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Revision 1.69 by root, Tue Oct 23 03:31:14 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.110 by root, Sun Jul 20 17:55:19 2008 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
5=encoding utf-8
4 6
5JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ 7JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ
6 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html) 8 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html)
7 9
8=head1 SYNOPSIS 10=head1 SYNOPSIS
10 use JSON::XS; 12 use JSON::XS;
11 13
12 # exported functions, they croak on error 14 # exported functions, they croak on error
13 # and expect/generate UTF-8 15 # and expect/generate UTF-8
14 16
15 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref; 17 $utf8_encoded_json_text = encode_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
16 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text; 18 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = decode_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
17 19
18 # OO-interface 20 # OO-interface
19 21
20 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; 22 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
21 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); 23 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
22 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text); 24 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
23 25
26 # Note that JSON version 2.0 and above will automatically use JSON::XS
27 # if available, at virtually no speed overhead either, so you should
28 # be able to just:
29
30 use JSON;
31
32 # and do the same things, except that you have a pure-perl fallback now.
33
24=head1 DESCRIPTION 34=head1 DESCRIPTION
25 35
26This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 36This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its
27primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be 37primary goal is to be I<correct> and its secondary goal is to be
28I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C. 38I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C.
39
40Beginning with version 2.0 of the JSON module, when both JSON and
41JSON::XS are installed, then JSON will fall back on JSON::XS (this can be
42overridden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheriting constructor
43and methods). If JSON::XS is not available, it will fall back to the
44compatible JSON::PP module as backend, so using JSON instead of JSON::XS
45gives you a portable JSON API that can be fast when you need and doesn't
46require a C compiler when that is a problem.
29 47
30As this is the n-th-something JSON module on CPAN, what was the reason 48As this is the n-th-something JSON module on CPAN, what was the reason
31to write yet another JSON module? While it seems there are many JSON 49to write yet another JSON module? While it seems there are many JSON
32modules, none of them correctly handle all corner cases, and in most cases 50modules, none of them correctly handle all corner cases, and in most cases
33their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
42 60
43=over 4 61=over 4
44 62
45=item * correct Unicode handling 63=item * correct Unicode handling
46 64
47This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when 65This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does
48it does so. 66so, and even documents what "correct" means.
49 67
50=item * round-trip integrity 68=item * round-trip integrity
51 69
52When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 70When you serialise a perl data structure using only data types supported
53by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 71by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
54(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks 72(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks
55like a number). 73like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING
74section below to learn about those.
56 75
57=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 76=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
58 77
59There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 78There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
60and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security 79and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
61feature). 80feature).
62 81
63=item * fast 82=item * fast
64 83
65Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 84Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
66of speed, too. 85this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
67 86
68=item * simple to use 87=item * simple to use
69 88
70This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 89This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an object
71interface. 90oriented interface interface.
72 91
73=item * reasonably versatile output formats 92=item * reasonably versatile output formats
74 93
75You can choose between the most compact guaranteed single-line format 94You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
76possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 95possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ASCII format
77(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole 96(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 97Unicode 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. 98stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
80 99
81=back 100=back
82 101
83=cut 102=cut
84 103
85package JSON::XS; 104package JSON::XS;
86 105
106no warnings;
87use strict; 107use strict;
88 108
89our $VERSION = '1.52'; 109our $VERSION = '2.2222';
90our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 110our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
91 111
92our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json); 112our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
113
114sub to_json($) {
115 require Carp;
116 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::to_json has been renamed to encode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
117}
118
119sub from_json($) {
120 require Carp;
121 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::from_json has been renamed to decode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
122}
93 123
94use Exporter; 124use Exporter;
95use XSLoader; 125use XSLoader;
96 126
97=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 127=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
99The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are 129The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
100exported by default: 130exported by default:
101 131
102=over 4 132=over 4
103 133
104=item $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar 134=item $json_text = encode_json $perl_scalar
105 135
106Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string 136Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string
107(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error. 137(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error.
108 138
109This function call is functionally identical to: 139This function call is functionally identical to:
110 140
111 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) 141 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
112 142
113except being faster. 143Except being faster.
