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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
35primary 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
36I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C. 38I<fast>. To reach the latter goal it was written in C.
37 39
38Beginning with version 2.0 of the JSON module, when both JSON and 40Beginning with version 2.0 of the JSON module, when both JSON and
39JSON::XS are installed, then JSON will fall back on JSON::XS (this can be 41JSON::XS are installed, then JSON will fall back on JSON::XS (this can be
40overriden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheritign constructor 42overridden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheriting constructor
41and methods). If JSON::XS is not available, it will fall back to the 43and methods). If JSON::XS is not available, it will fall back to the
42compatible JSON::PP module as backend, so using JSON instead of JSON::XS 44compatible JSON::PP module as backend, so using JSON instead of JSON::XS
43gives you a portable JSON API that can be fast when you need and doesn't 45gives you a portable JSON API that can be fast when you need and doesn't
44require a C compiler when that is a problem. 46require a C compiler when that is a problem.
45 47
47to 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
48modules, 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
49their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
50reports for other reasons. 52reports for other reasons.
51 53
52See COMPARISON, below, for a comparison to some other JSON modules.
53
54See MAPPING, below, on how JSON::XS maps perl values to JSON values and 54See MAPPING, below, on how JSON::XS maps perl values to JSON values and
55vice versa. 55vice versa.
56 56
57=head2 FEATURES 57=head2 FEATURES
58 58
59=over 4 59=over 4
60 60
61=item * correct Unicode handling 61=item * correct Unicode handling
62 62
63This module knows how to handle Unicode, and even documents how and when 63This module knows how to handle Unicode, documents how and when it does
64it does so. 64so, and even documents what "correct" means.
65 65
66=item * round-trip integrity 66=item * round-trip integrity
67 67
68When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 68When you serialise a perl data structure using only data types supported
69by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 69by JSON and Perl, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl
70(e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because it looks 70level. (e.g. the string "2.0" doesn't suddenly become "2" just because
71like a number). 71it looks like a number). There I<are> minor exceptions to this, read the
72MAPPING section below to learn about those.
72 73
73=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 74=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
74 75
75There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 76There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
76and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security 77and only JSON is accepted as input by default (the latter is a security
77feature). 78feature).
78 79
79=item * fast 80=item * fast
80 81
81Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 82Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
82of speed, too. 83this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
83 84
84=item * simple to use 85=item * simple to use
85 86
86This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 87This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an object
87interface. 88oriented interface.
88 89
89=item * reasonably versatile output formats 90=item * reasonably versatile output formats
90 91
91You can choose between the most compact guaranteed single-line format 92You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
92possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 93possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ASCII format
93(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole 94(for when your transport is not 8-bit clean, still supports the whole
94Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that 95Unicode range), or a pretty-printed format (for when you want to read that
95stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like. 96stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
96 97
97=back 98=back
98 99
99=cut 100=cut
100 101
101package JSON::XS; 102package JSON::XS;
102 103
103use strict; 104use common::sense;
104 105
105our $VERSION = '2.01'; 106our $VERSION = '3.0';
106our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 107our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
107 108
108our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json); 109our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json);
109
110sub to_json($) {
111 require Carp;
112 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");
113}
114
115sub from_json($) {
116 require Carp;
117 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");
118}
119 110
120use Exporter; 111use Exporter;
121use XSLoader; 112use XSLoader;
122 113
114use Types::Serialiser ();
115
123=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 116=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
124 117
125The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are 118The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
126exported by default: 119exported by default:
127 120
134 127
135This function call is functionally identical to: 128This function call is functionally identical to:
136 129
137 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) 130 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
138 131
139except being faster. 132Except being faster.
140 133
141=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text 134=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
142 135
143The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries 136The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
144to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting 137to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
146 139
147This function call is functionally identical to: 140This function call is functionally identical to:
148 141
149 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 142 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
150 143
151except being faster. 144Except being faster.
152
153=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
154
155Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
156JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
157and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
158
159See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
160Perl.
161 145
162=back 146=back
163 147
164 148
165=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL 149=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL
174This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a 158This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
175Perl string - very natural. 159Perl string - very natural.
176 160
177=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings. 161=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
178 162
179Unless you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or printing 163... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
180the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your string as 164printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
181locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending on various 165string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
182settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your data, it is 166on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
183I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical metadata. 167data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
184 168
185=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the 169=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
186encoding of your string. 170encoding of your string.
187 171
188Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in 172Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
194 178
195If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't 179If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
196exist. 180exist.
197 181
198=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be 182=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
199validly interpreted as a Unicode codepoint. 183validly interpreted as a Unicode code point.
200 184
201If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a 185If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a
202Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string. 186Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
203 187
204=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string. 188=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
242 226
243If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 227If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
244characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results 228characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
245in a faster and more compact format. 229in a faster and more compact format.
246 230
231See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
232document.
233
247The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be 234The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
248transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not 235transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
249contain any 8 bit characters. 236contain any 8 bit characters.
