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Revision 1.11 by root, Fri Mar 23 17:48:59 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.48 by root, Mon Jun 25 22:11:39 2007 UTC

3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast 3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use JSON::XS; 7 use JSON::XS;
8
9 # exported functions, they croak on error
10 # and expect/generate UTF-8
11
12 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
13 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
14
15 # objToJson and jsonToObj aliases to to_json and from_json
16 # are exported for compatibility to the JSON module,
17 # but should not be used in new code.
18
19 # OO-interface
20
21 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
22 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
23 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
8 24
9=head1 DESCRIPTION 25=head1 DESCRIPTION
10 26
11This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 27This 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 28primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be
25 41
26=head2 FEATURES 42=head2 FEATURES
27 43
28=over 4 44=over 4
29 45
30=item * correct handling of unicode issues 46=item * correct unicode handling
31 47
32This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when 48This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when
33it does so. 49it does so.
34 50
35=item * round-trip integrity 51=item * round-trip integrity
36 52
37When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 53When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported
38by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 54by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
39(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2"). 55(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks
56like a number).
40 57
41=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 58=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
42 59
43There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON strings by default, 60There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
44and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security 61and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
45feature). 62feature).
46 63
47=item * fast 64=item * fast
48 65
55interface. 72interface.
56 73
57=item * reasonably versatile output formats 74=item * reasonably versatile output formats
58 75
59You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format 76You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format
60possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format (for 77possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format
61when your transport is not 8-bit clean), or a pretty-printed format (for 78(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole
62when you want to read that stuff). Or you can combine those features in 79unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that
63whatever way you like. 80stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
64 81
65=back 82=back
66 83
67=cut 84=cut
68 85
69package JSON::XS; 86package JSON::XS;
70 87
71BEGIN { 88use strict;
89
72 $VERSION = '0.3'; 90our $VERSION = '1.4';
73 @ISA = qw(Exporter); 91our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
74 92
75 @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json); 93our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json objToJson jsonToObj);
76 require Exporter;
77 94
78 require XSLoader; 95use Exporter;
79 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 96use XSLoader;
80}
81 97
82=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 98=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
83 99
84The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 100The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are
85exported by default: 101exported by default:
86 102
87=over 4 103=over 4
88 104
89=item $json_string = to_json $perl_scalar 105=item $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar
90 106
91Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to 107Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to
92a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains 108a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains
93octets only). Croaks on error. 109octets only). Croaks on error.
94 110
95This function call is functionally identical to C<< JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) >>. 111This function call is functionally identical to:
96 112
113 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
114
115except being faster.
116
97=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_string 117=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text
98 118
99The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to 119The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to
100parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON string, returning the resulting simple 120parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting simple
101scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 121scalar or reference. Croaks on error.
102 122
103This function call is functionally identical to C<< JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_string) >>. 123This function call is functionally identical to:
124
125 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
126
127except being faster.
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.
104 137
105=back 138=back
139
106 140
107=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 141=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
108 142
109The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 143The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
110decoding style, within the limits of supported formats. 144decoding style, within the limits of supported formats.
117strings. All boolean flags described below are by default I<disabled>. 151strings. All boolean flags described below are by default I<disabled>.
118 152
119The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can 153The mutators for flags all return the JSON object again and thus calls can
120be chained: 154be chained:
121 155
122 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8(1)->space_after(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 156 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
123 => {"a": [1, 2]} 157 => {"a": [1, 2]}
124 158
125=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) 159=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
126 160
127If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will 161If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
128not generate characters outside the code range C<0..127>. Any unicode 162generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
129characters outside that range will be escaped using either a single 163unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
130\uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, as per 164single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
131RFC4627. 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.
132 168
133If 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
134characters unless necessary. 170characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
171in a faster and more compact format.
135 172
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.
176
136 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode (chr 0x10401) 177 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
137 => \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)
138 202
139=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 203=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
140 204
141If 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
142the JSON string into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 206the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
143C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please 207C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
144note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the 208note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
145range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. 209range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
210versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16
211and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627.
