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Revision 1.23 by root, Sun Mar 25 21:19:13 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.92 by root, Fri Mar 21 21:47:43 2008 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3=encoding utf-8
4
3JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast 5JSON::XS - JSON serialising/deserialising, done correctly and fast
6
7JSON::XS - 正しくて高速な JSON シリアライザ/デシリアライザ
8 (http://fleur.hio.jp/perldoc/mix/lib/JSON/XS.html)
4 9
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 10=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 11
7 use JSON::XS; 12 use JSON::XS;
8 13
9 # exported functions, they croak on error 14 # exported functions, they croak on error
10 # and expect/generate UTF-8 15 # and expect/generate UTF-8
11 16
12 $utf8_encoded_json_text = to_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref; 17 $utf8_encoded_json_text = encode_json $perl_hash_or_arrayref;
13 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = from_json $utf8_encoded_json_text; 18 $perl_hash_or_arrayref = decode_json $utf8_encoded_json_text;
14
15 # objToJson and jsonToObj aliases to to_json and from_json
16 # are exported for compatibility to the JSON module,
17 # but should not be used in new code.
18 19
19 # OO-interface 20 # OO-interface
20 21
21 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref; 22 $coder = JSON::XS->new->ascii->pretty->allow_nonref;
22 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar); 23 $pretty_printed_unencoded = $coder->encode ($perl_scalar);
23 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text); 24 $perl_scalar = $coder->decode ($unicode_json_text);
24 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
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 34=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 35
27This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its 36This module converts Perl data structures to JSON and vice versa. Its
28primary 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
29I<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
42overriden) with no overhead due to emulation (by inheritign 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.
30 47
31As 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
32to 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
33modules, 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
34their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug 51their maintainers are unresponsive, gone missing, or not listening to bug
41 58
42=head2 FEATURES 59=head2 FEATURES
43 60
44=over 4 61=over 4
45 62
46=item * correct unicode handling 63=item * correct Unicode handling
47 64
48This 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
49it does so. 66so, and even documents what "correct" means.
50 67
51=item * round-trip integrity 68=item * round-trip integrity
52 69
53When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported 70When you serialise a perl data structure using only datatypes supported
54by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level. 71by JSON, the deserialised data structure is identical on the Perl level.
55(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
56like a number). 73like a number). There minor I<are> exceptions to this, read the MAPPING
74section below to learn about those.
57 75
58=item * strict checking of JSON correctness 76=item * strict checking of JSON correctness
59 77
60There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default, 78There is no guessing, no generating of illegal JSON texts by default,
61and 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
62feature). 80feature).
63 81
64=item * fast 82=item * fast
65 83
66Compared to other JSON modules, this module compares favourably in terms 84Compared to other JSON modules and other serialisers such as Storable,
67of speed, too. 85this module usually compares favourably in terms of speed, too.
68 86
69=item * simple to use 87=item * simple to use
70 88
71This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an OO 89This module has both a simple functional interface as well as an objetc
72interface. 90oriented interface interface.
73 91
74=item * reasonably versatile output formats 92=item * reasonably versatile output formats
75 93
76You can choose between the most compact guarenteed single-line format 94You can choose between the most compact guaranteed-single-line format
77possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format 95possible (nice for simple line-based protocols), a pure-ascii format
78(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
79unicode 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
80stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like. 98stuff). Or you can combine those features in whatever way you like.
81 99
82=back 100=back
83 101
84=cut 102=cut
85 103
86package JSON::XS; 104package JSON::XS;
87 105
88use strict; 106use strict;
89 107
90BEGIN {
91 our $VERSION = '0.8'; 108our $VERSION = '2.1';
92 our @ISA = qw(Exporter); 109our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
93 110
94 our @EXPORT = qw(to_json from_json objToJson jsonToObj); 111our @EXPORT = qw(encode_json decode_json to_json from_json);
95 require Exporter;
96 112
113sub to_json($) {
97 require XSLoader; 114 require Carp;
98 XSLoader::load JSON::XS::, $VERSION; 115 Carp::croak ("JSON::XS::to_json has been renamed to encode_json, either downgrade to pre-2.0 versions of JSON::XS or rename the call");
99} 116}
100 117
118sub from_json($) {
119 require Carp;
120 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");
121}
122
123use Exporter;
124use XSLoader;
125
101=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE 126=head1 FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE
102 127
103The following convinience methods are provided by this module. They are 128The following convenience methods are provided by this module. They are
104exported by default: 129exported by default:
105 130
106=over 4 131=over 4
107 132
108=item $json_text = to_json $perl_scalar 133=item $json_text = encode_json $perl_scalar
109 134
110Converts the given Perl data structure (a simple scalar or a reference to 135Converts the given Perl data structure to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string
111a hash or array) to a UTF-8 encoded, binary string (that is, the string contains 136(that is, the string contains octets only). Croaks on error.
112octets only). Croaks on error.
113 137
114This function call is functionally identical to: 138This function call is functionally identical to:
115 139
116 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar) 140 $json_text = JSON::XS->new->utf8->encode ($perl_scalar)
117 141
118except being faster. 142except being faster.
119 143
120=item $perl_scalar = from_json $json_text 144=item $perl_scalar = decode_json $json_text
121 145
122The opposite of C<to_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries to 146The opposite of C<encode_json>: expects an UTF-8 (binary) string and tries
123parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting simple 147to parse that as an UTF-8 encoded JSON text, returning the resulting
124scalar or reference. Croaks on error. 148reference. Croaks on error.
125 149
126This function call is functionally identical to: 150This function call is functionally identical to:
127 151
128 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text) 152 $perl_scalar = JSON::XS->new->utf8->decode ($json_text)
129 153
130except being faster. 154except being faster.
131 155
156=item $is_boolean = JSON::XS::is_bool $scalar
157
158Returns true if the passed scalar represents either JSON::XS::true or
159JSON::XS::false, two constants that act like C<1> and C<0>, respectively
160and are used to represent JSON C<true> and C<false> values in Perl.
161
162See MAPPING, below, for more information on how JSON values are mapped to
163Perl.
164
132=back 165=back
166
167
168=head1 A FEW NOTES ON UNICODE AND PERL
169
170Since this often leads to confusion, here are a few very clear words on
171how Unicode works in Perl, modulo bugs.
172
173=over 4
174
175=item 1. Perl strings can store characters with ordinal values > 255.
176
177This enables you to store Unicode characters as single characters in a
178Perl string - very natural.