250 237
251 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 238 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
262will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default 249will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
263expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1. 250expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
264 251
265If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 252If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
266characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. 253characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
254
255See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
256document.
267 257
268The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON 258The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
269text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded 259text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
270size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded 260size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
271in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and 261in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
290 280
291If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 281If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
292string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 282string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
293Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 283Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
294to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 284to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
285
286See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
287document.
295 288
296Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: 289Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
297 290
298 use Encode; 291 use Encode;
299 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); 292 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
422If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 415If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
423by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 416by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
424 417
425If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 418If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
426pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 419pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
427of the same script). 420of the same script, and can change even within the same run from 5.18
421onwards).
428 422
429This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 423This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
430the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 424the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
431the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 425the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
432as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 426as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
433 427
434This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 428This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
435 429
430This setting has currently no effect on tied hashes.
431
436=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 432=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
437 433
438=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref 434=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
439 435
440If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 436If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
450Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>, 446Example, encode a Perl scalar as JSON value with enabled C<allow_nonref>,
451resulting in an invalid JSON text: 447resulting in an invalid JSON text:
452 448
453 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 449 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
454 => "Hello, World!" 450 => "Hello, World!"
451
452=item $json = $json->allow_unknown ([$enable])
453
454=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_unknown
455
456If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode> will I<not> throw an
457exception when it encounters values it cannot represent in JSON (for
458example, filehandles) but instead will encode a JSON C<null> value. Note
459that blessed objects are not included here and are handled separately by
460c<allow_nonref>.
461
462If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
463exception when it encounters anything it cannot encode as JSON.
464
465This option does not affect C<decode> in any way, and it is recommended to
466leave it off unless you know your communications partner.
455 467
456=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable]) 468=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
457 469
458=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed 470=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
459 471
600=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth]) 612=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
601 613
602=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth 614=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
603 615
604Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding 616Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
605or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or 617or decoding. If a higher nesting level is detected in JSON text or a Perl
606higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will 618data structure, then the encoder and decoder will stop and croak at that
607stop and croak at that point. 619point.
608 620
609Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder 621Nesting level is defined by number of hash- or arrayrefs that the encoder
610needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[> 622needs to traverse to reach a given point or the number of C<{> or C<[>
611characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a 623characters without their matching closing parenthesis crossed to reach a
612given character in a string. 624given character in a string.
613 625
614Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures 626Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
615that the object is only a single hash/object or array. 627that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
616 628
617The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
618of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be 629If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be used, which
619used, which is rarely useful. 630is rarely useful.
631
632Note that nesting is implemented by recursion in C. The default value has
633been chosen to be as large as typical operating systems allow without
634crashing.
620 635
621See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 636See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
622 637
623=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size]) 638=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
624 639
625=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size 640=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
626 641
627Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is 642Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
628being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode> 643being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
629is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not 644is called on a string that is longer then this many bytes, it will not
630attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no 645attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
631effect on C<encode> (yet). 646effect on C<encode> (yet).
632 647
633The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest> 648If no argument is given, the limit check will be deactivated (same as when
634power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the 649C<0> is specified).
635limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
636 650
637See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 651See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
638 652
639=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 653=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
640 654
641Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference 655Converts the given Perl value or data structure to its JSON
642to a hash or array) to its JSON representation. Simple scalars will be 656representation. Croaks on error.
643converted into JSON string or number sequences, while references to arrays
644become JSON arrays and references to hashes become JSON objects. Undefined
645Perl values (e.g. C<undef>) become JSON C<null> values. Neither C<true>
646nor C<false> values will be generated.
647 657
648=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_text) 658=item $perl_scalar = $json->decode ($json_text)
649 659
650The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON text and tries to parse it, 660The opposite of C<encode>: expects a JSON text and tries to parse it,
651returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 661returning the resulting simple scalar or reference. Croaks on error.
652
653JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
654Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
655C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
656 662
657=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text) 663=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
658 664
659This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception 665This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
660when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will 666when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
661silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed 667silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
662so far. 668so far.
663 669
664This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol 670This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
665(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
666to know where the JSON text ends. 671and you need to know where the JSON text ends.
667 672
668 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail") 673 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
669 => ([], 3) 674 => ([], 3)
670 675
671=back 676=back
677
678
679=head1 INCREMENTAL PARSING
680
681In some cases, there is the need for incremental parsing of JSON
682texts. While this module always has to keep both JSON text and resulting
683Perl data structure in memory at one time, it does allow you to parse a
684JSON stream incrementally. It does so by accumulating text until it has
685a full JSON object, which it then can decode. This process is similar to
686using C<decode_prefix> to see if a full JSON object is available, but
687is much more efficient (and can be implemented with a minimum of method
688calls).
