/ 
BSON-v1.12.2
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/ BSON

NAME

BSON - BSON serialization and deserialization (EOL)

VERSION

version v1.12.2

END OF LIFE NOTICE

Version v1.12.0 was the final feature release of the MongoDB BSON library and version v1.12.2 is the final patch release.

As of August 13, 2020, the MongoDB Perl driver and related libraries have reached end of life and are no longer supported by MongoDB. See the August 2019 deprecation notice for rationale.

If members of the community wish to continue development, they are welcome to fork the code under the terms of the Apache 2 license and release it under a new namespace. Specifications and test files for MongoDB drivers and libraries are published in an open repository: mongodb/specifications.

SYNOPSIS

use BSON;
use BSON::Types ':all';
use boolean;

my $codec = BSON->new;

my $document = {
    _id             => bson_oid(),
    creation_time   => bson_time(), # now
    zip_code        => bson_string("08544"),
    hidden          => false,
};

my $bson = $codec->encode_one( $document );
my $doc  = $codec->decode_one( $bson     );

DESCRIPTION

This class implements a BSON encoder/decoder ("codec"). It consumes "documents" (typically hash references) and emits BSON strings and vice versa in accordance with the BSON Specification.

BSON is the primary data representation for MongoDB. While this module has several features that support MongoDB-specific needs and conventions, it can be used as a standalone serialization format.

The codec may be customized through attributes on the codec option as well as encode/decode specific options on methods:

my $codec = BSON->new( \%global_attributes );

my $bson = $codec->encode_one( $document, \%encode_options );
my $doc  = $codec->decode_one( $bson    , \%decode_options );

Because BSON is strongly-typed and Perl is not, this module supports a number of "type wrappers" – classes that wrap Perl data to indicate how they should serialize. The BSON::Types module describes these and provides associated helper functions. See "PERL-BSON TYPE MAPPING" for more details.

When decoding, type wrappers are used for any data that has no native Perl representation. Optionally, all data may be wrapped for precise control of round-trip encoding.

Please read the configuration attributes carefully to understand more about how to control encoding and decoding.

At compile time, this module will select an implementation backend. It will prefer BSON::XS (released separately) if available, or will fall back to BSON::PP (bundled with this module). See "ENVIRONMENT" for a way to control the selection of the backend.

ATTRIBUTES

error_callback

This attribute specifies a function reference that will be called with three positional arguments:

  • an error string argument describing the error condition

  • a reference to the problematic document or byte-string

  • the method in which the error occurred (e.g. encode_one or decode_one)

Note: for decoding errors, the byte-string is passed as a reference to avoid copying possibly large strings.

If not provided, errors messages will be thrown with Carp::croak.

invalid_chars

A string containing ASCII characters that must not appear in keys. The default is the empty string, meaning there are no invalid characters.

max_length

This attribute defines the maximum document size. The default is 0, which disables any maximum.

If set to a positive number, it applies to both encoding and decoding (the latter is necessary for prevention of resource consumption attacks).

op_char

This is a single character to use for special MongoDB-specific query operators. If a key starts with op_char, the op_char character will be replaced with "$".

The default is "$", meaning that no replacement is necessary.

ordered

If set to a true value, then decoding will return a reference to a tied hash that preserves key order. Otherwise, a regular (unordered) hash reference will be returned.

IMPORTANT CAVEATS:

  • When 'ordered' is true, users must not rely on the return value being any particular tied hash implementation. It may change in the future for efficiency.

  • Turning this option on entails a significant speed penalty as tied hashes are slower than regular Perl hashes.

The default is false.

prefer_numeric

When false, scalar values will be encoded as a number if they were originally a number or were ever used in a numeric context. However, a string that looks like a number but was never used in a numeric context (e.g. "42") will be encoded as a string.

If prefer_numeric is set to true, the encoder will attempt to coerce strings that look like a number into a numeric value. If the string doesn't look like a double or integer, it will be encoded as a string.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: the heuristics for determining whether something is a string or number are less accurate on older Perls. See BSON::Types for wrapper classes that specify exact serialization types.

The default is false.

wrap_dbrefs

If set to true, during decoding, documents with the fields '$id' and '$ref' (literal dollar signs, not variables) will be wrapped as BSON::DBRef objects. If false, they are decoded into ordinary hash references (or ordered hashes, if ordered is true).

The default is true.

wrap_numbers

If set to true, during decoding, numeric values will be wrapped into BSON type-wrappers: BSON::Double, BSON::Int64 or BSON::Int32. While very slow, this can help ensure fields can round-trip if unmodified.

The default is false.

wrap_strings

If set to true, during decoding, string values will be wrapped into a BSON type-wrappers, BSON::String. While very slow, this can help ensure fields can round-trip if unmodified.

The default is false.

dt_type (Discouraged)

Sets the type of object which is returned for BSON DateTime fields. The default is undef, which returns objects of type BSON::Time. This is overloaded to be the integer epoch value when used as a number or string, so is somewhat backwards compatible with dt_type in the MongoDB driver.