179
180=item 2. Perl does I<not> associate an encoding with your strings.
181
182... until you force it to, e.g. when matching it against a regex, or
183printing the scalar to a file, in which case Perl either interprets your
184string as locale-encoded text, octets/binary, or as Unicode, depending
185on various settings. In no case is an encoding stored together with your
186data, it is I<use> that decides encoding, not any magical meta data.
187
188=item 3. The internal utf-8 flag has no meaning with regards to the
189encoding of your string.
190
191Just ignore that flag unless you debug a Perl bug, a module written in
192XS or want to dive into the internals of perl. Otherwise it will only
193confuse you, as, despite the name, it says nothing about how your string
194is encoded. You can have Unicode strings with that flag set, with that
195flag clear, and you can have binary data with that flag set and that flag
196clear. Other possibilities exist, too.
197
198If you didn't know about that flag, just the better, pretend it doesn't
199exist.
200
201=item 4. A "Unicode String" is simply a string where each character can be
202validly interpreted as a Unicode codepoint.
203
204If you have UTF-8 encoded data, it is no longer a Unicode string, but a
205Unicode string encoded in UTF-8, giving you a binary string.
206
207=item 5. A string containing "high" (> 255) character values is I<not> a UTF-8 string.
208
209It's a fact. Learn to live with it.
210
211=back
212
213I hope this helps :)
133 214
134 215
135=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE 216=head1 OBJECT-ORIENTED INTERFACE
136 217
137The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or 218The object oriented interface lets you configure your own encoding or
150 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]}) 231 my $json = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after->encode ({a => [1,2]})
151 => {"a": [1, 2]} 232 => {"a": [1, 2]}
152 233
153=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable]) 234=item $json = $json->ascii ([$enable])
154 235
236=item $enabled = $json->get_ascii
237
155If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not 238If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
156generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any 239generate characters outside the code range C<0..127> (which is ASCII). Any
157unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a 240Unicode characters outside that range will be escaped using either a
158single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence, 241single \uXXXX (BMP characters) or a double \uHHHH\uLLLLL escape sequence,
159as per RFC4627. 242as per RFC4627. The resulting encoded JSON text can be treated as a native
243Unicode string, an ascii-encoded, latin1-encoded or UTF-8 encoded string,
244or any other superset of ASCII.
160 245
161If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode 246If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
162characters unless required by the JSON syntax. This results in a faster 247characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags. This results
163and more compact format. 248in a faster and more compact format.
249
250See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
251document.
252
253The main use for this flag is to produce JSON texts that can be
254transmitted over a 7-bit channel, as the encoded JSON texts will not
255contain any 8 bit characters.
164 256
165 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401]) 257 JSON::XS->new->ascii (1)->encode ([chr 0x10401])
166 => ["\ud801\udc01"] 258 => ["\ud801\udc01"]
167 259
260=item $json = $json->latin1 ([$enable])
261
262=item $enabled = $json->get_latin1
263
264If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
265the resulting JSON text as latin1 (or iso-8859-1), escaping any characters
266outside the code range C<0..255>. The resulting string can be treated as a
267latin1-encoded JSON text or a native Unicode string. The C<decode> method
268will not be affected in any way by this flag, as C<decode> by default
269expects Unicode, which is a strict superset of latin1.
270
271If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not escape Unicode
272characters unless required by the JSON syntax or other flags.
273
274See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
275document.
276
277The main use for this flag is efficiently encoding binary data as JSON
278text, as most octets will not be escaped, resulting in a smaller encoded
279size. The disadvantage is that the resulting JSON text is encoded
280in latin1 (and must correctly be treated as such when storing and
281transferring), a rare encoding for JSON. It is therefore most useful when
282you want to store data structures known to contain binary data efficiently
283in files or databases, not when talking to other JSON encoders/decoders.
284
285 JSON::XS->new->latin1->encode (["\x{89}\x{abc}"]
286 => ["\x{89}\\u0abc"] # (perl syntax, U+abc escaped, U+89 not)
287
168=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable]) 288=item $json = $json->utf8 ([$enable])
289
290=item $enabled = $json->get_utf8
169 291
170If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode 292If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will encode
171the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the 293the JSON result into UTF-8, as required by many protocols, while the
172C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please 294C<decode> method expects to be handled an UTF-8-encoded string. Please
173note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the 295note that UTF-8-encoded strings do not contain any characters outside the
174range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future 296range C<0..255>, they are thus useful for bytewise/binary I/O. In future
175versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16 297versions, enabling this option might enable autodetection of the UTF-16
176and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627. 298and UTF-32 encoding families, as described in RFC4627.
177 299
178If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON 300If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will return the JSON
179string as a (non-encoded) unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a 301string as a (non-encoded) Unicode string, while C<decode> expects thus a
180unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs 302Unicode string. Any decoding or encoding (e.g. to UTF-8 or UTF-16) needs
181to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module. 303to be done yourself, e.g. using the Encode module.
304
305See also the section I<ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES> later in this
306document.
182 307
183Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON: 308Example, output UTF-16BE-encoded JSON:
184 309
185 use Encode; 310 use Encode;
186 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object); 311 $jsontext = encode "UTF-16BE", JSON::XS->new->encode ($object);
207 ] 332 ]
208 } 333 }
209 334
210=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable]) 335=item $json = $json->indent ([$enable])
211 336
337=item $enabled = $json->get_indent
338
212If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline 339If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will use a multiline
213format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair 340format as output, putting every array member or object/hash key-value pair
214into its own line, identing them properly. 341into its own line, indenting them properly.
215 342
216If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the 343If C<$enable> is false, no newlines or indenting will be produced, and the
217resulting JSON text is guarenteed not to contain any C<newlines>. 344resulting JSON text is guaranteed not to contain any C<newlines>.
218 345
219This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 346This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
220 347
221=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable]) 348=item $json = $json->space_before ([$enable])
349
350=item $enabled = $json->get_space_before
222 351
223If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 352If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
224optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects. 353optional space before the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects.
225 354
226If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra 355If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will not add any extra
232Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled: 361Example, space_before enabled, space_after and indent disabled:
233 362
234 {"key" :"value"} 363 {"key" :"value"}
235 364
236=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable]) 365=item $json = $json->space_after ([$enable])
366
367=item $enabled = $json->get_space_after
237 368
238If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra 369If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will add an extra
239optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects 370optional space after the C<:> separating keys from values in JSON objects
240and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array 371and extra whitespace after the C<,> separating key-value pairs and array
241members. 372members.