114 144
115=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text 145=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
116 146
117The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries 147The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
118to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting 148to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
119reference. Croaks on error. 149reference. Croaks on error.
120 150
121This function call is functionally identical to: 151This function call is functionally identical to:
122 152
123 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 153 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
124 154
125except being faster. 155Except being faster.
126 156
127=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar 157=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
128 158
129Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or 159Returns 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 160JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
148This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a 178This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
149Perl string - very natural. 179Perl string - very natural.
150 180
151=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings. 181=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
152 182
153Unless you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or printing 183... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
154the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your string as 184printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
155locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending on various 185string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
156settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your data, it is 186on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
157I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical metadata. 187data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
158 188
159=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the 189=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
160encoding of your string. 190encoding of your string.
161 191
162Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in 192Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
168 198
169If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't 199If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
170exist. 200exist.
171 201
172=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be 202=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
173validly interpreted as a Unicode codepoint. 203validly interpreted as a Unicode code point.
174 204
175If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a 205If 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. 206Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
177 207
178=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string. 208=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
201 231
202 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 232 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
203 => {"a": [1, 2]} 233 => {"a": [1, 2]}
204 234
205=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) 235=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
236
237=item $enabled = $json->get_ascii
206 238
207If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 239If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
208generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any 240generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
209Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a 241Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
210single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, 242single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
214 246
215If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 247If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
216characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results 248characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
217in a faster and more compact format. 249in a faster and more compact format.
218 250
251See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
252document.
253
219The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be 254The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
220transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not 255transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
221contain any 8 bit characters. 256contain any 8 bit characters.
222 257
223 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 258 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
224 => ["\ud801\udc01"] 259 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
225 260
226=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable]) 261=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
262
263=item $enabled = $json->get_latin1
227 264
228If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 265If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
229the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters 266the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
230outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a 267outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
231latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method 268latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method
232will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default 269will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
233expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1. 270expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
234 271
235If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 272If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
236characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. 273characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
274
275See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
276document.
237 277
238The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON 278The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
239text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded 279text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
240size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded 280size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
241in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and 281in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
246 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"] 286 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
247 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not) 287 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
248 288
249=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 289=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
250 290
291=item $enabled = $json->get_utf8
292
251If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 293If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
252the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 294the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
253C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please 295C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
254note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the 296note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
255range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future 297range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
258 300
259If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 301If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
260string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 302string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
261Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 303Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
262to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 304to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
305
306See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
307document.
263 308
264Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: 309Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
265 310
266 use Encode; 311 use Encode;
267 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); 312 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
288 ] 333 ]
289 } 334 }
290 335
291=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable]) 336=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable])
292 337
338=item $enabled = $json->get_indent
339
293If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 340If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
294format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 341format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
295into its own line, indenting them properly. 342into its own line, indenting them properly.
296 343
297If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 344If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
299 346
300This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 347This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
301 348
302=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) 349=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
303 350
351=item $enabled = $json->get_space_before
352
304If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 353If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
305optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 354optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
306 355
307If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 356If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
308space at those places. 357space at those places.
313Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled: 362Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
314 363
315 {"key" :"value"} 364 {"key" :"value"}
316 365
317=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable]) 366=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
367
368=item $enabled = $json->get_space_after
318 369
319If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 370If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
320optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 371optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
321and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array 372and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array
322members. 373members.
329Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: 380Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
330 381
331 {"key": "value"} 382 {"key": "value"}
332 383
333=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable]) 384=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
385
386=item $enabled = $json->get_relaxed
334 387
335If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some 388If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
336extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be 389extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
337affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid 390affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
338JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to 391JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
375 428
376=back 429=back
377 430
378=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 431=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
379 432
433=item $enabled = $json->get_canonical
434
380If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 435If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
381by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 436by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
382 437
383If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 438If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
384pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 439pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
391 446
392This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 447This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
393 448
394=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 449=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
395 450
451=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
452
396If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 453If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
397non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 454non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
398which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 455which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
399values instead of croaking. 456values instead of croaking.
400 457
407resulting in an invalid JSON text: 464resulting in an invalid JSON text:
408 465
409 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 466 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
410 => "Hello, World!" 467 => "Hello, World!"
