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Revision 1.22 by root, Sun Mar 25 02:37:00 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.45 by root, Mon Jun 25 04:16:46 2007 UTC

85 85
86package JSON::XS; 86package JSON::XS;
87 87
88use strict; 88use strict;
89 89
90BEGIN {
91 our $VERSION = '0.8'; 90our $VERSION = '1.4';
92 our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 91our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
93 92
94 our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json objToJson jsonToObj); 93our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json objToJson jsonToObj);
95 require Exporter;
96 94
97 require XSLoader; 95use Exporter;
98 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 96use XSLoader;
99}
100 97
101=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 98=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
102 99
103The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 100The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are
104exported by default: 101exported by default:
127 124
128 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 125 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
129 126
130except being faster. 127except being faster.
131 128
129=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
130
131Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
132JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
133and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
134
135See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
136Perl.
137
132=back 138=back
139
133 140
134=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 141=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
135 142
136The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 143The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
137decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 144decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
153 160
154If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 161If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
155generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any 162generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
156unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a 163unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
157single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, 164single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
158as per RFC4627. 165as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
166unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
167or any other superset of ASCII.
159 168
160If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 169If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
161characters unless required by the JSON syntax. This results in a faster 170characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
162and more compact format. 171in a faster and more compact format.
172
173The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
174transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
175contain any 8 bit characters.
163 176
164 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 177 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
165 => ["\ud801\udc01"] 178 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
179
180=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
181
182If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
183the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
184outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
185latin1-encoded JSON text or a native unicode string. The C<decode> method
186will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
187expects unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
188
189If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
190characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
191
192The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
193text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
194size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
195in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
196transfering), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
197you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
198in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
199
200 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
201 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
166 202
167=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 203=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
168 204
169If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 205If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
170the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 206the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
280resulting in an invalid JSON text: 316resulting in an invalid JSON text:
281 317
282 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 318 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
283 => "Hello, World!" 319 => "Hello, World!"
284 320
321=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
322
323If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
324barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
325B<convert_blessed> option will decide wether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
326disabled or no C<to_json> method found) or a representation of the
327object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<to_json> method found) is being
328encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
329
330If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
331exception when it encounters a blessed object.
332
333=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
334
335If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
336blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
337on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
338and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
339C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
340to do.
341
342The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
343returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
344way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
345(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
346methods called by the Perl core (== not the user of the object) are
347usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with the C<to_json>
348function.
349
350This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
351future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
352enabled by this setting.
353
354If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
355to do when a blessed object is found.
356
285=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 357=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
286 358
287Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 359Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
288strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 360strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
289C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 361C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
290memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many 362memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
291short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form 363short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form
292if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called 364if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
293UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less 365UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less
294space in general. 366space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
367internal representation being used).
295 368
369The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future versions,
370but it will always try to save space at the expense of time.
371
296If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will be shrunk-to-fit, 372If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will
297while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be shrunk-to-fit. 373be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be
374shrunk-to-fit.
298 375
299If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used. 376If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used.
300If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster. 377If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster.
301 378
302In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting 379In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
303strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 380strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
304internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 381internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
382
383=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
384
385Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
386or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or
387higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will
388stop and croak at that point.
389
390Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
391needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
392characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
393given character in a string.
394
395Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
396that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
397
398The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next nearest power
399of two.
400
401See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
305 402
306=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 403=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
307 404
308Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 405Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference
309to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 406to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be
319 416
320JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 417JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
321Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 418Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
322C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 419C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
323 420
421=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
422
423This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
424when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
425silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
426so far.
427
428This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
429(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
430to know where the JSON text ends.
431
432 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
433 => ([], 3)
434
324=back 435=back
436
325 437
326=head1 MAPPING 438=head1 MAPPING
327 439
328This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 440This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
329vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 441vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
331(what you put in comes out as something equivalent). 443(what you put in comes out as something equivalent).
332 444
333For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 445For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
334lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 446lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl>
335refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 447refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
448
336 449
337=head2 JSON -> PERL 450=head2 JSON -> PERL
338 451
339=over 4 452=over 4
340 453
361conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 474conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might
362represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 475represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers.
363 476
364=item true, false 477=item true, false
365 478
366These JSON atoms become C<0>, C<1>, respectively. Information is lost in 479These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
367this process. Future versions might represent those values differently, 480respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
368but they will be guarenteed to act like these integers would normally in 481C<1> and C<0>. You can check wether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
369Perl. 482the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
370 483
371=item null 484=item null
372 485
373A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 486A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
374 487
375=back 488=back
489
376 490
377=head2 PERL -> JSON 491=head2 PERL -> JSON
378 492
379The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a 493The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
380truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by 494truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
383=over 4 497=over 4
384 498
385=item hash references 499=item hash references
386 500
387Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 501Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
388in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a pseudo-random order that 502in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
389can change between runs of the same program but stays generally the same 503pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
390within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash 504stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
391keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure 505optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
392will serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of 506the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
393JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead. 507settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
508and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
509against another for equality.
394 510
395=item array references 511=item array references
396 512
397Perl array references become JSON arrays. 513Perl array references become JSON arrays.