247 378
248Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled: 379Example, space_before and indent disabled, space_after enabled:
249 380
250 {"key": "value"} 381 {"key": "value"}
251 382
383=item $json = $json->relaxed ([$enable])
384
385=item $enabled = $json->get_relaxed
386
387If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<decode> will accept some
388extensions to normal JSON syntax (see below). C<encode> will not be
389affected in anyway. I<Be aware that this option makes you accept invalid
390JSON texts as if they were valid!>. I suggest only to use this option to
391parse application-specific files written by humans (configuration files,
392resource files etc.)
393
394If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<decode> will only accept
395valid JSON texts.
396
397Currently accepted extensions are:
398
399=over 4
400
401=item * list items can have an end-comma
402
403JSON I<separates> array elements and key-value pairs with commas. This
404can be annoying if you write JSON texts manually and want to be able to
405quickly append elements, so this extension accepts comma at the end of
406such items not just between them:
407
408 [
409 1,
410 2, <- this comma not normally allowed
411 ]
412 {
413 "k1": "v1",
414 "k2": "v2", <- this comma not normally allowed
415 }
416
417=item * shell-style '#'-comments
418
419Whenever JSON allows whitespace, shell-style comments are additionally
420allowed. They are terminated by the first carriage-return or line-feed
421character, after which more white-space and comments are allowed.
422
423 [
424 1, # this comment not allowed in JSON
425 # neither this one...
426 ]
427
428=back
429
252=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable]) 430=item $json = $json->canonical ([$enable])
431
432=item $enabled = $json->get_canonical
253 433
254If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects 434If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will output JSON objects
255by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead. 435by sorting their keys. This is adding a comparatively high overhead.
256 436
257If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value 437If C<$enable> is false, then the C<encode> method will output key-value
258pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs 438pairs in the order Perl stores them (which will likely change between runs
259of the same script). 439of the same script).
260 440
261This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as 441This option is useful if you want the same data structure to be encoded as
262the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled, 442the same JSON text (given the same overall settings). If it is disabled,
263the same hash migh be encoded differently even if contains the same data, 443the same hash might be encoded differently even if contains the same data,
264as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl. 444as key-value pairs have no inherent ordering in Perl.
265 445
266This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts. 446This setting has no effect when decoding JSON texts.
267 447
268=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable]) 448=item $json = $json->allow_nonref ([$enable])
449
450=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_nonref
269 451
270If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a 452If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method can convert a
271non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value, 453non-reference into its corresponding string, number or null JSON value,
272which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON 454which is an extension to RFC4627. Likewise, C<decode> will accept those JSON
273values instead of croaking. 455values instead of croaking.
281resulting in an invalid JSON text: 463resulting in an invalid JSON text:
282 464
283 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!") 465 JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->encode ("Hello, World!")
284 => "Hello, World!" 466 => "Hello, World!"
285 467
468=item $json = $json->allow_blessed ([$enable])
469
470=item $enabled = $json->get_allow_blessed
471
472If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then the C<encode> method will not
473barf when it encounters a blessed reference. Instead, the value of the
474B<convert_blessed> option will decide whether C<null> (C<convert_blessed>
475disabled or no C<TO_JSON> method found) or a representation of the
476object (C<convert_blessed> enabled and C<TO_JSON> method found) is being
477encoded. Has no effect on C<decode>.
478
479If C<$enable> is false (the default), then C<encode> will throw an
480exception when it encounters a blessed object.
481
482=item $json = $json->convert_blessed ([$enable])
483
484=item $enabled = $json->get_convert_blessed
485
486If C<$enable> is true (or missing), then C<encode>, upon encountering a
487blessed object, will check for the availability of the C<TO_JSON> method
488on the object's class. If found, it will be called in scalar context
489and the resulting scalar will be encoded instead of the object. If no
490C<TO_JSON> method is found, the value of C<allow_blessed> will decide what
491to do.
492
493The C<TO_JSON> method may safely call die if it wants. If C<TO_JSON>
494returns other blessed objects, those will be handled in the same
495way. C<TO_JSON> must take care of not causing an endless recursion cycle
496(== crash) in this case. The name of C<TO_JSON> was chosen because other
497methods called by the Perl core (== not by the user of the object) are
498usually in upper case letters and to avoid collisions with any C<to_json>
499function or method.
500
501This setting does not yet influence C<decode> in any way, but in the
502future, global hooks might get installed that influence C<decode> and are
503enabled by this setting.
504
505If C<$enable> is false, then the C<allow_blessed> setting will decide what
506to do when a blessed object is found.
507
508=item $json = $json->filter_json_object ([$coderef->($hashref)])
509
510When C<$coderef> is specified, it will be called from C<decode> each
511time it decodes a JSON object. The only argument is a reference to the
512newly-created hash. If the code references returns a single scalar (which
513need not be a reference), this value (i.e. a copy of that scalar to avoid
514aliasing) is inserted into the deserialised data structure. If it returns
515an empty list (NOTE: I<not> C<undef>, which is a valid scalar), the
516original deserialised hash will be inserted. This setting can slow down
517decoding considerably.
518
519When C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, any existing callback will
520be removed and C<decode> will not change the deserialised hash in any
521way.
522
523Example, convert all JSON objects into the integer 5:
524
525 my $js = JSON::XS->new->filter_json_object (sub { 5 });
526 # returns [5]
527 $js->decode ('[{}]')
528 # throw an exception because allow_nonref is not enabled
529 # so a lone 5 is not allowed.
530 $js->decode ('{"a":1, "b":2}');
531
532=item $json = $json->filter_json_single_key_object ($key [=> $coderef->($value)])
533
534Works remotely similar to C<filter_json_object>, but is only called for
535JSON objects having a single key named C<$key>.
536
537This C<$coderef> is called before the one specified via
538C<filter_json_object>, if any. It gets passed the single value in the JSON
539object. If it returns a single value, it will be inserted into the data
540structure. If it returns nothing (not even C<undef> but the empty list),
541the callback from C<filter_json_object> will be called next, as if no
542single-key callback were specified.
543
544If C<$coderef> is omitted or undefined, the corresponding callback will be
545disabled. There can only ever be one callback for a given key.
546
547As this callback gets called less often then the C<filter_json_object>
548one, decoding speed will not usually suffer as much. Therefore, single-key
549objects make excellent targets to serialise Perl objects into, especially
550as single-key JSON objects are as close to the type-tagged value concept
551as JSON gets (it's basically an ID/VALUE tuple). Of course, JSON does not
552support this in any way, so you need to make sure your data never looks
553like a serialised Perl hash.