411 468
469=item $json = $json->allow_unknown ([$enable])
470
471=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_unknown
472
473If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will I<not> throw an
474exception when it encounters values it cannot represent in JSON (for
475example, filehandles) but instead will encode a JSON C<null> value. Note
476that blessed objects are not included here and are handled separately by
477c<allow_nonref>.
478
479If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
480exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as JSON.
481
482This option does not affect C<decode> in any way, and it is recommended to
483leave it off unless you know your communications partner.
484
412=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable]) 485=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
486
487=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
413 488
414If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 489If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
415barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the 490barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
416B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed> 491B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
417disabled or no C<to_json> method found) or a representation of the 492disabled or no C<TO_JSON> method found) or a representation of the
418object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<to_json> method found) is being 493object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<TO_JSON> method found) is being
419encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>. 494encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
420 495
421If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an 496If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
422exception when it encounters a blessed object. 497exception when it encounters a blessed object.
423 498
424=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable]) 499=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
500
501=item $enabled = $json->get_convert_blessed
425 502
426If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a 503If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
427blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method 504blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
428on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context 505on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
429and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no 506and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
433The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON> 510The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
434returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same 511returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
435way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle 512way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
436(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other 513(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
437methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are 514methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
438usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with the C<to_json> 515usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with any C<to_json>
439function. 516function or method.
440 517
441This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the 518This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
442future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are 519future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
443enabled by this setting. 520enabled by this setting.
444 521
520 597
521 { __widget__ => $self->{id} } 598 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
522 } 599 }
523 600
524=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 601=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
602
603=item $enabled = $json->get_shrink
525 604
526Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 605Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
527strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 606strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
528C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 607C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
529memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many 608memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
547strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 626strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
548internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 627internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
549 628
550=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth]) 629=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
551 630
631=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
632
552Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding 633Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
553or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or 634or decoding. If a higher nesting level is detected in JSON text or a Perl
554higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will 635data structure, then the encoder and decoder will stop and croak at that
555stop and croak at that point. 636point.
556 637
557Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder 638Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
558needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[> 639needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
559characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a 640characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
560given character in a string. 641given character in a string.
561 642
562Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures 643Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
563that the object is only a single hash/object or array. 644that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
564 645
565The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
566of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be 646If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be used, which
567used, which is rarely useful. 647is rarely useful.
648
649Note that nesting is implemented by recursion in C. The default value has
650been chosen to be as large as typical operating systems allow without
651crashing.
568 652
569See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 653See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
570 654
571=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size]) 655=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
656
657=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
572 658
573Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is 659Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
574being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode> 660being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
575is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not 661is called on a string that is longer then this many bytes, it will not
576attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no 662attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
577effect on C<encode> (yet). 663effect on C<encode> (yet).
578 664
579The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest> 665If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when
580power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the 666C<0> is specified).
581limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
582 667
583See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 668See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
584 669
585=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 670=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
586 671
615 => ([], 3) 700 => ([], 3)
616 701
617=back 702=back
618 703
619 704
705=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
706
707In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
708texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
709Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
710JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
711a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
712using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but
713is much more efficient (and can be implemented with a minimum of method
714calls).
715
716JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text once it is sure it
717has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very simple but
718truly incremental parser. This means that it sometimes won't stop as
719early as the full parser, for example, it doesn't detect parenthese
720mismatches. The only thing it guarantees is that it starts decoding as
721soon as a syntactically valid JSON text has been seen. This means you need
722to set resource limits (e.g. C<max_size>) to ensure the parser will stop
723parsing in the presence if syntax errors.
724
725The following methods implement this incremental parser.
726
727=over 4
728
729=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
730
731This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
732extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
733functions are optional).
734
735If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
736existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
737
738After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
739return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
740in as many chunks as you want.
741
742If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
743exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
744object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. If there is a parse error,
745this method will croak just as C<decode> would do (one can then use
746C<incr_skip> to skip the errornous part). This is the most common way of
747using the method.
