how your string
165is encoded. You can have Unicode strings with that flag set, with that
166flag clear, and you can have binary data with that flag set and that flag
167clear. Other possibilities exist, too.
168
169If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
170exist.
171
172=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
173validly interpreted as a Unicode codepoint.
174
175If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a
176Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
177
178=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
179
180It's a fact. Learn to live with it.
181
182=back
183
184I hope this helps :)
185
100 186
101=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 187=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
102 188
103The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 189The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
104decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 190decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
111strings. All boolean flags described below are by default I<disabled>. 197strings. All boolean flags described below are by default I<disabled>.
112 198
113The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can 199The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can
114be chained: 200be chained:
115 201
116 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8(1)->space_after(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 202 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
117 => {"a": [1, 2]} 203 => {"a": [1, 2]}
118 204
119=item $json = $json->ascii ($enable) 205=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
120 206
207=item $enabled = $json->get_ascii
208
121If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method will not generate 209If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
122characters outside the code range C<0..127>. Any unicode characters 210generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
123outside that range will be escaped using either a single \uXXXX (BMP 211Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
124characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, as per RFC4627. 212single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
213as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
214Unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
215or any other superset of ASCII.
125 216
126If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 217If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
127characters unless necessary. 218characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
219in a faster and more compact format.
128 220
221The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
222transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
223contain any 8 bit characters.
224
129 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode (chr 0x10401) 225 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
130 => \ud801\udc01 226 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
131 227
228=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
229
230=item $enabled = $json->get_latin1
231
232If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
233the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
234outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
235latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method
236will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
237expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
238
239If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
240characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
241
242The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
243text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
244size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
245in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
246transferring), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
247you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
248in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
249
250 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
251 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
252
132=item $json = $json->utf8 ($enable) 253=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
133 254
255=item $enabled = $json->get_utf8
256
134If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method will encode the JSON 257If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
135string into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the C<decode> 258the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
136method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please note that 259C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
137UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the range 260note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
138C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. 261range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
262versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16
263and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627.
139 264
140If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 265If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
141string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 266string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
142unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 267Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
143to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 268to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
144 269
270Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
271
272 use Encode;
273 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
274
275Example, decode UTF-32LE-encoded JSON:
276
277 use Encode;
278 $object = JSON::XS->new->decode (decode "UTF-32LE", $jsontext);
279
145=item $json = $json->pretty ($enable) 280=item $json = $json->pretty ([$enable])
146 281
147This enables (or disables) all of the C<indent>, C<space_before> and 282This enables (or disables) all of the C<indent>, C<space_before> and
148C<space_after> (and in the future possibly more) flags in one call to 283C<space_after> (and in the future possibly more) flags in one call to
149generate the most readable (or most compact) form possible. 284generate the most readable (or most compact) form possible.
285
286Example, pretty-print some simple structure:
150 287
151 my $json = JSON::XS->new->pretty(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 288 my $json = JSON::XS->new->pretty(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]})
152 => 289 =>
153 { 290 {
154 "a" : [ 291 "a" : [
155 1, 292 1,
156 2 293 2
157 ] 294 ]
158 } 295 }
159 296
160=item $json = $json->indent ($enable) 297=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable])
161 298
299=item $enabled = $json->get_indent
300
162If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 301If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
163format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 302format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
164into its own line, identing them properly. 303into its own line, indenting them properly.
165 304
166If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 305If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
167resulting JSON strings is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>. 306resulting JSON text is guaranteed not to contain any C<newlines>.
168 307
169This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 308This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
170 309
171=item $json = $json->space_before ($enable) 310=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
172 311
312=item $enabled = $json->get_space_before
313
173If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method will add an extra 314If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
174optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 315optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
175 316
176If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 317If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
177space at those places. 318space at those places.
178 319
179This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. You will also most 320This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. You will also
180likely combine this setting with C<space_after>. 321most likely combine this setting with C<space_after>.
181 322
323Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
324
325 {"key" :"value"}
326
182=item $json = $json->space_after ($enable) 327=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
183 328
329=item $enabled = $json->get_space_after
330
184If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method will add an extra 331If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
185optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 332optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
186and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array 333and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array
187members. 334members.
188 335
189If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 336If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
190space at those places. 337space at those places.
191 338
192This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 339This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
193 340
341Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
342
343 {"key": "value"}
344
345=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
346
347=item $enabled = $json->get_relaxed
348
349If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
350extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
351affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
352JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
353parse application-specific files written by humans (configuration files,
354resource files etc.)
355
356If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<decode> will only accept
357valid JSON texts.
