NAME Data::Roundtrip - convert between Perl data structures, YAML and JSON with unicode support (I believe ...) VERSION Version 0.04 SYNOPSIS This module contains a collection of utilities for converting between JSON, YAML, Perl variable and a Perl variable's string representation (aka dump). Hopefully, all unicode content will be handled correctly between the conversions and optionally escaped or un-escaped. Also JSON can be presented in a pretty format or in a condensed, machine-readable format (not spaces, indendation or line breaks). use Data::Roundtrip qw/:all/; $jsonstr = '{"Songname": "Απόκληρος της κοινωνίας", "Artist": "Καζαντζίδης Στέλιος/Βίρβος Κώστας"}'; $yamlstr = json2yaml($jsonstr); print $yamlstr; #--- #Artist: Καζαντζίδης Στέλιος/Βίρβος Κώστας #Songname: Απόκληρος της κοινωνίας $yamlstr = json2yaml($jsonstr, {'escape-unicode'=>1}); print $yamlstr; #--- #Artist: \u039a\u03b1\u03b6\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b6\u03af\u03b4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03a3\u03c4\u03ad\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2/\u0392\u03af\u03c1\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2 \u039a\u03ce\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2 #Songname: \u0391\u03c0\u03cc\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 $backtojson = yaml2json($yamlstr); # $backtojson is a string representation of this JSON structure: # {"Artist":"Καζαντζίδης Στέλιος/Βίρβος Κώστας","Songname":"Απόκληρος της κοινωνίας"} # This is useful when sending JSON via a POST request and it needs unicode escaped: $backtojson = yaml2json($yamlstr, {'escape-unicode'=>1}); # $backtojson is a string representation of this JSON structure: # but this time with unicode escaped # {"Artist":"\u039a\u03b1\u03b6\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b6\u03af\u03b4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03a3\u03c4\u03ad\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2/\u0392\u03af\u03c1\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2 \u039a\u03ce\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2","Songname":"\u0391\u03c0\u03cc\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd\u03af\u03b1\u03c2"} # this is the usual Data::Dumper dump: print json2dump($jsonstr); #$VAR1 = { # 'Songname' => "\x{391}\x{3c0}\x{3cc}\x{3ba}\x{3bb}\x{3b7}\x{3c1}\x{3bf}\x{3c2} \x{3c4}\x{3b7}\x{3c2} \x{3ba}\x{3bf}\x{3b9}\x{3bd}\x{3c9}\x{3bd}\x{3af}\x{3b1}\x{3c2}", # 'Artist' => "\x{39a}\x{3b1}\x{3b6}\x{3b1}\x{3bd}\x{3c4}\x{3b6}\x{3af}\x{3b4}\x{3b7}\x{3c2} \x{3a3}\x{3c4}\x{3ad}\x{3bb}\x{3b9}\x{3bf}\x{3c2}/\x{392}\x{3af}\x{3c1}\x{3b2}\x{3bf}\x{3c2} \x{39a}\x{3ce}\x{3c3}\x{3c4}\x{3b1}\x{3c2}" #}; # and this is a more human-readable version: print json2dump($jsonstr, {'dont-bloody-escape-unicode'=>1}); # $VAR1 = { # "Artist" => "Καζαντζίδης Στέλιος/Βίρβος Κώστας", # "Songname" => "Απόκληρος της κοινωνίας" # }; # pass some parameters to Data::Dumper like to be terse (no $VAR1) and no indentation: print json2dump($jsonstr, {'dont-bloody-escape-unicode'=>0, 'terse'=>1} ); # { # "Artist" => "Καζαντζίδης Στέλιος/Βίρβος Κώστας", # "Songname" => "Απόκληρος της κοινωνίας" # } # this is how to reformat a JSON string to have its unicode content escaped: my $json_with_unicode_escaped = json2json($jsonstr, {'escape-unicode'=>1}); # For some of the above functions there exist command-line scripts: perl2json.pl -i "perl-data-structure.pl" -o "output.json" --escape-unicode --pretty # etc. EXPORT By default no symbols are exported. However, the following export tags are available (:all will export all of them): :json : perl2json(), json2perl(), json2dump(), json2yaml(), json2json() :yaml : perl2yaml(), yaml2perl(), yaml2dump(), yaml2yaml(), yaml2json() :dump : perl2dump(), dump2perl(), dump2json(), dump2yaml() :io : read_from_file(), write_to_file(), read_from_filehandle(), write_to_filehandle(), :all : everything above SUBROUTINES perl2json my $ret = perl2json($perlvar, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $perlvar * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret Given