748
749And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
750from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
751otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
752objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back. If
753an error occurs, an exception will be raised as in the scalar context
754case. Note that in this case, any previously-parsed JSON texts will be
755lost.
756
757=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
758
759This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
760is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
761C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
762all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
763although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
764real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
765method before having parsed anything.
766
767This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
768JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
769(such as commas).
770
771=item $json->incr_skip
772
773This will reset the state of the incremental parser and will remove the
774parsed text from the input buffer. This is useful after C<incr_parse>
775died, in which case the input buffer and incremental parser state is left
776unchanged, to skip the text parsed so far and to reset the parse state.
777
778=item $json->incr_reset
779
780This completely resets the incremental parser, that is, after this call,
781it will be as if the parser had never parsed anything.
782
783This is useful if you want ot repeatedly parse JSON objects and want to
784ignore any trailing data, which means you have to reset the parser after
785each successful decode.
786
787=back
788
789=head2 LIMITATIONS
790
791All options that affect decoding are supported, except
792C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to
793work sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can concatenate
794them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does not hold true
795for JSON numbers, however.
796
797For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
798start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
799of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
800takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
801
802=head2 EXAMPLES
803
804Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
805works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
806the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
807
808 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
809
810 my $json = new JSON::XS;
811
812 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
813 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
814
815 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
816 # $tail now contains " hello"
817
818Easy, isn't it?
819
820Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
821you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
822array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
823use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
824the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
825with C<telnet>...).
826
827Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
828manner):
829
830 my $json = new JSON::XS;
831
832 # read some data from the socket
833 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
834
835 # split and decode as many requests as possible
836 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
837 # act on the $request
838 }
839 }
840
841Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
842or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
843[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
844and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
845
846 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
847 my $json = new JSON::XS;
848
849 # void context, so no parsing done
850 $json->incr_parse ($text);
851
852 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
853 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
854 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
855 # do something with $obj
856
857 # now skip the optional comma
858 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
859 }
860
861Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
862JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
863but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
864the real world :).
865
866Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
867can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
868JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
869own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
870example):
871
872 my $json = new JSON::XS;
873
874 # open the monster
875 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
876 or die "bigfile: $!";
877
878 # first parse the initial "["
879 for (;;) {
880 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
881 or die "read error: $!";
882 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
883
884 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
885 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
886 # we append data to.
887 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
888 }
889
890 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
891 # parsing all the elements.
892 for (;;) {
893 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
894 for (;;) {
895 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
896 # do something with $obj
897 last;
898 }
899
900 # add more data
901 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
902 or die "read error: $!";
903 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
904 }
905
906 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
907 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
908 for (;;) {
909 # first skip whitespace
910 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
911
912 # if we find "]", we are done
913 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
914 print "finished.\n";
915 exit;
916 }
917
918 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
919 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
920 last;
921 }
922
923 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
924 if (length $json->incr_text) {
925 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
926 }
927
928 # else add more data
929 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
930 or die "read error: $!";
931 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
932 }
933
934This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
935that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
936the above example :).
937
938
939
620=head1 MAPPING 940=head1 MAPPING
621 941
622This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 942This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
623vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 943vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
624circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 944circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
652 972
653A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or 973A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
654string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On 974string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
655the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all 975the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
656the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and 976the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
657might represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 977might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
658 978
659If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent 979If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
660it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as 980it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
661a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of 981a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
662precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value. 982precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
983which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
984re-encoded toa JSON string).
663 985
664Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be 986Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
665represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of 987represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
666precision. 988precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
667 989the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
668This might create round-tripping problems as numbers might become strings,
669but as Perl is typeless there is no other way to do it.
670 990
671=item true, false 991=item true, false
672 992
673These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>, 993These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
674respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers 994respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
711Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an 1031Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
712exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and 1032exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
713C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can 1033C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
714also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability. 1034also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
715 1035
716 to_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true] 1036 encode_json [\0, JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
717 1037
718=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false 1038=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
719 1039
720These special values become JSON true and JSON false values, 1040These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
721respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want. 1041respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
722 1042
723=item blessed objects 1043=item blessed objects
724 1044
725Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 1045Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON. See the
726underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 1046C<allow_blessed> and C<convert_blessed> methods on various options on
727change in future versions. 1047how to deal with this: basically, you can choose between throwing an
1048exception, encoding the reference as if it weren't blessed, or provide
1049your own serialiser method.