358
359Currently accepted extensions are:
360
361=over 4
362
363=item * list items can have an end-comma
364
365JSON I<separates> array elements and key-value pairs with commas. This
366can be annoying if you write JSON texts manually and want to be able to
367quickly append elements, so this extension accepts comma at the end of
368such items not just between them:
369
370 [
371 1,
372 2, <- this comma not normally allowed
373 ]
374 {
375 "k1": "v1",
376 "k2": "v2", <- this comma not normally allowed
377 }
378
379=item * shell-style '#'-comments
380
381Whenever JSON allows whitespace, shell-style comments are additionally
382allowed. They are terminated by the first carriage-return or line-feed
383character, after which more white-space and comments are allowed.
384
385 [
386 1, # this comment not allowed in JSON
387 # neither this one...
388 ]
389
390=back
391
194=item $json = $json->canonical ($enable) 392=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
195 393
394=item $enabled = $json->get_canonical
395
196If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 396If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
197by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 397by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
198 398
199If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 399If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
200pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 400pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
201of the same script). 401of the same script).
202 402
203This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 403This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
204the same JSON string (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 404the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
205the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 405the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
206as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 406as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
207 407
208This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 408This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
209 409
210=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ($enable) 410=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
211 411
412=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
413
212If C<$enable> is true, then the C<encode> method can convert a 414If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
213non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 415non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
214which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 416which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
215values instead of croaking. 417values instead of croaking.
216 418
217If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will croak if it isn't 419If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will croak if it isn't
218passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON strings must either be an object 420passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON texts must either be an object
219or array. Likewise, C<decode> will croak if given something that is not a 421or array. Likewise, C<decode> will croak if given something that is not a
220JSON object or array. 422JSON object or array.
221 423
424Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>,
425resulting in an invalid JSON text:
426
427 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
428 => "Hello, World!"
429
430=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
431
432=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
433
434If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
435barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
436B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
437disabled or no C<TO_JSON> method found) or a representation of the
438object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<TO_JSON> method found) is being
439encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
440
441If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
442exception when it encounters a blessed object.
443
444=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
445
446=item $enabled = $json->get_convert_blessed
447
448If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
449blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
450on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
451and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
452C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
453to do.
454
455The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
456returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
457way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
458(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
459methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
460usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with the C<to_json>
461function.
462
463This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
464future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
465enabled by this setting.
466
467If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
468to do when a blessed object is found.
469
470=item $json = $json->filter_json_object ([$coderef->($hashref)])
471
472When C<$coderef> is specified, it will be called from C<decode> each
473time it decodes a JSON object. The only argument is a reference to the
474newly-created hash. If the code references returns a single scalar (which
475need not be a reference), this value (i.e. a copy of that scalar to avoid
476aliasing) is inserted into the deserialised data structure. If it returns
477an empty list (NOTE: I<not> C<undef>, which is a valid scalar), the
478original deserialised hash will be inserted. This setting can slow down
479decoding considerably.
480
481When C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, any existing callback will
482be removed and C<decode> will not change the deserialised hash in any
483way.
484
485Example, convert all JSON objects into the integer 5:
486
487 my $js = JSON::XS->new->filter_json_object (sub { 5 });
488 # returns [5]
489 $js->decode ('[{}]')
490 # throw an exception because allow_nonref is not enabled
491 # so a lone 5 is not allowed.
492 $js->decode ('{"a":1, "b":2}');
493
494=item $json = $json->filter_json_single_key_object ($key [=> $coderef->($value)])
495
496Works remotely similar to C<filter_json_object>, but is only called for
497JSON objects having a single key named C<$key>.
498
499This C<$coderef> is called before the one specified via
500C<filter_json_object>, if any. It gets passed the single value in the JSON
501object. If it returns a single value, it will be inserted into the data
502structure. If it returns nothing (not even C<undef> but the empty list),
503the callback from C<filter_json_object> will be called next, as if no
504single-key callback were specified.
505
506If C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, the corresponding callback will be
507disabled. There can only ever be one callback for a given key.
508
509As this callback gets called less often then the C<filter_json_object>
510one, decoding speed will not usually suffer as much. Therefore, single-key
511objects make excellent targets to serialise Perl objects into, especially
512as single-key JSON objects are as close to the type-tagged value concept
513as JSON gets (it's basically an ID/VALUE tuple). Of course, JSON does not
514support this in any way, so you need to make sure your data never looks
515like a serialised Perl hash.
516
517Typical names for the single object key are C<__class_whatever__>, or
518C<$__dollars_are_rarely_used__$> or C<}ugly_brace_placement>, or even
519things like C<__class_md5sum(classname)__>, to reduce the risk of clashing
520with real hashes.