554
555Typical names for the single object key are C<__class_whatever__>, or
556C<$__dollars_are_rarely_used__$> or C<}ugly_brace_placement>, or even
557things like C<__class_md5sum(classname)__>, to reduce the risk of clashing
558with real hashes.
559
560Example, decode JSON objects of the form C<< { "__widget__" => <id> } >>
561into the corresponding C<< $WIDGET{<id>} >> object:
562
563 # return whatever is in $WIDGET{5}:
564 JSON::XS
565 ->new
566 ->filter_json_single_key_object (__widget__ => sub {
567 $WIDGET{ $_[0] }
568 })
569 ->decode ('{"__widget__": 5')
570
571 # this can be used with a TO_JSON method in some "widget" class
572 # for serialisation to json:
573 sub WidgetBase::TO_JSON {
574 my ($self) = @_;
575
576 unless ($self->{id}) {
577 $self->{id} = ..get..some..id..;
578 $WIDGET{$self->{id}} = $self;
579 }
580
581 { __widget__ => $self->{id} }
582 }
583
286=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable]) 584=item $json = $json->shrink ([$enable])
287 585
586=item $enabled = $json->get_shrink
587
288Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for 588Perl usually over-allocates memory a bit when allocating space for
289strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either 589strings. This flag optionally resizes strings generated by either
290C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save 590C<encode> or C<decode> to their minimum size possible. This can save
291memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many 591memory when your JSON texts are either very very long or you have many
292short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form 592short strings. It will also try to downgrade any strings to octet-form
293if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called 593if possible: perl stores strings internally either in an encoding called
294UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less 594UTF-X or in octet-form. The latter cannot store everything but uses less
295space in general. 595space in general (and some buggy Perl or C code might even rely on that
596internal representation being used).
296 597
598The actual definition of what shrink does might change in future versions,
599but it will always try to save space at the expense of time.
600
297If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will be shrunk-to-fit, 601If C<$enable> is true (or missing), the string returned by C<encode> will
298while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be shrunk-to-fit. 602be shrunk-to-fit, while all strings generated by C<decode> will also be
603shrunk-to-fit.
299 604
300If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used. 605If C<$enable> is false, then the normal perl allocation algorithms are used.
301If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster. 606If you work with your data, then this is likely to be faster.
302 607
303In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting 608In the future, this setting might control other things, such as converting
304strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats 609strings that look like integers or floats into integers or floats
305internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space. 610internally (there is no difference on the Perl level), saving space.
306 611
307=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth]) 612=item $json = $json->max_depth ([$maximum_nesting_depth])
308 613
614=item $max_depth = $json->get_max_depth
615
309Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<8192>) accepted while encoding 616Sets the maximum nesting level (default C<512>) accepted while encoding
310or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or 617or decoding. If the JSON text or Perl data structure has an equal or
311higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will 618higher nesting level then this limit, then the encoder and decoder will
312stop and croak at that point. 619stop and croak at that point.
313 620
314Nesting 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
317given character in a string. 624given character in a string.
318 625
319Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures 626Setting the maximum depth to one disallows any nesting, so that ensures
320that the object is only a single hash/object or array. 627that the object is only a single hash/object or array.
321 628
322The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next nearest power 629The argument to C<max_depth> will be rounded up to the next highest power
323of two. 630of two. If no argument is given, the highest possible setting will be
631used, which is rarely useful.
632
633See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
634
635=item $json = $json->max_size ([$maximum_string_size])
636
637=item $max_size = $json->get_max_size
638
639Set the maximum length a JSON text may have (in bytes) where decoding is
640being attempted. The default is C<0>, meaning no limit. When C<decode>
641is called on a string longer then this number of characters it will not
642attempt to decode the string but throw an exception. This setting has no
643effect on C<encode> (yet).
644
645The argument to C<max_size> will be rounded up to the next B<highest>
646power of two (so may be more than requested). If no argument is given, the
647limit check will be deactivated (same as when C<0> is specified).
324 648
325See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful. 649See SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS, below, for more info on why this is useful.
326 650
327=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar) 651=item $json_text = $json->encode ($perl_scalar)
328 652
340 664
341JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become 665JSON numbers and strings become simple Perl scalars. JSON arrays become
342Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes 666Perl arrayrefs and JSON objects become Perl hashrefs. C<true> becomes
343C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>. 667C<1>, C<false> becomes C<0> and C<null> becomes C<undef>.
344 668
669=item ($perl_scalar, $characters) = $json->decode_prefix ($json_text)
670
671This works like the C<decode> method, but instead of raising an exception
672when there is trailing garbage after the first JSON object, it will
673silently stop parsing there and return the number of characters consumed
674so far.
675
676This is useful if your JSON texts are not delimited by an outer protocol
677(which is not the brightest thing to do in the first place) and you need
678to know where the JSON text ends.
679
680 JSON::XS->new->decode_prefix ("[1] the tail")
681 => ([], 3)
682
345=back 683=back
346 684
347 685
348=head1 MAPPING 686=head1 MAPPING
349 687
351vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most 689vice versa. These mappings are designed to "do the right thing" in most
352circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics 690circumstances automatically, preserving round-tripping characteristics
353(what you put in comes out as something equivalent). 691(what you put in comes out as something equivalent).
354 692
355For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions, 693For the more enlightened: note that in the following descriptions,
356lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppcercase I<Perl> 694lowercase I<perl> refers to the Perl interpreter, while uppercase I<Perl>
357refers to the abstract Perl language itself. 695refers to the abstract Perl language itself.
358 696
697
359=head2 JSON -> PERL 698=head2 JSON -> PERL
360 699
361=over 4 700=over 4
362 701
363=item object 702=item object
364 703
365A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object 704A JSON object becomes a reference to a hash in Perl. No ordering of object
366keys is preserved (JSON does not preserver object key ordering itself). 705keys is preserved (JSON does not preserve object key ordering itself).
367 706
368=item array 707=item array
369 708
370A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl. 709A JSON array becomes a reference to an array in Perl.
371 710
375are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual 714are represented by the same codepoints in the Perl string, so no manual
376decoding is necessary. 715decoding is necessary.