689
690JSON::XS will only attempt to parse the JSON text once it is sure it
691has enough text to get a decisive result, using a very simple but
692truly incremental parser. This means that it sometimes won't stop as
693early as the full parser, for example, it doesn't detect mismatched
694parentheses. The only thing it guarantees is that it starts decoding as
695soon as a syntactically valid JSON text has been seen. This means you need
696to set resource limits (e.g. C<max_size>) to ensure the parser will stop
697parsing in the presence if syntax errors.
698
699The following methods implement this incremental parser.
700
701=over 4
702
703=item [void, scalar or list context] = $json->incr_parse ([$string])
704
705This is the central parsing function. It can both append new text and
706extract objects from the stream accumulated so far (both of these
707functions are optional).
708
709If C<$string> is given, then this string is appended to the already
710existing JSON fragment stored in the C<$json> object.
711
712After that, if the function is called in void context, it will simply
713return without doing anything further. This can be used to add more text
714in as many chunks as you want.
715
716If the method is called in scalar context, then it will try to extract
717exactly I<one> JSON object. If that is successful, it will return this
718object, otherwise it will return C<undef>. If there is a parse error,
719this method will croak just as C<decode> would do (one can then use
720C<incr_skip> to skip the erroneous part). This is the most common way of
721using the method.
722
723And finally, in list context, it will try to extract as many objects
724from the stream as it can find and return them, or the empty list
725otherwise. For this to work, there must be no separators between the JSON
726objects or arrays, instead they must be concatenated back-to-back. If
727an error occurs, an exception will be raised as in the scalar context
728case. Note that in this case, any previously-parsed JSON texts will be
729lost.
730
731Example: Parse some JSON arrays/objects in a given string and return
732them.
733
734 my @objs = JSON::XS->new->incr_parse ("[5][7][1,2]");
735
736=item $lvalue_string = $json->incr_text
737
738This method returns the currently stored JSON fragment as an lvalue, that
739is, you can manipulate it. This I<only> works when a preceding call to
740C<incr_parse> in I<scalar context> successfully returned an object. Under
741all other circumstances you must not call this function (I mean it.
742although in simple tests it might actually work, it I<will> fail under
743real world conditions). As a special exception, you can also call this
744method before having parsed anything.
745
746This function is useful in two cases: a) finding the trailing text after a
747JSON object or b) parsing multiple JSON objects separated by non-JSON text
748(such as commas).
749
750=item $json->incr_skip
751
752This will reset the state of the incremental parser and will remove
753the parsed text from the input buffer so far. This is useful after
754C<incr_parse> died, in which case the input buffer and incremental parser
755state is left unchanged, to skip the text parsed so far and to reset the
756parse state.
757
758The difference to C<incr_reset> is that only text until the parse error
759occurred is removed.
760
761=item $json->incr_reset
762
763This completely resets the incremental parser, that is, after this call,
764it will be as if the parser had never parsed anything.
765
766This is useful if you want to repeatedly parse JSON objects and want to
767ignore any trailing data, which means you have to reset the parser after
768each successful decode.
769
770=back
771
772=head2 LIMITATIONS
773
774All options that affect decoding are supported, except
775C<allow_nonref>. The reason for this is that it cannot be made to work
776sensibly: JSON objects and arrays are self-delimited, i.e. you can
777concatenate them back to back and still decode them perfectly. This does
778not hold true for JSON numbers, however.
779
780For example, is the string C<1> a single JSON number, or is it simply the
781start of C<12>? Or is C<12> a single JSON number, or the concatenation
782of C<1> and C<2>? In neither case you can tell, and this is why JSON::XS
783takes the conservative route and disallows this case.
784
785=head2 EXAMPLES
786
787Some examples will make all this clearer. First, a simple example that
788works similarly to C<decode_prefix>: We want to decode the JSON object at
789the start of a string and identify the portion after the JSON object:
790
791 my $text = "[1,2,3] hello";
792
793 my $json = new JSON::XS;
794
795 my $obj = $json->incr_parse ($text)
796 or die "expected JSON object or array at beginning of string";
797
798 my $tail = $json->incr_text;
799 # $tail now contains " hello"
800
801Easy, isn't it?
802
803Now for a more complicated example: Imagine a hypothetical protocol where
804you read some requests from a TCP stream, and each request is a JSON
805array, without any separation between them (in fact, it is often useful to
806use newlines as "separators", as these get interpreted as whitespace at
807the start of the JSON text, which makes it possible to test said protocol
808with C<telnet>...).
809
810Here is how you'd do it (it is trivial to write this in an event-based
811manner):
812
813 my $json = new JSON::XS;
814
815 # read some data from the socket
816 while (sysread $socket, my $buf, 4096) {
817
818 # split and decode as many requests as possible
819 for my $request ($json->incr_parse ($buf)) {
820 # act on the $request
821 }
822 }
823
824Another complicated example: Assume you have a string with JSON objects
825or arrays, all separated by (optional) comma characters (e.g. C<[1],[2],
826[3]>). To parse them, we have to skip the commas between the JSON texts,
827and here is where the lvalue-ness of C<incr_text> comes in useful:
828
829 my $text = "[1],[2], [3]";
830 my $json = new JSON::XS;
831
832 # void context, so no parsing done
833 $json->incr_parse ($text);
834
835 # now extract as many objects as possible. note the
836 # use of scalar context so incr_text can be called.