514
515=item other references
516
517Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
518exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
519C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
520also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
521
522 to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
523
524=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
525
526These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
527respectively. You cna alos use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
398 528
399=item blessed objects 529=item blessed objects
400 530
401Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 531Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their
402underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 532underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might
435 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 565 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours.
436 566
437You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 567You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other,
438less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 568less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability.
439 569
440=item circular data structures
441
442Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out.
443
444=back 570=back
571
445 572
446=head1 COMPARISON 573=head1 COMPARISON
447 574
448As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 575As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing
449JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 576JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the
527 654
528Does not check input for validity. 655Does not check input for validity.
529 656
530=back 657=back
531 658
659
660=head2 JSON and YAML
661
662You often hear that JSON is a subset (or a close subset) of YAML. This is,
663however, a mass hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is
664no way to configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML.
665
666If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
667algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
668
669 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
670 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
671
672This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
673YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
674lengths that JSON doesn't have, so you should make sure that your hash
675keys are noticably shorter than the 1024 characters YAML allows.
676
677There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general
678you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa,
679or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high
680that you will run into severe interoperability problems.
681
682
532=head2 SPEED 683=head2 SPEED
533 684
534It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 685It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
535tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 686tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
536in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 687in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
537system. 688system.
538 689
539First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short JSON 690First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short
540string: 691single-line JSON string:
541 692
542 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], "id": null} 693 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
694 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
543 695
544It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses the 696It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
545functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface with 697the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
546pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is better: 698with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
699shrink). Higher is better:
547 700
548 module | encode | decode | 701 module | encode | decode |
549 -----------|------------|------------| 702 -----------|------------|------------|
550 JSON | 11488.516 | 7823.035 | 703 JSON | 7645.468 | 4208.613 |
551 JSON::DWIW | 94708.054 | 129094.260 | 704 JSON::DWIW | 40721.398 | 77101.176 |
552 JSON::PC | 63884.157 | 128528.212 | 705 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 78251.940 |
553 JSON::Syck | 34898.677 | 42096.911 | 706 JSON::Syck | 22844.793 | 26479.192 |
554 JSON::XS | 654027.064 | 396423.669 | 707 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 199728.762 |
555 JSON::XS/2 | 371564.190 | 371725.613 | 708 JSON::XS/2 | 218453.333 | 192399.266 |
709 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 192399.266 |
710 Storable | 15779.925 | 14169.946 |
556 -----------+------------+------------+ 711 -----------+------------+------------+
557 712
558That is, JSON::XS is more than six times faster than JSON::DWIW on 713That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
559encoding, more than three times faster on decoding, and about thirty times 714about three times faster on decoding, and over fourty times faster
560faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. 715than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
716favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
561 717
562Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 718Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
563search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 719search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg):
564 720
565 module | encode | decode | 721 module | encode | decode |
566 -----------|------------|------------| 722 -----------|------------|------------|
567 JSON | 273.023 | 44.674 | 723 JSON | 254.685 | 37.665 |
568 JSON::DWIW | 1089.383 | 1145.704 | 724 JSON::DWIW | 843.343 | 1049.731 |
569 JSON::PC | 3097.419 | 2393.921 | 725 JSON::PC | 3602.116 | 2307.352 |
570 JSON::Syck | 514.060 | 843.053 | 726 JSON::Syck | 505.107 | 787.899 |
571 JSON::XS | 6479.668 | 3636.364 | 727 JSON::XS | 5747.196 | 3690.220 |
572 JSON::XS/2 | 3774.221 | 3599.124 | 728 JSON::XS/2 | 3968.121 | 3676.634 |
729 JSON::XS/3 | 6105.246 | 3662.508 |
730 Storable | 4417.337 | 5285.161 |
573 -----------+------------+------------+ 731 -----------+------------+------------+
574 732
575Again, JSON::XS leads by far. 733Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
734decodes faster).
576 735
577On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules 736On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules
578(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 737(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
579will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse 738will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse
580to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 739to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
581comparison table for that case. 740comparison table for that case.
582 741
583=head1 RESOURCE LIMITS
584 742
585JSON::XS does not impose any limits on the size of JSON texts or Perl 743=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
586values they represent - if your machine can handle it, JSON::XS will 744
587encode or decode it. Future versions might optionally impose structure 745When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially
588depth and memory use resource limits. 746hostile creatures requires relatively few measures.
747
748First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not have
749any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
750trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
751
752Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
753limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
754resources run out, thats just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
755can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
756usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
757it into a Perl structure.
758
759Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
760arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
761machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
762only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
763to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. to be
764conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
765has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
766C<max_depth> method.
767
768And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think
769of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints,
770though...
771
772If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
773by javascript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
774L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see wether
775you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
776design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
777browser developers care only for features, not about doing security
778right).
779
589 780
590=head1 BUGS 781=head1 BUGS
591 782
592While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 783While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
593not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 784not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
594still very young and not well-tested. If you keep reporting bugs they will 785still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
595be fixed swiftly, though. 786will be fixed swiftly, though.
596 787
597=cut 788=cut
789
790our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
791our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
792
793sub true() { $true }
794sub false() { $false }
795
796sub is_bool($) {
797 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
798# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
799}
800
801XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
802
803package JSON::XS::Boolean;
804
805use overload
806 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
807 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
808 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
809 fallback => 1;
598 810
5991; 8111;
600 812
601=head1 AUTHOR 813=head1 AUTHOR
602 814

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