521
522Example, decode JSON objects of the form C<< { "__widget__" => <id> } >>
523into the corresponding C<< $WIDGET{<id>} >> object:
524
525 # return whatever is in $WIDGET{5}:
526 JSON::XS
527 ->new
528 ->filter_json_single_key_object (__widget__ => sub {
529 $WIDGET{ $_[0] }
530 })
531 ->decode ('{"__widget__": 5')
532
533 # this can be used with a TO_JSON method in some "widget" class
534 # for serialisation to json:
535 sub WidgetBase::TO_JSON {
536 my ($self) = @_;
537
538 unless ($self->{id}) {
539 $self->{id} = ..get..some..id..;
540 $WIDGET{$self->{id}} = $self;
541 }
542
543 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
544 }
545
546=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
547
548=item $enabled = $json->get_shrink
549
550Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
551strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
552C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
553memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
554short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form
555if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
556UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less
557space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
558internal representation being used).
559
560The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future versions,
561but it will always try to save space at the expense of time.
562
563If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will
564be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be
565shrunk-to-fit.
566
567If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used.
568If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster.
569
570In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
571strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
572internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
573
574=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
575
576=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
577
578Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
579or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or
580higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will
581stop and croak at that point.
582
583Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
584needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
585characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
586given character in a string.
587
588Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
589that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
590
591The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
592of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be
593used, which is rarely useful.
594
595See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
596
597=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
598
599=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
600
601Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
602being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
603is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not
604attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
605effect on C<encode> (yet).
606
607The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest>
608power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the
609limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
610
611See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
612
222=item $json_string = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 613=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
223 614
224Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 615Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference
225to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 616to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be
226converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays 617converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays
227become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined 618become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined
228Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true> 619Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true>
229nor C<false> values will be generated. 620nor C<false> values will be generated.
230 621
231=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_string) 622=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_text)
232 623
233The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON string and tries to parse it, 624The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON text and tries to parse it,
234returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 625returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error.
235 626
236JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 627JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
237Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 628Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
238C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 629C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
239 630
631=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
632
633This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
634when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
635silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
636so far.
637
638This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
639(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
640to know where the JSON text ends.
641
642 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
643 => ([], 3)
644
240=back 645=back
646
647
648=head1 MAPPING
649
650This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
651vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
652circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
653(what you put in comes out as something equivalent).
654
655For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
656lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppercase I<Perl>
657refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
658
659
660=head2 JSON -> PERL
661
662=over 4
663
664=item object
665
666A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object
667keys is preserved (JSON does not preserve object key ordering itself).
668
669=item array
670
671A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl.
672
673=item string
674
675A JSON string becomes a string scalar in Perl - Unicode codepoints in JSON
676are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual
677decoding is necessary.
678
679=item number
680
681A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
682string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
683the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
684the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
685might represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers.
686
687If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
688it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
689a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
690precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value.
691
692Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
693represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
694precision.
695
696This might create round-tripping problems as numbers might become strings,
697but as Perl is typeless there is no other way to do it.
698
699=item true, false
700
701These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
702respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
703C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
704the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
705
706=item null
707
708A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
709
710=back
711
712
713=head2 PERL -> JSON
714
715The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
716truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
717a Perl value.
718
719=over 4
720
721=item hash references
722
723Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
724in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
725pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
726stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
727optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
728the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
729settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
730and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
731against another for equality.
732
733=item array references
734
735Perl array references become JSON arrays.
736
737=item other references
738
739Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
740exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
741C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
742also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
743
744 to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
745
746=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
747
748These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
749respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
750
751=item blessed objects
752
753Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their
754underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might
755change in future versions.
756
757=item simple scalars
758
759Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
760difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
761JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context
762before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value:
763
764 # dump as number
765 to_json [2] # yields [2]
766 to_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
767 my $value = 5; to_json [$value] # yields [5]
768
769 # used as string, so dump as string
770 print $value;
771 to_json [$value] # yields ["5"]
772
773 # undef becomes null
774 to_json [undef] # yields [null]
775
776You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it:
777
778 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number
779 "$x"; # stringified
780 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify
781 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often
782
783You can force the type to be a JSON number by numifying it:
784
785 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
786 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
787 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
788
789You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
790if you need this capability.
791
792=back
793
241 794
242=head1 COMPARISON 795=head1 COMPARISON
243 796
244As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 797As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing
245JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 798JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the
246problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 799problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules,
247followed by some benchmark values. 800followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer
801from any of these problems or limitations.
248 802
249=over 4 803=over 4
250 804
251=item JSON 805=item JSON 1.07
252 806
253Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 807Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl).
254 808
255Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles unicode values is 809Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles Unicode values is
256undocumented. One can get far by feeding it unicode strings and doing 810undocumented. One can get far by feeding it Unicode strings and doing
257en-/decoding oneself, but unicode escapes are not working properly). 811en-/decoding oneself, but Unicode escapes are not working properly).