837 while (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
838 # do something with $obj
839
840 # now skip the optional comma
841 $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* , //x;
842 }
843
844Now lets go for a very complex example: Assume that you have a gigantic
845JSON array-of-objects, many gigabytes in size, and you want to parse it,
846but you cannot load it into memory fully (this has actually happened in
847the real world :).
848
849Well, you lost, you have to implement your own JSON parser. But JSON::XS
850can still help you: You implement a (very simple) array parser and let
851JSON decode the array elements, which are all full JSON objects on their
852own (this wouldn't work if the array elements could be JSON numbers, for
853example):
854
855 my $json = new JSON::XS;
856
857 # open the monster
858 open my $fh, "<bigfile.json"
859 or die "bigfile: $!";
860
861 # first parse the initial "["
862 for (;;) {
863 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
864 or die "read error: $!";
865 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
866
867 # Exit the loop once we found and removed(!) the initial "[".
868 # In essence, we are (ab-)using the $json object as a simple scalar
869 # we append data to.
870 last if $json->incr_text =~ s/^ \s* \[ //x;
871 }
872
873 # now we have the skipped the initial "[", so continue
874 # parsing all the elements.
875 for (;;) {
876 # in this loop we read data until we got a single JSON object
877 for (;;) {
878 if (my $obj = $json->incr_parse) {
879 # do something with $obj
880 last;
881 }
882
883 # add more data
884 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
885 or die "read error: $!";
886 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
887 }
888
889 # in this loop we read data until we either found and parsed the
890 # separating "," between elements, or the final "]"
891 for (;;) {
892 # first skip whitespace
893 $json->incr_text =~ s/^\s*//;
894
895 # if we find "]", we are done
896 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^\]//) {
897 print "finished.\n";
898 exit;
899 }
900
901 # if we find ",", we can continue with the next element
902 if ($json->incr_text =~ s/^,//) {
903 last;
904 }
905
906 # if we find anything else, we have a parse error!
907 if (length $json->incr_text) {
908 die "parse error near ", $json->incr_text;
909 }
910
911 # else add more data
912 sysread $fh, my $buf, 65536
913 or die "read error: $!";
914 $json->incr_parse ($buf); # void context, so no parsing
915 }
916
917This is a complex example, but most of the complexity comes from the fact
918that we are trying to be correct (bear with me if I am wrong, I never ran
919the above example :).
920
672 921
673 922
674=head1 MAPPING 923=head1 MAPPING
675 924
676This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and 925This section describes how JSON::XS maps Perl values to JSON values and
706 955
707A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or 956A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
708string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On 957string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
709the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all 958the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
710the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and 959the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
711might represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 960might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
712 961
713If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent 962If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
714it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as 963it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
715a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of 964a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
716precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value. 965precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
966which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
967re-encoded to a JSON string).
717 968
718Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be 969Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
719represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of 970represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
720precision. 971precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
972the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
721 973
722This might create round-tripping problems as numbers might become strings, 974Note that precision is not accuracy - binary floating point values cannot
723but as Perl is typeless there is no other way to do it. 975represent most decimal fractions exactly, and when converting from and to
976floating point, JSON::XS only guarantees precision up to but not including
977the least significant bit.
724 978
725=item true, false 979=item true, false
726 980
727These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>, 981These JSON atoms become C<Types::Serialiser::true> and
728respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers 982C<Types::Serialiser::false>, respectively. They are overloaded to act
729C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using 983almost exactly like the numbers C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether
730the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function. 984a scalar is a JSON boolean by using the C<Types::Serialiser::is_bool>
985function (after C<use Types::Serialier>, of course).
731 986
732=item null 987=item null
733 988
734A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 989A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
990
991=item shell-style comments (C<< # I<text> >>)
992
993As a nonstandard extension to the JSON syntax that is enabled by the
994C<relaxed> setting, shell-style comments are allowed. They can start
995anywhere outside strings and go till the end of the line.
996
997=item tagged values (C<< (I<tag>)I<value> >>).
998
999Another nonstandard extension to the JSON syntax, enabled with the
1000C<allow_tags> setting, are tagged values. In this implementation, the
1001I<tag> must be a perl package/class name encoded as a JSON string, and the
1002I<value> must be a JSON array encoding optional constructor arguments.
1003
1004See "OBJECT SERIALISATION", below, for details.
735 1005
736=back 1006=back
737 1007
738 1008
739=head2 PERL -> JSON 1009=head2 PERL -> JSON
744 1014
745=over 4 1015=over 4
746 1016
747=item hash references 1017=item hash references
748 1018
749Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 1019Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent
750in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a 1020ordering in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded
751pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but 1021in a pseudo-random order. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash keys
752stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can 1022(determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure will
753optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so 1023serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of
754the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same 1024JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead and is only rarely useful,
755settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead 1025e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text against another for equality.