728 1050
729=item simple scalars 1051=item simple scalars
730 1052
731Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 1053Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
732difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 1054difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
733JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 1055JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
734before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 1056before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
735 1057
736 # dump as number 1058 # dump as number
737 to_json [2] # yields [2] 1059 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
738 to_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 1060 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
739 my $value = 5; to_json [$value] # yields [5] 1061 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
740 1062
741 # used as string, so dump as string 1063 # used as string, so dump as string
742 print $value; 1064 print $value;
743 to_json [$value] # yields ["5"] 1065 encode_json [$value] # yields ["5"]
744 1066
745 # undef becomes null 1067 # undef becomes null
746 to_json [undef] # yields [null] 1068 encode_json [undef] # yields [null]
747 1069
748You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it: 1070You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it:
749 1071
750 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number 1072 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number
751 "$x"; # stringified 1073 "$x"; # stringified
757 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1079 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
758 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1080 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
759 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours. 1081 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
760 1082
761You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me 1083You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
762if you need this capability. 1084if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
1085:).
763 1086
764=back 1087=back
765 1088
766 1089
767=head1 COMPARISON 1090=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
768 1091
769As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 1092The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
770JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 1093encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
771problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1094some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
772followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 1095
773from any of these problems or limitations. 1096C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
1097by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
1098control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
1099codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
1100some combinations make less sense than others.
1101
1102Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
1103C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
1104these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
1105- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
1106decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
1107
1108Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
1109simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
1110takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
1111octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
1112and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
1113the same time, which can be confusing.
774 1114
775=over 4 1115=over 4
776 1116
777=item JSON 1.07 1117=item C<utf8> flag disabled
778 1118
779Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1119When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
1120and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
1121values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
1122characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except
1123"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
1124respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
1125funny/weird/dumb stuff).
780 1126
781Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles Unicode values is 1127This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
782undocumented. One can get far by feeding it Unicode strings and doing 1128want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
783en-/decoding oneself, but Unicode escapes are not working properly). 1129the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
1130filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
1131to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
784 1132
785No round-tripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 1133=item C<utf8> flag enabled
786the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
787decode into the number 2.
788 1134
789=item JSON::PC 0.01 1135If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
1136characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
1137expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
1138of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
1139that.
790 1140
791Very fast. 1141The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
1142will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
1143octet/binary string in Perl.
792 1144
793Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 1145=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
794 1146
795No round-tripping. 1147With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
1148with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
1149characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
796 1150
797Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 1151If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
798values will make it croak). 1152character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
1153Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
1154ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
1155the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
799 1156
800Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 1157If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
801which is not a valid JSON text. 1158regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
1159C<\uXXXX> then before.
802 1160
803Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1161Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
804getting fixed). 1162encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
1163encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
1164a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
805 1165
806=item JSON::Syck 0.21 1166Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
1167values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
1168to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
1169Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
807 1170
808Very buggy (often crashes). 1171So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
1172they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
809 1173
810Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 1174The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
811undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 1175as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
812single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
813generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
814 1176
815Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (Unicode 1177The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
816escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to 1178with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
817I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour). 1179as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
818 11808-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
819No round-tripping (simple cases work, but this depends on whether the scalar 1181when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
820value was used in a numeric context or not). 1182might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
821 1183proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
822Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
823
824Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
825getting fixed).
826
827Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
828return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
829issue: imagine two banks transferring money between each other using
830JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
831while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
832good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
833the transaction will still not succeed).
834
835=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
836
837Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
838
839Undocumented Unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
840still don't get parsed properly).
841
842Very inflexible.
843
844No round-tripping.
845
846Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
847result in nothing being output)
848
849Does not check input for validity.
850 1184
851=back 1185=back
852 1186
853 1187
854=head2 JSON and YAML 1188=head2 JSON and YAML
855 1189
856You often hear that JSON is a subset (or a close subset) of YAML. This is, 1190You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
857however, a mass hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is 1191hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
858no way to configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML. 1192so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
1193JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
1194cases.