258 812
259No roundtripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 813No round-tripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g.
260the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will 814the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
261decode into the number 2. 815decode into the number 2.
262 816
263=item JSON::PC 817=item JSON::PC 0.01
264 818
265Very fast. 819Very fast.
820
821Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling.
822
823No round-tripping.
824
825Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic
826values will make it croak).
827
828Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}>
829which is not a valid JSON text.
830
831Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
832getting fixed).
833
834=item JSON::Syck 0.21
835
836Very buggy (often crashes).
266 837
267Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 838Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much
268undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 839undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a
269single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to 840single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
270generate ASCII-only JSON strings). 841generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
271 842
272Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 843Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (Unicode
844escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to
845I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour).
273 846
274No roundtripping. 847No round-tripping (simple cases work, but this depends on whether the scalar
848value was used in a numeric context or not).
275 849
276Has problems handling many Perl values. 850Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
277
278Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}>
279which is not a valid JSON string.
280 851
281Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 852Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
282getting fixed). 853getting fixed).
283 854
284=item JSON::Syck
285
286Very buggy (often crashes).
287
288Very inflexible.
289
290Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode
291escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to
292I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour).
293
294No roundtripping (simple cases work, but this depends on wether the scalar
295value was used in a numeric context or not).
296
297Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
298
299Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
300getting fixed).
301
302Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and 855Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
303return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security 856return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
304issue: imagine two banks transfering money between each other using 857issue: imagine two banks transferring money between each other using
305JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money, 858JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
306while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a 859while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
307good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and 860good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
308the transaction will still not succeed). 861the transaction will still not succeed).
309 862
310=item JSON::DWIW 863=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
311 864
312Very fast. Very natural. Very nice. 865Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
313 866
314Undocumented unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes 867Undocumented Unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
315still don't get parsed properly). 868still don't get parsed properly).
316 869
317Very inflexible. 870Very inflexible.
318 871
319No roundtripping. 872No round-tripping.
873
874Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
875result in nothing being output)
320 876
321Does not check input for validity. 877Does not check input for validity.
322 878
323=back 879=back
324 880
881
882=head2 JSON and YAML
883
884You often hear that JSON is a subset (or a close subset) of YAML. This is,
885however, a mass hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is
886no way to configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML.
887
888If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
889algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
890
891 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
892 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
893
894This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
895YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
896lengths that JSON doesn't have, so you should make sure that your hash
897keys are noticeably shorter than the 1024 characters YAML allows.
898
899There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general
900you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa,
901or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high
902that you will run into severe interoperability problems.
903
904
325=head2 SPEED 905=head2 SPEED
326 906
907It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
908tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
909in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
910system.
911
912First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short
913single-line JSON string:
914
915 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
916 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
917
918It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
919the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
920with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
921shrink). Higher is better:
922
923 module | encode | decode |
924 -----------|------------|------------|
925 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
926 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
927 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
928 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
929 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
930 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
931 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 |
932 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
933 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
934 -----------+------------+------------+
935
936That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
937about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
938than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
939favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
940
941Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
942search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg):
943
944 module | encode | decode |
945 -----------|------------|------------|
946 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
947 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
948 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
949 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
950 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
951 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
952 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 |
953 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 |
954 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 |
955 -----------+------------+------------+
956
957Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
958decodes faster).
959
960On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
961(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
962will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
963to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
964comparison table for that case.
965
966
967=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
968
969When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially
970hostile creatures requires relatively few measures.
971
972First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not have
973any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
974trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
975
976Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
977limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
978resources run out, that's just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
979can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
980usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
981it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
982text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
983might want to check the size before you accept the string.
984
985Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
986arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
987machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
988only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
989to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. to be
990conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
991has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
992C<max_depth> method.
993
994And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think
995of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints,
996though...
997
998If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
999by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1000L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
1001you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
1002design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
1003browser developers care only for features, not about doing security
1004right).
1005
1006
1007=head1 THREADS
1008
1009This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1010plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1011horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1012process simulations - use fork, its I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1013
1014(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1015
1016
1017=head1 BUGS
1018
1019While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
1020not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
1021still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
1022will be fixed swiftly, though.
1023
1024Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1025service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
1026
327=cut 1027=cut
1028
1029our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1030our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1031
1032sub true() { $true }
1033sub false() { $false }
1034
1035sub is_bool($) {
1036 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
1037# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
1038}
1039
1040XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
1041
1042package JSON::XS::Boolean;
1043
1044use overload
1045 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
1046 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
1047 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1048 fallback => 1;
328 1049
3291; 10501;
330 1051
331=head1 AUTHOR 1052=head1 AUTHOR
332 1053

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