756and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
757against another for equality.
758 1026
759=item array references 1027=item array references
760 1028
761Perl array references become JSON arrays. 1029Perl array references become JSON arrays.
762 1030
763=item other references 1031=item other references
764 1032
765Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an 1033Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
766exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and 1034exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
767C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can 1035C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON.
768also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
769 1036
1037Since C<JSON::XS> uses the boolean model from L<Types::Serialiser>, you
1038can also C<use Types::Serialiser> and then use C<Types::Serialiser::false>
1039and C<Types::Serialiser::true> to improve readability.
1040
1041 use Types::Serialiser;
770 encode_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true] 1042 encode_json [\0, Types::Serialiser::true] # yields [false,true]
771 1043
772=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false 1044=item Types::Serialiser::true, Types::Serialiser::false
773 1045
774These special values become JSON true and JSON false values, 1046These special values from the L<Types::Serialiser> module become JSON true
775respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want. 1047and JSON false values, respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0>
1048directly if you want.
776 1049
777=item blessed objects 1050=item blessed objects
778 1051
779Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 1052Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON, but C<JSON::XS>
780underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 1053allows various ways of handling objects. See "OBJECT SERIALISATION",
781change in future versions. 1054below, for details.
782 1055
783=item simple scalars 1056=item simple scalars
784 1057
785Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 1058Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
786difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 1059difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
787JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 1060JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
788before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 1061before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
789 1062
790 # dump as number 1063 # dump as number
791 encode_json [2] # yields [2] 1064 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
792 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 1065 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
793 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5] 1066 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
811 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 1084 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
812 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 1085 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
813 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours. 1086 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
814 1087
815You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me 1088You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
816if you need this capability. 1089if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
1090:).
1091
1092Note that numerical precision has the same meaning as under Perl (so
1093binary to decimal conversion follows the same rules as in Perl, which
1094can differ to other languages). Also, your perl interpreter might expose
1095extensions to the floating point numbers of your platform, such as
1096infinities or NaN's - these cannot be represented in JSON, and it is an
1097error to pass those in.
817 1098
818=back 1099=back
819 1100
1101=head2 OBJECT SERIALISATION
820 1102
821=head1 COMPARISON 1103As JSON cannot directly represent Perl objects, you have to choose between
1104a pure JSON representation (without the ability to deserialise the object
1105automatically again), and a nonstandard extension to the JSON syntax,
1106tagged values.
822 1107
823As already mentioned, this module was created because none of the existing 1108=head3 SERIALISATION
824JSON modules could be made to work correctly. First I will describe the 1109
825problems (or pleasures) I encountered with various existing JSON modules, 1110What happens when C<JSON::XS> encounters a Perl object depends on the
826followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 1111C<allow_blessed>, C<convert_blessed> and C<allow_tags> settings, which are
827from any of these problems or limitations. 1112used in this order:
828 1113
829=over 4 1114=over 4
830 1115
831=item JSON 1.07 1116=item 1. C<allow_tags> is enabled and object has a C<FREEZE> method.
832 1117
833Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 1118In this case, C<JSON::XS> uses the L<Types::Serialiser> object
1119serialisation protocol to create a tagged JSON value, using a nonstandard
1120extension to the JSON syntax.
834 1121
835Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles Unicode values is 1122This works by invoking the C<FREEZE> method on the object, with the first
836undocumented. One can get far by feeding it Unicode strings and doing 1123argument being the object to serialise, and the second argument being the
837en-/decoding oneself, but Unicode escapes are not working properly). 1124constant string C<JSON> to distinguish it from other serialisers.
838 1125
839No round-tripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 1126The C<FREEZE> method can return any number of values (i.e. zero or
840the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will 1127more). These values and the paclkage/classname of the object will then be
841decode into the number 2. 1128encoded as a tagged JSON value in the following format:
842 1129
843=item JSON::PC 0.01 1130 ("classname")[FREEZE return values...]
844 1131
845Very fast. 1132For example, the hypothetical C<My::Object> C<FREEZE> method might use the
1133objects C<type> and C<id> members to encode the object:
846 1134
847Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 1135 sub My::Object::FREEZE {
1136 my ($self, $serialiser) = @_;
848 1137
849No round-tripping. 1138 ($self->{type}, $self->{id})
1139 }
850 1140
851Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 1141=item 2. C<convert_blessed> is enabled and object has a C<TO_JSON> method.
852values will make it croak).
853 1142
854Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 1143In this case, the C<TO_JSON> method of the object is invoked in scalar
855which is not a valid JSON text. 1144context. It must return a single scalar that can be directly encoded into
1145JSON. This scalar replaces the object in the JSON text.
856 1146
857Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1147For example, the following C<TO_JSON> method will convert all L<URI>
858getting fixed). 1148objects to JSON strings when serialised. The fatc that these values
1149originally were L<URI> objects is lost.