146 212
147If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 213If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
148string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 214string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
149unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 215unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
150to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 216to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
151 217
218Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
219
220 use Encode;
221 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
222
223Example, decode UTF-32LE-encoded JSON:
224
225 use Encode;
226 $object = JSON::XS->new->decode (decode "UTF-32LE", $jsontext);
227
152=item $json = $json->pretty ([$enable]) 228=item $json = $json->pretty ([$enable])
153 229
154This enables (or disables) all of the C<indent>, C<space_before> and 230This enables (or disables) all of the C<indent>, C<space_before> and
155C<space_after> (and in the future possibly more) flags in one call to 231C<space_after> (and in the future possibly more) flags in one call to
156generate the most readable (or most compact) form possible. 232generate the most readable (or most compact) form possible.
233
234Example, pretty-print some simple structure:
157 235
158 my $json = JSON::XS->new->pretty(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 236 my $json = JSON::XS->new->pretty(1)->encode ({a => [1,2]})
159 => 237 =>
160 { 238 {
161 "a" : [ 239 "a" : [
169If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 247If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
170format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 248format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
171into its own line, identing them properly. 249into its own line, identing them properly.
172 250
173If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 251If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
174resulting JSON strings is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>. 252resulting JSON text is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>.
175 253
176This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 254This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
177 255
178=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) 256=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
179 257
180If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 258If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
181optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 259optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
182 260
183If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 261If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
184space at those places. 262space at those places.
185 263
186This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. You will also most 264This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. You will also
187likely combine this setting with C<space_after>. 265most likely combine this setting with C<space_after>.
266
267Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
268
269 {"key" :"value"}
188 270
189=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable]) 271=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
190 272
191If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 273If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
192optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 274optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
194members. 276members.
195 277
196If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 278If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
197space at those places. 279space at those places.
198 280
199This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 281This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
282
283Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
284
285 {"key": "value"}
200 286
201=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 287=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
202 288
203If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 289If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
204by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 290by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
206If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 292If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
207pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 293pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
208of the same script). 294of the same script).
209 295
210This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 296This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
211the same JSON string (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 297the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
212the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 298the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
213as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 299as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
214 300
215This setting has no effect when decoding JSON strings. 301This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
216 302
217=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 303=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
218 304
219If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 305If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
220non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 306non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
221which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 307which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
222values instead of croaking. 308values instead of croaking.
223 309
224If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will croak if it isn't 310If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will croak if it isn't
225passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON strings must either be an object 311passed an arrayref or hashref, as JSON texts must either be an object
226or array. Likewise, C<decode> will croak if given something that is not a 312or array. Likewise, C<decode> will croak if given something that is not a
227JSON object or array. 313JSON object or array.
228 314
315Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>,
316resulting in an invalid JSON text:
317
318 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
319 => "Hello, World!"
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<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
336blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
337on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
338and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
339C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
340to do.
341
342The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
343returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
344way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
345(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
346methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
347usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with the C<to_json>
348function.
349
350This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
351future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
352enabled by this setting.
353
354If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
355to do when a blessed object is found.
356
229=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 357=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
230 358
231Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 359Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
232strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 360strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
233C<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
234memory when your JSON strings are either very very long or you have many 362memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
235short 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
236if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called 364if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
237UTF-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
238space in general. 366space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
367internal representation being used).
239 368
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
240If 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
241while 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.
242 375
243If 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.
244If 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.
245 378
246In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting 379In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
247strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 380strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
248internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 381internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
249 382
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 highest power
399of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be
400used, which is rarely useful.
401
402See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
403
404=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
405
406Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
407being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
408is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not
409attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
410effect on C<encode> (yet).
411
412The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest>
413power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the
414limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
415
416See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
417
250=item $json_string = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 418=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
251 419
252Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 420Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference
253to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 421to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be
254converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays 422converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays
255become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined 423become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined
256Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true> 424Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true>
257nor C<false> values will be generated. 425nor C<false> values will be generated.