377 716
378=item number 717=item number
379 718
380A JSON number becomes either an integer or numeric (floating point) 719A JSON number becomes either an integer, numeric (floating point) or
381scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On the 720string scalar in perl, depending on its range and any fractional parts. On
382Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all the 721the Perl level, there is no difference between those as Perl handles all
383conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and might 722the conversion details, but an integer may take slightly less memory and
384represent more values exactly than (floating point) numbers. 723might represent more values exactly than floating point numbers.
724
725If the number consists of digits only, JSON::XS will try to represent
726it as an integer value. If that fails, it will try to represent it as
727a numeric (floating point) value if that is possible without loss of
728precision. Otherwise it will preserve the number as a string value (in
729which case you lose roundtripping ability, as the JSON number will be
730re-encoded toa JSON string).
731
732Numbers containing a fractional or exponential part will always be
733represented as numeric (floating point) values, possibly at a loss of
734precision (in which case you might lose perfect roundtripping ability, but
735the JSON number will still be re-encoded as a JSON number).
385 736
386=item true, false 737=item true, false
387 738
388These JSON atoms become C<0>, C<1>, respectively. Information is lost in 739These JSON atoms become C<JSON::XS::true> and C<JSON::XS::false>,
389this process. Future versions might represent those values differently, 740respectively. They are overloaded to act almost exactly like the numbers
390but they will be guarenteed to act like these integers would normally in 741C<1> and C<0>. You can check whether a scalar is a JSON boolean by using
391Perl. 742the C<JSON::XS::is_bool> function.
392 743
393=item null 744=item null
394 745
395A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl. 746A JSON null atom becomes C<undef> in Perl.
396 747
397=back 748=back
749
398 750
399=head2 PERL -> JSON 751=head2 PERL -> JSON
400 752
401The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a 753The mapping from Perl to JSON is slightly more difficult, as Perl is a
402truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by 754truly typeless language, so we can only guess which JSON type is meant by
405=over 4 757=over 4
406 758
407=item hash references 759=item hash references
408 760
409Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering 761Perl hash references become JSON objects. As there is no inherent ordering
410in hash keys, they will usually be encoded in a pseudo-random order that 762in hash keys (or JSON objects), they will usually be encoded in a
411can change between runs of the same program but stays generally the same 763pseudo-random order that can change between runs of the same program but
412within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can optionally sort the hash 764stays generally the same within a single run of a program. JSON::XS can
413keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so the same datastructure 765optionally sort the hash keys (determined by the I<canonical> flag), so
414will serialise to the same JSON text (given same settings and version of 766the same datastructure will serialise to the same JSON text (given same
415JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead. 767settings and version of JSON::XS), but this incurs a runtime overhead
768and is only rarely useful, e.g. when you want to compare some JSON text
769against another for equality.
416 770
417=item array references 771=item array references
418 772
419Perl array references become JSON arrays. 773Perl array references become JSON arrays.
420 774
775=item other references
776
777Other unblessed references are generally not allowed and will cause an
778exception to be thrown, except for references to the integers C<0> and
779C<1>, which get turned into C<false> and C<true> atoms in JSON. You can
780also use C<JSON::XS::false> and C<JSON::XS::true> to improve readability.
781
782 encode_json [\0,JSON::XS::true] # yields [false,true]
783
784=item JSON::XS::true, JSON::XS::false
785
786These special values become JSON true and JSON false values,
787respectively. You can also use C<\1> and C<\0> directly if you want.
788
421=item blessed objects 789=item blessed objects
422 790
423Blessed objects are not allowed. JSON::XS currently tries to encode their 791Blessed objects are not directly representable in JSON. See the
424underlying representation (hash- or arrayref), but this behaviour might 792C<allow_blessed> and C<convert_blessed> methods on various options on
425change in future versions. 793how to deal with this: basically, you can choose between throwing an
794exception, encoding the reference as if it weren't blessed, or provide
795your own serialiser method.
426 796
427=item simple scalars 797=item simple scalars
428 798
429Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most 799Simple Perl scalars (any scalar that is not a reference) are the most
430difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as 800difficult objects to encode: JSON::XS will encode undefined scalars as
431JSON null value, scalars that have last been used in a string context 801JSON C<null> values, scalars that have last been used in a string context
432before encoding as JSON strings and anything else as number value: 802before encoding as JSON strings, and anything else as number value:
433 803
434 # dump as number 804 # dump as number
435 to_json [2] # yields [2] 805 encode_json [2] # yields [2]
436 to_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17] 806 encode_json [-3.0e17] # yields [-3e+17]
437 my $value = 5; to_json [$value] # yields [5] 807 my $value = 5; encode_json [$value] # yields [5]
438 808
439 # used as string, so dump as string 809 # used as string, so dump as string
440 print $value; 810 print $value;
441 to_json [$value] # yields ["5"] 811 encode_json [$value] # yields ["5"]
442 812
443 # undef becomes null 813 # undef becomes null
444 to_json [undef] # yields [null] 814 encode_json [undef] # yields [null]
445 815
446You can force the type to be a string by stringifying it: 816You can force the type to be a JSON string by stringifying it:
447 817
448 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number 818 my $x = 3.1; # some variable containing a number
449 "$x"; # stringified 819 "$x"; # stringified
450 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify 820 $x .= ""; # another, more awkward way to stringify
451 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often 821 print $x; # perl does it for you, too, quite often
452 822
453You can force the type to be a number by numifying it: 823You can force the type to be a JSON number by numifying it:
454 824
455 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string 825 my $x = "3"; # some variable containing a string
456 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number 826 $x += 0; # numify it, ensuring it will be dumped as a number
457 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choise is yours. 827 $x *= 1; # same thing, the choice is yours.
458 828
459You can not currently output JSON booleans or force the type in other, 829You can not currently force the type in other, less obscure, ways. Tell me
460less obscure, ways. Tell me if you need this capability. 830if you need this capability (but don't forget to explain why it's needed
831:).
461 832
462=item circular data structures 833=back
463 834
464Those will be encoded until memory or stackspace runs out. 835
836=head1 ENCODING/CODESET FLAG NOTES
837
838The interested reader might have seen a number of flags that signify
839encodings or codesets - C<utf8>, C<latin1> and C<ascii>. There seems to be
840some confusion on what these do, so here is a short comparison:
841
842C<utf8> controls whether the JSON text created by C<encode> (and expected
843by C<decode>) is UTF-8 encoded or not, while C<latin1> and C<ascii> only
844control whether C<encode> escapes character values outside their respective
845codeset range. Neither of these flags conflict with each other, although
846some combinations make less sense than others.