859 1150
860=item JSON::Syck 0.21 1151 sub URI::TO_JSON {
1152 my ($uri) = @_;
1153 $uri->as_string
1154 }
861 1155
862Very buggy (often crashes). 1156=item 3. C<allow_blessed> is enabled.
863 1157
864Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 1158The object will be serialised as a JSON null value.
865undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a
866single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
867generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
868 1159
869Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (Unicode 1160=item 4. none of the above
870escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to
871I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour).
872 1161
873No round-tripping (simple cases work, but this depends on whether the scalar 1162If none of the settings are enabled or the respective methods are missing,
874value was used in a numeric context or not). 1163C<JSON::XS> throws an exception.
875
876Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
877
878Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
879getting fixed).
880
881Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
882return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
883issue: imagine two banks transferring money between each other using
884JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
885while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
886good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
887the transaction will still not succeed).
888
889=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
890
891Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
892
893Undocumented Unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
894still don't get parsed properly).
895
896Very inflexible.
897
898No round-tripping.
899
900Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
901result in nothing being output)
902
903Does not check input for validity.
904 1164
905=back 1165=back
906 1166
1167=head3 DESERIALISATION
1168
1169For deserialisation there are only two cases to consider: either
1170nonstandard tagging was used, in which case C<allow_tags> decides,
1171or objects cannot be automatically be deserialised, in which
1172case you can use postprocessing or the C<filter_json_object> or
1173C<filter_json_single_key_object> callbacks to get some real objects our of
1174your JSON.
1175
1176This section only considers the tagged value case: I a tagged JSON object
1177is encountered during decoding and C<allow_tags> is disabled, a parse
1178error will result (as if tagged values were not part of the grammar).
1179
1180If C<allow_tags> is enabled, C<JSON::XS> will look up the C<THAW> method
1181of the package/classname used during serialisation. If there is no such
1182method, the decoding will fail with an error.
1183
1184Otherwise, the C<THAW> method is invoked with the classname as first
1185argument, the constant string C<JSON> as second argument, and all the
1186values from the JSON array (the values originally returned by the
1187C<FREEZE> method) as remaining arguments.
1188
1189The method must then return the object. While technically you can return
1190any Perl scalar, you might have to enable the C<enable_nonref> setting to
1191make that work in all cases, so better return an actual blessed reference.
1192
1193As an example, let's implement a C<THAW> function that regenerates the
1194C<My::Object> from the C<FREEZE> example earlier:
1195
1196 sub My::Object::THAW {
1197 my ($class, $serialiser, $type, $id) = @_;
1198
1199 $class->new (type => $type, id => $id)
1200 }
1201
1202
1203=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
1204
1205The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
1206encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
1207some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
1208
1209C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
1210by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
1211control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
1212codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
1213some combinations make less sense than others.
1214
1215Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
1216C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
1217these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
1218- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
1219decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
1220
1221Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
1222simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
1223takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
1224octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
1225and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
1226the same time, which can be confusing.
1227
1228=over 4
1229
1230=item C<utf8> flag disabled
1231
1232When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
1233and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
1234values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
1235characters are decoded as-is, no changes to them will be done, except
1236"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
1237respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
1238funny/weird/dumb stuff).
1239
1240This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
1241want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
1242the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
1243filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
1244to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
1245
1246=item C<utf8> flag enabled
1247
1248If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
1249characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
1250expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
1251of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
1252that.
1253
1254The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
1255will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
1256octet/binary string in Perl.
1257
1258=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
1259
1260With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
1261with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
1262characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
1263
1264If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
1265character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
1266Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
1267ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
1268the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
1269
1270If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
1271regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
1272C<\uXXXX> then before.
1273
1274Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
1275encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
1276encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
1277a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
1278
1279Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
1280values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
1281to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
1282Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
1283
1284So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
1285they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
1286
1287The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
1288as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
1289
1290The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
1291with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
1292as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
12938-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
1294when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
1295might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
1296proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
1297
1298=back
1299
1300
1301=head2 JSON and ECMAscript
1302
1303JSON syntax is based on how literals are represented in javascript (the
1304not-standardised predecessor of ECMAscript) which is presumably why it is
1305called "JavaScript Object Notation".
1306
1307However, JSON is not a subset (and also not a superset of course) of
1308ECMAscript (the standard) or javascript (whatever browsers actually
1309implement).
1310
1311If you want to use javascript's C<eval> function to "parse" JSON, you
1312might run into parse errors for valid JSON texts, or the resulting data
1313structure might not be queryable:
1314
1315One of the problems is that U+2028 and U+2029 are valid characters inside
1316JSON strings, but are not allowed in ECMAscript string literals, so the
1317following Perl fragment will not output something that can be guaranteed
1318to be parsable by javascript's C<eval>:
1319
1320 use JSON::XS;
1321
1322 print encode_json [chr 0x2028];
1323
1324The right fix for this is to use a proper JSON parser in your javascript
1325programs, and not rely on C<eval> (see for example Douglas Crockford's
1326F<json2.js> parser).