859 1195
860If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this 1196If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
861algorithm (subject to change in future versions): 1197algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
862 1198
863 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1); 1199 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
864 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n"; 1200 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
865 1201
866This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid 1202This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
867YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key 1203YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
868lengths that JSON doesn't have, so you should make sure that your hash 1204lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
1205unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are
869keys are noticeably shorter than the 1024 characters YAML allows. 1206noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that
1207you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP
1208(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in
1209strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON
1210generators might).
870 1211
871There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general 1212There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1213specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
872you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa, 1214general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
873or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high 1215versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
874that you will run into severe interoperability problems. 1216high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
1217least expect it.
1218
1219=over 4
1220
1221=item (*)
1222
1223I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1224authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1225acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1226bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1227educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1228problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1229and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1230
1231In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1232clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1233proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1234that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1235educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1236real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1237point out that it isn't true.
1238
1239=back
875 1240
876 1241
877=head2 SPEED 1242=head2 SPEED
878 1243
879It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1244It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
880tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1245tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
881in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1246in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
882system. 1247system.
883 1248
884First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short 1249First comes a comparison between various modules using
885single-line JSON string: 1250a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1251L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
886 1252
887 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \ 1253 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1",
888 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]} 1254 "we were just talking"], "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7,
1255 true, false]}
889 1256
890It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses 1257It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
891the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface 1258the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
892with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables 1259with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
893shrink). Higher is better: 1260shrink). Higher is better:
894 1261
895 Storable | 15779.925 | 14169.946 |
896 -----------+------------+------------+
897 module | encode | decode | 1262 module | encode | decode |
898 -----------|------------|------------| 1263 -----------|------------|------------|
899 JSON | 4990.842 | 4088.813 | 1264 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
900 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 | 1265 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
901 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 | 1266 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
902 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 | 1267 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
903 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 | 1268 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
904 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 | 1269 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
911about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster 1276about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
912than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares 1277than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
913favourably to Storable for small amounts of data. 1278favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
914 1279
915Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1280Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
916search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1281search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
917 1282
918 module | encode | decode | 1283 module | encode | decode |
919 -----------|------------|------------| 1284 -----------|------------|------------|
920 JSON | 55.260 | 34.971 | 1285 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
921 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 | 1286 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
922 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 | 1287 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
923 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 | 1288 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
924 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 | 1289 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
925 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 | 1290 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
958 1323
959Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and 1324Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
960arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64 1325arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
961machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but 1326machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
962only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak 1327only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
963to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. to be 1328to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
964conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process 1329conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
965has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the 1330has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
966C<max_depth> method. 1331C<max_depth> method.
967 1332
968And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think 1333Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
969of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, 1334case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
970though... 1335
1336Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1337structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1338information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1339will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
971 1340
972If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption 1341If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
973by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at 1342by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
974L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether 1343L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
975you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser 1344you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
976design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major 1345design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
977browser developers care only for features, not about doing security 1346browser developers care only for features, not about getting security
978right). 1347right).
979 1348
980 1349
981=head1 THREADS 1350=head1 THREADS
982 1351
983This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no 1352This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
984plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the 1353plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
985horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated 1354horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
986process simulations - use fork, its I<much> faster, cheaper, better). 1355process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
987 1356
988(It might actually work, but you have been warned). 1357(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
989 1358
990 1359
991=head1 BUGS 1360=head1 BUGS
992 1361
993While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1362While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
994not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1363not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. If you
995still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they 1364keep reporting bugs they will be fixed swiftly, though.
996will be fixed swiftly, though.
997 1365
998Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting 1366Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
999service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason. 1367service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
1000 1368
1001=cut 1369=cut
1021 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 }, 1389 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1022 fallback => 1; 1390 fallback => 1;
1023 1391
10241; 13921;
1025 1393
1394=head1 SEE ALSO
1395
1396The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
1397
1026=head1 AUTHOR 1398=head1 AUTHOR
1027 1399
1028 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1400 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1029 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1401 http://home.schmorp.de/
1030 1402

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