847
848Care has been taken to make all flags symmetrical with respect to
849C<encode> and C<decode>, that is, texts encoded with any combination of
850these flag values will be correctly decoded when the same flags are used
851- in general, if you use different flag settings while encoding vs. when
852decoding you likely have a bug somewhere.
853
854Below comes a verbose discussion of these flags. Note that a "codeset" is
855simply an abstract set of character-codepoint pairs, while an encoding
856takes those codepoint numbers and I<encodes> them, in our case into
857octets. Unicode is (among other things) a codeset, UTF-8 is an encoding,
858and ISO-8859-1 (= latin 1) and ASCII are both codesets I<and> encodings at
859the same time, which can be confusing.
860
861=over 4
862
863=item C<utf8> flag disabled
864
865When C<utf8> is disabled (the default), then C<encode>/C<decode> generate
866and expect Unicode strings, that is, characters with high ordinal Unicode
867values (> 255) will be encoded as such characters, and likewise such
868characters are decoded as-is, no canges to them will be done, except
869"(re-)interpreting" them as Unicode codepoints or Unicode characters,
870respectively (to Perl, these are the same thing in strings unless you do
871funny/weird/dumb stuff).
872
873This is useful when you want to do the encoding yourself (e.g. when you
874want to have UTF-16 encoded JSON texts) or when some other layer does
875the encoding for you (for example, when printing to a terminal using a
876filehandle that transparently encodes to UTF-8 you certainly do NOT want
877to UTF-8 encode your data first and have Perl encode it another time).
878
879=item C<utf8> flag enabled
880
881If the C<utf8>-flag is enabled, C<encode>/C<decode> will encode all
882characters using the corresponding UTF-8 multi-byte sequence, and will
883expect your input strings to be encoded as UTF-8, that is, no "character"
884of the input string must have any value > 255, as UTF-8 does not allow
885that.
886
887The C<utf8> flag therefore switches between two modes: disabled means you
888will get a Unicode string in Perl, enabled means you get an UTF-8 encoded
889octet/binary string in Perl.
890
891=item C<latin1> or C<ascii> flags enabled
892
893With C<latin1> (or C<ascii>) enabled, C<encode> will escape characters
894with ordinal values > 255 (> 127 with C<ascii>) and encode the remaining
895characters as specified by the C<utf8> flag.
896
897If C<utf8> is disabled, then the result is also correctly encoded in those
898character sets (as both are proper subsets of Unicode, meaning that a
899Unicode string with all character values < 256 is the same thing as a
900ISO-8859-1 string, and a Unicode string with all character values < 128 is
901the same thing as an ASCII string in Perl).
902
903If C<utf8> is enabled, you still get a correct UTF-8-encoded string,
904regardless of these flags, just some more characters will be escaped using
905C<\uXXXX> then before.
906
907Note that ISO-8859-1-I<encoded> strings are not compatible with UTF-8
908encoding, while ASCII-encoded strings are. That is because the ISO-8859-1
909encoding is NOT a subset of UTF-8 (despite the ISO-8859-1 I<codeset> being
910a subset of Unicode), while ASCII is.
911
912Surprisingly, C<decode> will ignore these flags and so treat all input
913values as governed by the C<utf8> flag. If it is disabled, this allows you
914to decode ISO-8859-1- and ASCII-encoded strings, as both strict subsets of
915Unicode. If it is enabled, you can correctly decode UTF-8 encoded strings.
916
917So neither C<latin1> nor C<ascii> are incompatible with the C<utf8> flag -
918they only govern when the JSON output engine escapes a character or not.
919
920The main use for C<latin1> is to relatively efficiently store binary data
921as JSON, at the expense of breaking compatibility with most JSON decoders.
922
923The main use for C<ascii> is to force the output to not contain characters
924with values > 127, which means you can interpret the resulting string
925as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII, KOI8-R or most about any character set and
9268-bit-encoding, and still get the same data structure back. This is useful
927when your channel for JSON transfer is not 8-bit clean or the encoding
928might be mangled in between (e.g. in mail), and works because ASCII is a
929proper subset of most 8-bit and multibyte encodings in use in the world.
465 930
466=back 931=back
467 932
468 933
469=head1 COMPARISON 934=head1 COMPARISON
474followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer 939followed by some benchmark values. JSON::XS was designed not to suffer
475from any of these problems or limitations. 940from any of these problems or limitations.
476 941
477=over 4 942=over 4
478 943
944=item JSON 2.xx
945
946A marvellous piece of engineering, this module either uses JSON::XS
947directly when available (so will be 100% compatible with it, including
948speed), or it uses JSON::PP, which is basically JSON::XS translated to
949Pure Perl, which should be 100% compatible with JSON::XS, just a bit
950slower.
951
952You cannot really lose by using this module, especially as it tries very
953hard to work even with ancient Perl versions, while JSON::XS does not.
954
479=item JSON 1.07 955=item JSON 1.07
480 956
481Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl). 957Slow (but very portable, as it is written in pure Perl).
482 958
483Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles unicode values is 959Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling (how JSON handles Unicode values is
484undocumented. One can get far by feeding it unicode strings and doing 960undocumented. One can get far by feeding it Unicode strings and doing
485en-/decoding oneself, but unicode escapes are not working properly). 961en-/decoding oneself, but Unicode escapes are not working properly).
486 962
487No roundtripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g. 963No round-tripping (strings get clobbered if they look like numbers, e.g.
488the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will 964the string C<2.0> will encode to C<2.0> instead of C<"2.0">, and that will
489decode into the number 2. 965decode into the number 2.
490 966
491=item JSON::PC 0.01 967=item JSON::PC 0.01
492 968
493Very fast. 969Very fast.
494 970
495Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling. 971Undocumented/buggy Unicode handling.
496 972
497No roundtripping. 973No round-tripping.
498 974
499Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic 975Has problems handling many Perl values (e.g. regex results and other magic
500values will make it croak). 976values will make it croak).
501 977
502Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}> 978Does not even generate valid JSON (C<{1,2}> gets converted to C<{1:2}>
512Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much 988Very inflexible (no human-readable format supported, format pretty much
513undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a 989undocumented. I need at least a format for easy reading by humans and a
514single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to 990single-line compact format for use in a protocol, and preferably a way to
515generate ASCII-only JSON texts). 991generate ASCII-only JSON texts).