258 426
259=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_string) 427=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_text)
260 428
261The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON string and tries to parse it, 429The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON text and tries to parse it,
262returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 430returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error.
263 431
264JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 432JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
265Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 433Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
266C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 434C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
267 435
436=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
437
438This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
439when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
440silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
441so far.
442
443This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
444(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
445to know where the JSON text ends.
446
447 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
448 => ([], 3)
449
268=back 450=back
451
269 452
270=head1 MAPPING 453=head1 MAPPING
271 454
272This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 455This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
273vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 456vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
276 459
277For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 460For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
278lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 461lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl>
279refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 462refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
280 463
464
281=head2 JSON -> PERL 465=head2 JSON -> PERL
282 466
283=over 4 467=over 4
284 468
285=item object 469=item object
286 470
287A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object 471A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object
288keys is preserved. 472keys is preserved (JSON does not preserver object key ordering itself).
289 473
290=item array 474=item array
291 475
292A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl. 476A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl.
293 477
305conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 489conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might
306represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 490represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers.
307 491
308=item true, false 492=item true, false
309 493
310These JSON atoms become C<0>, C<1>, respectively. Information is lost in 494These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
311this process. Future versions might represent those values differently, 495respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
312but they will be guarenteed to act like these integers would normally in 496C<1> and C<0>. You can check wether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
313Perl. 497the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
314 498
315=item null 499=item null
316 500
317A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 501A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
318 502
319=back 503=back
504
320 505
321=head2 PERL -> JSON 506=head2 PERL -> JSON
322 507
323The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a 508The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
324truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by 509truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
327=over 4 512=over 4
328 513
329=item hash references 514=item hash references
330 515
331Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 516Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
332in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a pseudo-random order that 517in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
333can change between runs of the same program but stays generally the same 518pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
334within the single run of a program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash 519stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
335keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure 520optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
336will serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of 521the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
337JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead. 522settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
523and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
524against another for equality.
338 525
339=item array references 526=item array references
340 527
341Perl array references become JSON arrays. 528Perl array references become JSON arrays.
529
530=item other references
531
532Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
533exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
534C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
535also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
536
537 to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
538
539=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
540
541These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
542respectively. You cna alos use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
342 543
343=item blessed objects 544=item blessed objects
344 545
345Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 546Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their
346underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 547underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might
379 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 580 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours.
380 581
381You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 582You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other,
382less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 583less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability.
383 584
384=item circular data structures
385
386Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out.
387
388=back 585=back
586
389 587
390=head1 COMPARISON 588=head1 COMPARISON
391 589
392As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 590As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing
393JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 591JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the
419 617
420Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 618Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic
421values will make it croak). 619values will make it croak).
422 620
423Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 621Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}>
424which is not a valid JSON string. 622which is not a valid JSON text.
425 623
426Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 624Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
427getting fixed). 625getting fixed).
428 626
429=item JSON::Syck 0.21 627=item JSON::Syck 0.21
431Very buggy (often crashes). 629Very buggy (often crashes).
432 630
433Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 631Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much
434undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 632undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a
435single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to 633single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
436generate ASCII-only JSON strings). 634generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
437 635
438Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode 636Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode
439escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to 637escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to
440I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour). 638I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour).
441 639
464 662
465Very inflexible. 663Very inflexible.
466 664
467No roundtripping. 665No roundtripping.
468 666
469Does not generate valid JSON (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys 667Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
470result in nothing being output) 668result in nothing being output)
471 669
472Does not check input for validity. 670Does not check input for validity.
473 671
474=back 672=back
673
674
675=head2 JSON and YAML
676
677You often hear that JSON is a subset (or a close subset) of YAML. This is,
678however, a mass hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is
679no way to configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML.
680
681If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
682algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
683
684 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
685 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
686
687This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
688YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
689lengths that JSON doesn't have, so you should make sure that your hash
690keys are noticably shorter than the 1024 characters YAML allows.
