171 lines
7.9 KiB
Markdown
171 lines
7.9 KiB
Markdown
# Binary formats
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Several formats exist that encode JSON values in a binary format to reduce the size of the encoded value as well as the required effort to parse encoded value. The library implements three formats, namely
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- [CBOR](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7049) (Concise Binary Object Representation)
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- [MessagePack](https://msgpack.org)
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- [UBJSON](http://ubjson.org) (Universal Binary JSON)
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## Interface
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### JSON to binary format
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For each format, the `to_*` functions (i.e., `to_cbor`, `to_msgpack`, and `to_ubjson`) convert a JSON value into the respective binary format. Taking CBOR as example, the concrete prototypes are:
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```cpp
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static std::vector<uint8_t> to_cbor(const basic_json& j); // 1
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static void to_cbor(const basic_json& j, detail::output_adapter<uint8_t> o); // 2
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static void to_cbor(const basic_json& j, detail::output_adapter<char> o); // 3
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```
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The first function creates a byte vector from the given JSON value. The second and third function writes to an output adapter of `uint8_t` and `char`, respectively. Output adapters are implemented for strings, output streams, and vectors.
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Given a JSON value `j`, the following calls are possible:
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```cpp
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std::vector<uint8_t> v;
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v = json::to_cbor(j); // 1
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json::to_cbor(j, v); // 2
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std::string s;
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json::to_cbor(j, s); // 3
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std::ostringstream oss;
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json::to_cbor(j, oss); // 3
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```
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### Binary format to JSON
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Likewise, the `from_*` functions (i.e, `from_cbor`, `from_msgpack`, and `from_ubjson`) convert a binary encoded value into a JSON value. Taking CBOR as example, the concrete prototypes are:
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```cpp
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static basic_json from_cbor(detail::input_adapter i, const bool strict = true); // 1
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static basic_json from_cbor(A1 && a1, A2 && a2, const bool strict = true); // 2
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```
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Both functions read from an input adapter: the first function takes it directly form argument `i`, whereas the second function creates it from the provided arguments `a1` and `a2`. If the optional parameter `strict` is true, the input must be read completely (or a parse error exception is thrown). If it is false, parsing succeeds even if the input is not completely read.
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Input adapters are implemented for input streams, character buffers, string literals, and iterator ranges.
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Given several inputs (which we assume to be filled with a CBOR value), the following calls are possible:
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```cpp
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std::string s;
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json j1 = json::from_cbor(s); // 1
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std::ifstream is("somefile.cbor", std::ios::binary);
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json j2 = json::from_cbor(is); // 1
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std::vector<uint8_t> v;
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json j3 = json::from_cbor(v); // 1
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const char* buff;
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std::size_t buff_size;
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json j4 = json::from_cbor(buff, buff_size); // 2
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```
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## Details
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### CBOR
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The mapping from CBOR to JSON is **incomplete** in the sense that not all CBOR types can be converted to a JSON value. The following CBOR types are not supported and will yield parse errors (parse_error.112):
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- byte strings (0x40..0x5F)
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- date/time (0xC0..0xC1)
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- bignum (0xC2..0xC3)
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- decimal fraction (0xC4)
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- bigfloat (0xC5)
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- tagged items (0xC6..0xD4, 0xD8..0xDB)
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- expected conversions (0xD5..0xD7)
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- simple values (0xE0..0xF3, 0xF8)
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- undefined (0xF7)
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CBOR further allows map keys of any type, whereas JSON only allows strings as keys in object values. Therefore, CBOR maps with keys other than UTF-8 strings are rejected (parse_error.113).
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The mapping from JSON to CBOR is **complete** in the sense that any JSON value type can be converted to a CBOR value.
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If NaN or Infinity are stored inside a JSON number, they are serialized properly. This behavior differs from the dump() function which serializes NaN or Infinity to null.