516 992
517Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (unicode 993Completely broken (and confusingly documented) Unicode handling (Unicode
518escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to 994escapes are not working properly, you need to set ImplicitUnicode to
519I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour). 995I<different> values on en- and decoding to get symmetric behaviour).
520 996
521No roundtripping (simple cases work, but this depends on wether the scalar 997No round-tripping (simple cases work, but this depends on whether the scalar
522value was used in a numeric context or not). 998value was used in a numeric context or not).
523 999
524Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state. 1000Dumping hashes may skip hash values depending on iterator state.
525 1001
526Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not 1002Unmaintained (maintainer unresponsive for many months, bugs are not
527getting fixed). 1003getting fixed).
528 1004
529Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and 1005Does not check input for validity (i.e. will accept non-JSON input and
530return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security 1006return "something" instead of raising an exception. This is a security
531issue: imagine two banks transfering money between each other using 1007issue: imagine two banks transferring money between each other using
532JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money, 1008JSON. One bank might parse a given non-JSON request and deduct money,
533while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a 1009while the other might reject the transaction with a syntax error. While a
534good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and 1010good protocol will at least recover, that is extra unnecessary work and
535the transaction will still not succeed). 1011the transaction will still not succeed).
536 1012
537=item JSON::DWIW 0.04 1013=item JSON::DWIW 0.04
538 1014
539Very fast. Very natural. Very nice. 1015Very fast. Very natural. Very nice.
540 1016
541Undocumented unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes 1017Undocumented Unicode handling (but the best of the pack. Unicode escapes
542still don't get parsed properly). 1018still don't get parsed properly).
543 1019
544Very inflexible. 1020Very inflexible.
545 1021
546No roundtripping. 1022No round-tripping.
547 1023
548Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys 1024Does not generate valid JSON texts (key strings are often unquoted, empty keys
549result in nothing being output) 1025result in nothing being output)
550 1026
551Does not check input for validity. 1027Does not check input for validity.
552 1028
553=back 1029=back
1030
1031
1032=head2 JSON and YAML
1033
1034You often hear that JSON is a subset of YAML. This is, however, a mass
1035hysteria(*) and very far from the truth (as of the time of this writing),
1036so let me state it clearly: I<in general, there is no way to configure
1037JSON::XS to output a data structure as valid YAML> that works in all
1038cases.
1039
1040If you really must use JSON::XS to generate YAML, you should use this
1041algorithm (subject to change in future versions):
1042
1043 my $to_yaml = JSON::XS->new->utf8->space_after (1);
1044 my $yaml = $to_yaml->encode ($ref) . "\n";
1045
1046This will I<usually> generate JSON texts that also parse as valid
1047YAML. Please note that YAML has hardcoded limits on (simple) object key
1048lengths that JSON doesn't have and also has different and incompatible
1049unicode handling, so you should make sure that your hash keys are
1050noticeably shorter than the 1024 "stream characters" YAML allows and that
1051you do not have characters with codepoint values outside the Unicode BMP
1052(basic multilingual page). YAML also does not allow C<\/> sequences in
1053strings (which JSON::XS does not I<currently> generate, but other JSON
1054generators might).
1055
1056There might be other incompatibilities that I am not aware of (or the YAML
1057specification has been changed yet again - it does so quite often). In
1058general you should not try to generate YAML with a JSON generator or vice
1059versa, or try to parse JSON with a YAML parser or vice versa: chances are
1060high that you will run into severe interoperability problems when you
1061least expect it.
1062
1063=over 4
1064
1065=item (*)
1066
1067I have been pressured multiple times by Brian Ingerson (one of the
1068authors of the YAML specification) to remove this paragraph, despite him
1069acknowledging that the actual incompatibilities exist. As I was personally
1070bitten by this "JSON is YAML" lie, I refused and said I will continue to
1071educate people about these issues, so others do not run into the same
1072problem again and again. After this, Brian called me a (quote)I<complete
1073and worthless idiot>(unquote).
1074
1075In my opinion, instead of pressuring and insulting people who actually
1076clarify issues with YAML and the wrong statements of some of its
1077proponents, I would kindly suggest reading the JSON spec (which is not
1078that difficult or long) and finally make YAML compatible to it, and
1079educating users about the changes, instead of spreading lies about the
1080real compatibility for many I<years> and trying to silence people who
1081point out that it isn't true.
1082
1083=back
1084
554 1085
555=head2 SPEED 1086=head2 SPEED
556 1087
557It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following 1088It seems that JSON::XS is surprisingly fast, as shown in the following
558tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program 1089tables. They have been generated with the help of the C<eg/bench> program
559in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own 1090in the JSON::XS distribution, to make it easy to compare on your own
560system. 1091system.
561 1092
562First comes a comparison between various modules using a very short JSON 1093First comes a comparison between various modules using
563string: 1094a very short single-line JSON string (also available at
1095L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/short.json>).
564 1096
565 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], "id": null} 1097 {"method": "handleMessage", "params": ["user1", "we were just talking"], \
1098 "id": null, "array":[1,11,234,-5,1e5,1e7, true, false]}
566 1099
567It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses the 1100It shows the number of encodes/decodes per second (JSON::XS uses
568functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface with 1101the functional interface, while JSON::XS/2 uses the OO interface
569pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled). Higher is better: 1102with pretty-printing and hashkey sorting enabled, JSON::XS/3 enables
1103shrink). Higher is better:
570 1104
571 module | encode | decode | 1105 module | encode | decode |
572 -----------|------------|------------| 1106 -----------|------------|------------|
573 JSON | 11488.516 | 7823.035 | 1107 JSON 1.x | 4990.842 | 4088.813 |
574 JSON::DWIW | 94708.054 | 129094.260 | 1108 JSON::DWIW | 51653.990 | 71575.154 |
575 JSON::PC | 63884.157 | 128528.212 | 1109 JSON::PC | 65948.176 | 74631.744 |
576 JSON::Syck | 34898.677 | 42096.911 | 1110 JSON::PP | 8931.652 | 3817.168 |
577 JSON::XS | 654027.064 | 396423.669 | 1111 JSON::Syck | 24877.248 | 27776.848 |
578 JSON::XS/2 | 371564.190 | 371725.613 | 1112 JSON::XS | 388361.481 | 227951.304 |
1113 JSON::XS/2 | 227951.304 | 218453.333 |
1114 JSON::XS/3 | 338250.323 | 218453.333 |
1115 Storable | 16500.016 | 135300.129 |
579 -----------+------------+------------+ 1116 -----------+------------+------------+
580 1117
581That is, JSON::XS is more than six times faster than JSON::DWIW on 1118That is, JSON::XS is about five times faster than JSON::DWIW on encoding,
582encoding, more than three times faster on decoding, and about thirty times 1119about three times faster on decoding, and over forty times faster
583faster than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. 1120than JSON, even with pretty-printing and key sorting. It also compares
1121favourably to Storable for small amounts of data.