1327
1328If this is not an option, you can, as a stop-gap measure, simply encode to
1329ASCII-only JSON:
1330
1331 use JSON::XS;
1332
1333 print JSON::XS->new->ascii->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1334
1335Note that this will enlarge the resulting JSON text quite a bit if you
1336have many non-ASCII characters. You might be tempted to run some regexes
1337to only escape U+2028 and U+2029, e.g.:
1338
1339 # DO NOT USE THIS!
1340 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ([chr 0x2028]);
1341 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa8/\\u2028/g; # escape U+2028
1342 $json =~ s/\xe2\x80\xa9/\\u2029/g; # escape U+2029
1343 print $json;
1344
1345Note that I<this is a bad idea>: the above only works for U+2028 and
1346U+2029 and thus only for fully ECMAscript-compliant parsers. Many existing
1347javascript implementations, however, have issues with other characters as
1348well - using C<eval> naively simply I<will> cause problems.
1349
1350Another problem is that some javascript implementations reserve
1351some property names for their own purposes (which probably makes
1352them non-ECMAscript-compliant). For example, Iceweasel reserves the
1353C<__proto__> property name for its own purposes.
1354
1355If that is a problem, you could parse try to filter the resulting JSON
1356output for these property strings, e.g.:
1357
1358 $json =~ s/"__proto__"\s*:/"__proto__renamed":/g;
1359
1360This works because C<__proto__> is not valid outside of strings, so every
1361occurrence of C<"__proto__"\s*:> must be a string used as property name.
1362
1363If you know of other incompatibilities, please let me know.
1364
907 1365
908=head2 JSON and YAML 1366=head2 JSON and YAML
909 1367
910You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass 1368You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
911hysteria and very far from the truth. In general, there is no way to 1369hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
1370so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
912configure JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML that works for 1371JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
913all cases. 1372cases.
914 1373
915If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this 1374If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
916algorithm (subject to change in future versions): 1375algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
917 1376
918 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1); 1377 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
919 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n"; 1378 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
920 1379
921This will usually generate JSON texts that also parse as valid 1380This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
922YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key 1381YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
923lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible 1382lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
924unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are 1383unicode character escape syntax, so you should make sure that your hash
925noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that 1384keys are noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows
926you do not have codepoints with values outside the Unicode BMP (basic 1385and that you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the
927multilingual page). 1386Unicode BMP (basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/>
1387sequences in strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but
1388other JSON generators might).
928 1389
929There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of. In general 1390There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1391specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
930you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice versa, 1392general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
931or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are high 1393versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
932that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you least 1394high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
933expect it. 1395least expect it.
1396
1397=over 4
1398
1399=item (*)
1400
1401I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1402authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1403acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1404bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1405educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1406problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1407and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1408
1409In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1410clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1411proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1412that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1413educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1414real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1415point out that it isn't true.
1416
1417Addendum/2009: the YAML 1.2 spec is still incompatible with JSON, even
1418though the incompatibilities have been documented (and are known to Brian)
1419for many years and the spec makes explicit claims that YAML is a superset
1420of JSON. It would be so easy to fix, but apparently, bullying people and
1421corrupting userdata is so much easier.
1422
1423=back
934 1424
935 1425
936=head2 SPEED 1426=head2 SPEED
937 1427
938It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1428It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
939tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1429tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
940in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1430in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
941system. 1431system.
942 1432
943First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short 1433First comes a comparison between various modules using
944single-line JSON string: 1434a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1435L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
945 1436
946 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \ 1437 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1",
947 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]} 1438 "we were just talking"], "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7,
1439 1, 0]}
948 1440
949It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses 1441It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
950the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface 1442the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
951with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables 1443with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
952shrink). Higher is better: 1444shrink. JSON::DWIW/DS uses the deserialise function, while JSON::DWIW::FJ
1445uses the from_json method). Higher is better:
953 1446
954 module | encode | decode | 1447 module | encode | decode |
955 -----------|------------|------------| 1448 --------------|------------|------------|
956 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 | 1449 JSON::DWIW/DS | 86302.551 | 102300.098 |
957 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 | 1450 JSON::DWIW/FJ | 86302.551 | 75983.768 |
958 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 | 1451 JSON::PP | 15827.562 | 6638.658 |
959 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 | 1452 JSON::Syck | 63358.066 | 47662.545 |
960 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 | 1453 JSON::XS | 511500.488 | 511500.488 |
961 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 | 1454 JSON::XS/2 | 291271.111 | 388361.481 |
962 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 | 1455 JSON::XS/3 | 361577.931 | 361577.931 |
963 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 | 1456 Storable | 66788.280 | 265462.278 |
964 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
965 -----------+------------+------------+ 1457 --------------+------------+------------+
966 1458
967That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding, 1459That is, JSON::XS is almost six times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
968about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster 1460about five times faster on decoding, and over thirty to seventy times
969than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares 1461faster than JSON's pure perl implementation. It also compares favourably
970favourably to Storable for small amounts of data. 1462to Storable for small amounts of data.