Other acceptable values are BSON::Time (explicitly), DateTime, Time::Moment, DateTime::Tiny, Mango::BSON::Time.

Because BSON::Time objects have methods to convert to DateTime, Time::Moment or DateTime::Tiny, use of this field is discouraged. Users should use these methods on demand. This option is provided for backwards compatibility only.

METHODS

encode_one

$byte_string = $codec->encode_one( $doc );
$byte_string = $codec->encode_one( $doc, \%options );

Takes a "document", typically a hash reference, an array reference, or a Tie::IxHash object and returns a byte string with the BSON representation of the document.

An optional hash reference of options may be provided. Valid options include:

  • first_key – if first_key is defined, it and first_value will be encoded first in the output BSON; any matching key found in the document will be ignored.

  • first_value - value to assign to first_key; will encode as Null if omitted

  • error_callback – overrides codec default

  • invalid_chars – overrides codec default

  • max_length – overrides codec default

  • op_char – overrides codec default

  • prefer_numeric – overrides codec default

decode_one

$doc = $codec->decode_one( $byte_string );
$doc = $codec->decode_one( $byte_string, \%options );

Takes a byte string with a BSON-encoded document and returns a hash reference representing the decoded document.

An optional hash reference of options may be provided. Valid options include:

  • dt_type – overrides codec default

  • error_callback – overrides codec default

  • max_length – overrides codec default

  • ordered - overrides codec default

  • wrap_dbrefs - overrides codec default

  • wrap_numbers - overrides codec default

  • wrap_strings - overrides codec default

clone

$copy = $codec->clone( ordered => 1 );

Constructs a copy of the original codec, but allows changing attributes in the copy.

create_oid

$oid = BSON->create_oid;

This class method returns a new BSON::OID. This abstracts OID generation away from any specific Object ID class and makes it an interface on a BSON codec. Alternative BSON codecs should define a similar class method that returns an Object ID of whatever type is appropriate.

inflate_extjson (DEPRECATED)

This legacy method does not follow the MongoDB Extended JSON specification.

Use "extjson_to_perl" instead.

perl_to_extjson

use JSON::MaybeXS;
my $ext = BSON->perl_to_extjson($data, \%options);
my $json = encode_json($ext);

Takes a perl data structure (i.e. hashref) and turns it into an MongoDB Extended JSON structure. Note that the structure will still have to be serialized.

Possible options are:

  • relaxed A boolean indicating if "relaxed extended JSON" should

    be generated. If not set, the default value is taken from the BSON_EXTJSON_RELAXED environment variable.

extjson_to_perl

use JSON::MaybeXS;
my $ext = decode_json($json);
my $data = $bson->extjson_to_perl($ext);

Takes an MongoDB Extended JSON data structure and inflates it into a Perl data structure. Note that you have to decode the JSON string manually beforehand.

Canonically specified numerical values like {"$numberInt":"23"} will be inflated into their respective BSON::* wrapper types. Plain numeric values will be left as-is.

FUNCTIONS

encode

my $bson = encode({ bar => 'foo' }, \%options);

This is the legacy, functional interface and is only exported on demand. It takes a hashref and returns a BSON string. It uses an internal codec singleton with default attributes.

decode

my $hash = decode( $bson, \%options );

This is the legacy, functional interface and is only exported on demand. It takes a BSON string and returns a hashref. It uses an internal codec singleton with default attributes.

PERL-BSON TYPE MAPPING

BSON has numerous data types and Perl does not.

When decoding, each BSON type should result in a single, predictable Perl type. Where no native Perl type is appropriate, BSON decodes to an object of a particular class (a "type wrapper").

When encoding, for historical reasons, there may be many Perl representations that should encode to a particular BSON type. For example, all the popular "boolean" type modules on CPAN should encode to the BSON boolean type. Likewise, as this module is intended to supersede the type wrappers that have shipped with the MongoDB module, those type wrapper are supported by this codec.

The table below describes the BSON/Perl mapping for both encoding and decoding.

On the left are all the Perl types or classes this BSON codec knows how to serialize to BSON. The middle column is the BSON type for each class. The right-most column is the Perl type or class that the BSON type deserializes to. Footnotes indicate variations or special behaviors.