584 1122
585Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals 1123Using a longer test string (roughly 18KB, generated from Yahoo! Locals
586search API (http://nanoref.com/yahooapis/mgPdGg): 1124search API (L<http://dist.schmorp.de/misc/json/long.json>).
587 1125
588 module | encode | decode | 1126 module | encode | decode |
589 -----------|------------|------------| 1127 -----------|------------|------------|
590 JSON | 273.023 | 44.674 | 1128 JSON 1.x | 55.260 | 34.971 |
591 JSON::DWIW | 1089.383 | 1145.704 | 1129 JSON::DWIW | 825.228 | 1082.513 |
592 JSON::PC | 3097.419 | 2393.921 | 1130 JSON::PC | 3571.444 | 2394.829 |
593 JSON::Syck | 514.060 | 843.053 | 1131 JSON::PP | 210.987 | 32.574 |
594 JSON::XS | 6479.668 | 3636.364 | 1132 JSON::Syck | 552.551 | 787.544 |
595 JSON::XS/2 | 3774.221 | 3599.124 | 1133 JSON::XS | 5780.463 | 4854.519 |
1134 JSON::XS/2 | 3869.998 | 4798.975 |
1135 JSON::XS/3 | 5862.880 | 4798.975 |
1136 Storable | 4445.002 | 5235.027 |
596 -----------+------------+------------+ 1137 -----------+------------+------------+
597 1138
598Again, JSON::XS leads by far. 1139Again, JSON::XS leads by far (except for Storable which non-surprisingly
1140decodes faster).
599 1141
600On large strings containing lots of high unicode characters, some modules 1142On large strings containing lots of high Unicode characters, some modules
601(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result 1143(such as JSON::PC) seem to decode faster than JSON::XS, but the result
602will be broken due to missing (or wrong) unicode handling. Others refuse 1144will be broken due to missing (or wrong) Unicode handling. Others refuse
603to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair 1145to decode or encode properly, so it was impossible to prepare a fair
604comparison table for that case. 1146comparison table for that case.
605 1147
606 1148
607=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 1149=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
613any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am 1155any buffer overflows. Obviously, this module should ensure that and I am
614trying hard on making that true, but you never know. 1156trying hard on making that true, but you never know.
615 1157
616Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should 1158Second, you need to avoid resource-starving attacks. That means you should
617limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your 1159limit the size of JSON texts you accept, or make sure then when your
618resources run out, thats just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that 1160resources run out, that's just fine (e.g. by using a separate process that
619can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is 1161can crash safely). The size of a JSON text in octets or characters is
620usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode 1162usually a good indication of the size of the resources required to decode
621it into a Perl structure. 1163it into a Perl structure. While JSON::XS can check the size of the JSON
1164text, it might be too late when you already have it in memory, so you
1165might want to check the size before you accept the string.
622 1166
623Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and 1167Third, JSON::XS recurses using the C stack when decoding objects and
624arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64 1168arrays. The C stack is a limited resource: for instance, on my amd64
625machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays 1169machine with 8MB of stack size I can decode around 180k nested arrays but
626but only 14k nested JSON objects. If that is exceeded, the program 1170only 14k nested JSON objects (due to perl itself recursing deeply on croak
1171to free the temporary). If that is exceeded, the program crashes. To be
627crashes. Thats why the default nesting limit is set to 8192. If your 1172conservative, the default nesting limit is set to 512. If your process
628process has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly 1173has a smaller stack, you should adjust this setting accordingly with the
629with the C<max_depth> method. 1174C<max_depth> method.
630 1175
631And last but least, something else could bomb you that I forgot to think 1176Something else could bomb you, too, that I forgot to think of. In that
632of. In that case, you get to keep the pieces. I am alway sopen for hints, 1177case, you get to keep the pieces. I am always open for hints, though...
633though... 1178
1179Also keep in mind that JSON::XS might leak contents of your Perl data
1180structures in its error messages, so when you serialise sensitive
1181information you might want to make sure that exceptions thrown by JSON::XS
1182will not end up in front of untrusted eyes.
1183
1184If you are using JSON::XS to return packets to consumption
1185by JavaScript scripts in a browser you should have a look at
1186L<http://jpsykes.com/47/practical-csrf-and-json-security> to see whether
1187you are vulnerable to some common attack vectors (which really are browser
1188design bugs, but it is still you who will have to deal with it, as major
1189browser developers care only for features, not about getting security
1190right).
1191
1192
1193=head1 THREADS
1194
1195This module is I<not> guaranteed to be thread safe and there are no
1196plans to change this until Perl gets thread support (as opposed to the
1197horribly slow so-called "threads" which are simply slow and bloated
1198process simulations - use fork, it's I<much> faster, cheaper, better).
1199
1200(It might actually work, but you have been warned).
634 1201
635 1202
636=head1 BUGS 1203=head1 BUGS
637 1204
638While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does 1205While the goal of this module is to be correct, that unfortunately does
639not mean its bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is 1206not mean it's bug-free, only that I think its design is bug-free. It is
640still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they 1207still relatively early in its development. If you keep reporting bugs they
641will be fixed swiftly, though. 1208will be fixed swiftly, though.
642 1209
1210Please refrain from using rt.cpan.org or any other bug reporting
1211service. I put the contact address into my modules for a reason.
1212
643=cut 1213=cut
1214
1215our $true = do { bless \(my $dummy = 1), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1216our $false = do { bless \(my $dummy = 0), "JSON::XS::Boolean" };
1217
1218sub true() { $true }
1219sub false() { $false }
1220
1221sub is_bool($) {
1222 UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::XS::Boolean"
1223# or UNIVERSAL::isa $_[0], "JSON::Literal"
1224}
1225
1226XSLoader::load "JSON::XS", $VERSION;
1227
1228package JSON::XS::Boolean;
1229
1230use overload
1231 "0+" => sub { ${$_[0]} },
1232 "++" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} + 1 },
1233 "--" => sub { $_[0] = ${$_[0]} - 1 },
1234 fallback => 1;
644 1235
6451; 12361;
646 1237
647=head1 AUTHOR 1238=head1 AUTHOR
648 1239

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