971 1463
972Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1464Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
973search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1465search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
974 1466
975 module | encode | decode | 1467 module | encode | decode |
976 -----------|------------|------------| 1468 --------------|------------|------------|
977 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 | 1469 JSON::DWIW/DS | 1647.927 | 2673.916 |
978 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 | 1470 JSON::DWIW/FJ | 1630.249 | 2596.128 |
979 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
980 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 | 1471 JSON::PP | 400.640 | 62.311 |
981 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 | 1472 JSON::Syck | 1481.040 | 1524.869 |
982 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 | 1473 JSON::XS | 20661.596 | 9541.183 |
983 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 | 1474 JSON::XS/2 | 10683.403 | 9416.938 |
984 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 | 1475 JSON::XS/3 | 20661.596 | 9400.054 |
985 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 | 1476 Storable | 19765.806 | 10000.725 |
986 -----------+------------+------------+ 1477 --------------+------------+------------+
987 1478
988Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly 1479Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
989decodes faster). 1480decodes a bit faster).
990 1481
991On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules 1482On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
992(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 1483(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
993will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse 1484will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
994to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 1485to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
1020to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be 1511to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
1021conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process 1512conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
1022has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the 1513has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
1023C<max_depth> method. 1514C<max_depth> method.
1024 1515
1025And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think 1516Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
1026of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, 1517case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
1027though... 1518
1519Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1520structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1521information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1522will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
1028 1523
1029If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption 1524If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
1030by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at 1525by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1031L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether 1526L<http://blog.archive.jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security/> to
1032you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser 1527see whether you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really
1033design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major 1528are browser design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with
1034browser developers care only for features, not about getting security 1529it, as major browser developers care only for features, not about getting
1035right). 1530security right).
1531
1532
1533=head1 INTEROPERABILITY WITH OTHER MODULES
1534
1535C<JSON::XS> uses the L<Types::Serialiser> module to provide boolean
1536constants. That means that the JSON true and false values will be
1537comaptible to true and false values of iother modules that do the same,
1538such as L<JSON::PP> and L<CBOR::XS>.
1036 1539
1037 1540
1038=head1 THREADS 1541=head1 THREADS
1039 1542
1040This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no 1543This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1041plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the 1544plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1042horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated 1545horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1043process simulations - use fork, its I<much> faster, cheaper, better). 1546process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1044 1547
1045(It might actually work, but you have been warned). 1548(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
1046 1549
1047 1550
1551=head1 THE PERILS OF SETLOCALE
1552
1553Sometimes people avoid the Perl locale support and directly call the
1554system's setlocale function with C<LC_ALL>.
1555
1556This breaks both perl and modules such as JSON::XS, as stringification of
1557numbers no longer works correctly (e.g. C<$x = 0.1; print "$x"+1> might
1558print C<1>, and JSON::XS might output illegal JSON as JSON::XS relies on
1559perl to stringify numbers).
1560
1561The solution is simple: don't call C<setlocale>, or use it for only those
1562categories you need, such as C<LC_MESSAGES> or C<LC_CTYPE>.
1563
1564If you need C<LC_NUMERIC>, you should enable it only around the code that
1565actually needs it (avoiding stringification of numbers), and restore it
1566afterwards.
1567
1568
1048=head1 BUGS 1569=head1 BUGS
1049 1570
1050While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1571While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
1051not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1572not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. If you
1052still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they 1573keep reporting bugs they will be fixed swiftly, though.
1053will be fixed swiftly, though.
1054 1574
1055Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting 1575Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1056service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason. 1576service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
1057 1577
1058=cut 1578=cut
1059 1579
1060our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" }; 1580BEGIN {
1061our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" }; 1581 *true = \$Types::Serialiser::true;
1582 *true = \&Types::Serialiser::true;
1583 *false = \$Types::Serialiser::false;
1584 *false = \&Types::Serialiser::false;
1585 *is_bool = \&Types::Serialiser::is_bool;
1062 1586
1063sub true() { $true } 1587 *JSON::XS::Boolean:: = *Types::Serialiser::Boolean::;
1064sub false() { $false }
1065
1066sub is_bool($) {
1067 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
1068# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
1069} 1588}
1070 1589
1071XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION; 1590XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
1072 1591
1073package JSON::XS::Boolean; 1592=head1 SEE ALSO
1074 1593
1075use overload 1594The F<json_xs> command line utility for quick experiments.
1076 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
1077 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
1078 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1079 fallback => 1;
1080
10811;
1082 1595
1083=head1 AUTHOR 1596=head1 AUTHOR
1084 1597
1085 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1598 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1086 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1599 http://home.schmorp.de/
1087 1600
1088=cut 1601=cut
1089 1602
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