691
692There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general
693you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa,
694or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high
695that you will run into severe interoperability problems.
696
475 697
476=head2 SPEED 698=head2 SPEED
477 699
478It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 700It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
479tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 701tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
480in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 702in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
481system. 703system.
482 704
483First is a comparison between various modules using a very simple JSON 705First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short
706single-line JSON string:
707
708 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
709 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
710
484string, showing the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS is 711It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
485the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 is the OO interface with 712the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
486pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). 713with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
714shrink). Higher is better:
487 715
716 Storable | 15779.925 | 14169.946 |
717 -----------+------------+------------+
488 module | encode | decode | 718 module | encode | decode |
489 -----------|------------|------------| 719 -----------|------------|------------|
490 JSON | 14006 | 6820 | 720 JSON | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
491 JSON::DWIW | 200937 | 120386 | 721 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
492 JSON::PC | 85065 | 129366 | 722 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
493 JSON::Syck | 59898 | 44232 | 723 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
494 JSON::XS | 1171478 | 342435 | 724 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
495 JSON::XS/2 | 730760 | 328714 | 725 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
726 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 |
727 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
728 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
496 -----------+------------+------------+ 729 -----------+------------+------------+
497 730
498That is, JSON::XS is 6 times faster than than JSON::DWIW and about 80 731That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
732about three times faster on decoding, and over fourty times faster
499times faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. 733than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
734favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
500 735
501Using a longer test string (roughly 8KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 736Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
502search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 737search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg):
503 738
504 module | encode | decode | 739 module | encode | decode |
505 -----------|------------|------------| 740 -----------|------------|------------|
506 JSON | 673 | 38 | 741 JSON | 55.260 | 34.971 |
507 JSON::DWIW | 5271 | 770 | 742 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
508 JSON::PC | 9901 | 2491 | 743 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
509 JSON::Syck | 2360 | 786 | 744 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
510 JSON::XS | 37398 | 3202 | 745 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
511 JSON::XS/2 | 13765 | 3153 | 746 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
747 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 |
748 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 |
749 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 |
512 -----------+------------+------------+ 750 -----------+------------+------------+
513 751
514Again, JSON::XS leads by far in the encoding case, while still beating 752Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
515every other module in the decoding case. 753decodes faster).
516 754
517Last example is an almost 8MB large hash with many large binary values 755On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules
518(PNG files), resulting in a lot of escaping: 756(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
757will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse
758to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
759comparison table for that case.
519 760
520=head1 RESOURCE LIMITS
521 761
522JSON::XS does not impose any limits on the size of JSON texts or Perl 762=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
523values they represent - if your machine cna handle it, JSON::XS will 763
524encode or decode it. Future versions might optionally impose structure 764When you are using JSON in a protocol, talking to untrusted potentially
525depth and memory use resource limits. 765hostile creatures requires relatively few measures.
766
767First of all, your JSON decoder should be secure, that is, should not have
768any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
769trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
770
771Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
772limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
773resources run out, thats just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
774can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
775usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
776it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
777text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
778might want to check the size before you accept the string.
779
780Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
781arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
782machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
783only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
784to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. to be
785conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
786has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
787C<max_depth> method.
788
789And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think
790of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints,
791though...
792
793If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
794by javascript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
795L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see wether
796you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
797design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
798browser developers care only for features, not about doing security
799right).
800
526 801
527=head1 BUGS 802=head1 BUGS
528 803
529While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 804While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
530not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 805not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
531still very young and not well-tested. If you keep reporting bugs they will 806still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
532be fixed swiftly, though. 807will be fixed swiftly, though.
533 808
534=cut 809=cut
810
811our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
812our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
813
814sub true() { $true }
815sub false() { $false }
816
817sub is_bool($) {
818 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
819# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
820}
821
822XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
823
824package JSON::XS::Boolean;
825
826use overload
827 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
828 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
829 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
830 fallback => 1;
535 831
5361; 8321;
537 833
538=head1 AUTHOR 834=head1 AUTHOR
539 835

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