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The following CBOR types are not used in the conversion:
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- byte strings (0x40..0x5F)
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- UTF-8 strings terminated by "break" (0x7F)
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- arrays terminated by "break" (0x9F)
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- maps terminated by "break" (0xBF)
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- date/time (0xC0..0xC1)
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- bignum (0xC2..0xC3)
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- decimal fraction (0xC4)
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- bigfloat (0xC5)
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- tagged items (0xC6..0xD4, 0xD8..0xDB)
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- expected conversions (0xD5..0xD7)
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- simple values (0xE0..0xF3, 0xF8)
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- undefined (0xF7)
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- half and single-precision floats (0xF9-0xFA)
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- break (0xFF)
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### MessagePack
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The mapping from MessagePack to JSON is **incomplete** in the sense that not all MessagePack types can be converted to a JSON value. The following MessagePack types are not supported and will yield parse errors:
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- bin 8 - bin 32 (0xC4..0xC6)
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- ext 8 - ext 32 (0xC7..0xC9)
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- fixext 1 - fixext 16 (0xD4..0xD8)
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The mapping from JSON to MessagePack is **complete** in the sense that any JSON value type can be converted to a MessagePack value.
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The following values can not be converted to a MessagePack value:
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- strings with more than 4294967295 bytes
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- arrays with more than 4294967295 elements
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- objects with more than 4294967295 elements
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The following MessagePack types are not used in the conversion:
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- bin 8 - bin 32 (0xC4..0xC6)
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- ext 8 - ext 32 (0xC7..0xC9)
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- float 32 (0xCA)
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- fixext 1 - fixext 16 (0xD4..0xD8)
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Any MessagePack output created `to_msgpack` can be successfully parsed by `from_msgpack`.
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If NaN or Infinity are stored inside a JSON number, they are serialized properly. This behavior differs from the `dump()` function which serializes NaN or Infinity to `null`.
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### UBJSON
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The mapping from UBJSON to JSON is **complete** in the sense that any UBJSON value can be converted to a JSON value.
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The mapping from JSON to UBJSON is **complete** in the sense that any JSON value type can be converted to a UBJSON value.
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The following values can not be converted to a UBJSON value:
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- strings with more than 9223372036854775807 bytes (theoretical)
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- unsigned integer numbers above 9223372036854775807
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The following markers are not used in the conversion:
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- `Z`: no-op values are not created.
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- `C`: single-byte strings are serialized with S markers.
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Any UBJSON output created to_ubjson can be successfully parsed by from_ubjson.
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If NaN or Infinity are stored inside a JSON number, they are serialized properly. This behavior differs from the `dump()` function which serializes NaN or Infinity to null.
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The optimized formats for containers are supported: Parameter `use_size` adds size information to the beginning of a container and removes the closing marker. Parameter `use_type` further checks whether all elements of a container have the same type and adds the type marker to the beginning of the container. The `use_type` parameter must only be used together with `use_size = true`. Note that `use_size = true` alone may result in larger representations - the benefit of this parameter is that the receiving side is immediately informed on the number of elements of the container.
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## Size comparison examples
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The following table shows the size compared to the original JSON value for different files from the repository for the different formats.
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| format | sample.json | all_unicode.json | floats.json | signed_ints.json | jeopardy.json | canada.json |
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| ----------------------- | -----------:| ----------------:| -----------:| ----------------:| -------------:| -----------:|
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| JSON | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % |
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| CBOR | 87.21 % | 71.18 % | 48.20 % | 44.16 % | 87.96 % | 50.53 % |
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| MessagePack | 87.16 % | 71.18 % | 48.20 % | 44.16 % | 87.91 % | 50.56 % |
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| UBJSON unoptimized | 88.15 % | 100.00 % | 48.20 % | 44.16 % | 96.58 % | 53.20 % |
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| UBJSON size-optimized | 89.26 % | 100.00 % | 48.20 % | 44.16 % | 97.40 % | 58.56 % |
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| UBJSON format-optimized | 89.45 % | 100.00 % | 42.85 % | 39.26 % | 94.96 % | 55.93 % |
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The results show that there does not exist a "best" encoding. Furthermore, it is not always worthwhile to use UBJSON's optimizations.
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