NAME

Data::BISON::Encoder - Encode a BISON encoded data structure.

VERSION

This document describes Data::BISON::Encoder version 0.0.3

SYNOPSIS

    use Data::BISON::Encoder;

    my $enc = Data::BISON::Encoder->new;

    my $struct = {
        counter => [ 1, 2, 'three' ],
        names => {
            'Andy' => 'Armstrong',
            'Kai'  => 'Jäger',
        },
    };

    my $data = $enc->encode( $struct );

DESCRIPTION

BISON is a binary format for language independent serialisation of data. You can find Kai Jäger's original description of it here:

http://www.kaijaeger.com/articles/introducing-bison-binary-interchange-standard.html

INTERFACE

new( [ $args ] )

Create a new Data::BISON::Encoder. Any options must be passed as a hash reference like this:

    my $enc = Data::BISON::Encoder->new( {
        double => 1,
        yenc => 1
    } );

These options are supported:

• double

  Normally floating point values will be encoded using 4 byte 'float' format. Set this option to have them encoded as 8 byte doubles instead.

• yenc

  Set this option to a true value to have the resulting data encoded using the yEnc encoding scheme which makes it 8 bit ASCII safe. Data::BISON::Decoder automatically detects and handles yEnc encoding.

• version

  Set the version of the BISON specification to use for encoding. Currently only version 1 is supported.

encode

Serialize a data structure using BISON encoding. The argument must be a scalar, hash reference or array reference. Serialization of objects is not handled by the current version of BISON.

The returned value is a binary string containing the BISON representation of the data.

    my $encoder = Data::BISON::Encoder->new;

    my $d1 = $encoder->encode( 'A simple scalar' );
    my $d2 = $encoder->encode( 1.23456 );
    my $d3 = $encoder->encode( [ 4, 5, 6 ] );

As of BISON version 0.0.3 the maximum number of elements for an encoded array or hash is 65535, just like in the olden days. It seems likely that this limit will be removed in a future version of BISON. Note that this limitation is part of the BISON specification rather than of this implementation of it.

version

Get or set the version of the BISON format to be used by the encoder. Currently only version 0.0.3 is supported.

    my $v = $enc->version;

    $enc->version('0.0.3');

yenc

Get or set the yEnc encoding flag. If true output from the encoder is passed through encode_yEnc.

double

Get or set the double flag. If true floating point values will be encoded as 8 byte doubles. If false (the default) they are encoded as four byte floats.

DIAGNOSTICS

Illegal option(s): %s

You passed an illegal option to new. The supported options are yenc, double and version.

Version must be 0.0.3

Although you can specify a version to the encoder the only version that's currently supported is 0.0.3. The version mechanism will allow compatibility with future versions of the BISON spec.

Maximum array / hash size is 65535

Currently the number of elements in an array or hash is limited to 65535 by the encoding format used. It is hoped that a future BISON version will raise this limit.

Can't serialize objects yet

The current BISON spec does not allow for the serialization of objects.

CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Data::BISON::Encoder requires no configuration files or environment variables.

DEPENDENCIES

None.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

None reported.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

No bugs have been reported.

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-data-bison@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org.

AUTHOR

Andy Armstrong <andy@hexten.net>

Kai Jäger (http://www.kaijaeger.com) designed BISON and wrote the Javascript and PHP implementations.

LICENCE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2007, Andy Armstrong <andy@hexten.net>. All rights reserved.

This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. See perlartistic.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED BY THE ABOVE LICENCE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.