Perl type/class ->          BSON type        -> Perl type/class
-------------------------------------------------------------------
float[1]                    0x01 DOUBLE         float[2]
BSON::Double
-------------------------------------------------------------------
string[3]                   0x02 UTF8           string[2]
BSON::String
-------------------------------------------------------------------
hashref                     0x03 DOCUMENT       hashref[4][5]
BSON::Doc
BSON::Raw
MongoDB::BSON::Raw[d]
Tie::IxHash
-------------------------------------------------------------------
arrayref                    0x04 ARRAY          arrayref
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::Bytes                 0x05 BINARY         BSON::Bytes
scalarref
BSON::Binary[d]
MongoDB::BSON::Binary[d]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
n/a                         0x06 UNDEFINED[d]   undef
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::OID                   0x07 OID            BSON::OID
BSON::ObjectId[d]
MongoDB::OID[d]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
boolean                     0x08 BOOL           boolean
BSON::Bool[d]
JSON::XS::Boolean
JSON::PP::Boolean
JSON::Tiny::_Bool
Mojo::JSON::_Bool
Cpanel::JSON::XS::Boolean
Types::Serialiser::Boolean
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::Time                  0x09 DATE_TIME      BSON::Time
DateTime
DateTime::Tiny
Time::Moment
Mango::BSON::Time
-------------------------------------------------------------------
undef                       0x0a NULL           undef
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::Regex                 0x0b REGEX          BSON::Regex
qr// reference
MongoDB::BSON::Regexp[d]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
n/a                         0x0c DBPOINTER[d]   BSON::DBRef
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::Code[6]               0x0d CODE           BSON::Code
MongoDB::Code[6]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
n/a                         0x0e SYMBOL[d]      string
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::Code[6]               0x0f CODEWSCOPE     BSON::Code
MongoDB::Code[6]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
integer[7][8]               0x10 INT32          integer[2]
BSON::Int32
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::Timestamp             0x11 TIMESTAMP      BSON::Timestamp
MongoDB::Timestamp[d]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
integer[7]                  0x12 INT64          integer[2][9]
BSON::Int64
Math::BigInt
Math::Int64
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::MaxKey                0x7F MAXKEY         BSON::MaxKey
MongoDB::MaxKey[d]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BSON::MinKey                0xFF MINKEY         BSON::MinKey
MongoDB::MinKey[d]

[d] Deprecated or soon to be deprecated.
[1] Scalar with "NV" internal representation or a string that looks
    like a float if the 'prefer_numeric' option is true.
[2] If the 'wrap_numbers' option is true, numeric types will be wrapped
    as BSON::Double, BSON::Int32 or BSON::Int64 as appropriate to ensure
    round-tripping. If the 'wrap_strings' option is true, strings will
    be wrapped as BSON::String, likewise.
[3] Scalar without "NV" or "IV" representation and not identified as a
    number by notes [1] or [7].
[4] If 'ordered' option is set, will return a tied hash that preserves
    order (deprecated 'ixhash' option still works).
[5] If the document appears to contain a DBRef and a 'dbref_callback'
    exists, that callback is executed with the deserialized document.
[6] Code is serialized as CODE or CODEWSCOPE depending on whether a
    scope hashref exists in BSON::Code/MongoDB::Code.
[7] Scalar with "IV" internal representation or a string that looks like
    an integer if the 'prefer_numeric' option is true.
[8] Only if the integer fits in 32 bits.
[9] On 32-bit platforms, 64-bit integers are deserialized to
    Math::BigInt objects (even if subsequently wrapped into
    BSON::Int64 if 'wrap_scalars' is true).

THREADS

Threads are never recommended in Perl, but this module is thread safe.

ENVIRONMENT

  • PERL_BSON_BACKEND – if set at compile time, this will be treated as a module name. The module will be loaded and used as the BSON backend implementation. It must implement the same API as BSON::PP.

  • BSON_EXTJSON - if set, serializing BSON type wrappers via TO_JSON will produce Extended JSON v2 output.

  • BSON_EXTJSON_RELAXED - if producing Extended JSON output, if this is true, values will use the "Relaxed" form of Extended JSON, which sacrifices type round-tripping for improved human readability.

SEMANTIC VERSIONING SCHEME

Starting with BSON v0.999.0, this module is using a "tick-tock" three-part version-tuple numbering scheme: vX.Y.Z

  • In stable releases, X will be incremented for incompatible API changes.

  • Even-value increments of Y indicate stable releases with new functionality. Z will be incremented for bug fixes.

  • Odd-value increments of Y indicate unstable ("development") releases that should not be used in production. Z increments have no semantic meaning; they indicate only successive development releases. Development releases may have API-breaking changes, usually indicated by Y equal to "999".

HISTORY AND ROADMAP

This module was originally written by Stefan G. In 2014, he graciously transferred ongoing maintenance to MongoDB, Inc.

The bson_xxxx helper functions in BSON::Types were inspired by similar work in Mango::BSON by Sebastian Riedel.

AUTHORS

  • David Golden <david@mongodb.com>

  • Stefan G. <minimalist@lavabit.com>

CONTRIBUTORS

  • Eric Daniels <eric.daniels@mongodb.com>

  • Finn <toyou1995@gmail.com>

  • Olivier Duclos <odc@cpan.org>

  • Pat Gunn <pgunn@mongodb.com>

  • Petr Písař <ppisar@redhat.com>

  • Robert Sedlacek <rs@474.at>

  • Thomas Bloor <tbsliver@shadow.cat>

  • Tobias Leich <email@froggs.de>

  • Wallace Reis <wallace@reis.me>

  • Yury Zavarin <yury.zavarin@gmail.com>

  • Oleg Kostyuk <cub@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is Copyright (c) 2020 by Stefan G. and MongoDB, Inc.

This is free software, licensed under:

The Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004