an input $perlvar (which can be a simple scalar or a nested data structure, but not an object), it will return the equivalent JSON string. In $optional_paramshashref one can specify whether to escape unicode with 'escape-unicode' => 1 and/or prettify the returned result with 'pretty' => 1. The output can fed to Data::Roundtrip::json2perl for getting the Perl variable back. Returns the JSON string on success or undef on failure. json2perl Arguments: * $jsonstring Return value: * $ret Given an input $jsonstring as a string, it will return the equivalent Perl data structure using JSON::decode_json(Encode::encode_utf8($jsonstring)). Returns the Perl data structure on success or undef on failure. perl2yaml my $ret = perl2yaml($perlvar, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $perlvar * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret Given an input $perlvar (which can be a simple scalar or a nested data structure, but not an object), it will return the equivalent YAML string. In $optional_paramshashref one can specify whether to escape unicode with 'escape-unicode' => 1. Prettify is not supported yet. The output can fed to Data::Roundtrip::yaml2perl for getting the Perl variable back. Returns the YAML string on success or undef on failure. yaml2perl my $ret = yaml2perl($yamlstring); Arguments: * $yamlstring Return value: * $ret Given an input $yamlstring as a string, it will return the equivalent Perl data structure using YAML::Load($yamlstring) Returns the Perl data structure on success or undef on failure. perl2dump my $ret = perl2dump($perlvar, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $perlvar * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret Given an input $perlvar (which can be a simple scalar or a nested data structure, but not an object), it will return the equivalent string (via Data::Dumper). In $optional_paramshashref one can specify whether to escape unicode with 'dont-bloody-escape-unicode' => 0, (or 'escape-unicode' => 1). The DEFAULT behaviour is to NOT ESCAPE unicode. Additionally, use terse output with 'terse' => 1 and remove all the incessant indentation with 'indent' => 1 which unfortunately goes to the other extreme of producing a space-less output, not fit for human consumption. The output can fed to Data::Roundtrip::dump2perl for getting the Perl variable back. It returns the string representation of the input perl variable on success or undef on failure. The output can be fed back to dump2perl. CAVEAT: when not escaping unicode (which is the default behaviour), each call to this sub will override Data::Dumper's qquote() sub (with a call to Sub::Override::new), call Data::Dumper's Dumper() and save its output to a temporary variable, restore qquote() sub (with a call to Sub::Override::restore and return the contents. This exercise is done every time this perl2dump() is called. It can be expensive. The alternative is to redefine qquote() once, when the module is loaded. Note that there are two other alternatives to this sub, perl2dump_filtered which uses Data::Dump filters to control unicode escaping but lacks in aesthetics and functionality and handling all the cases Dump and Dumper do quite well. There is also perl2dump_homebrew which uses the same dump-recursively engine as perl2dump_filtered but does not involve Data::Dump at all. perl2dump_filtered my $ret = perl2dump_filtered($perlvar, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $perlvar * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret It does the same job as perl2dump which is to stringify a perl variable. And takes the same options. It returns the string representation of the input perl variable on success or undef on failure. It uses Data::Dump::Filtered to add a filter to Data::Dump. perl2dump_homebrew my $ret = perl2dump_homebrew($perlvar, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $perlvar * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret It does the same job as perl2dump which is to stringify a perl variable. And takes the same options. It returns the string representation of the input perl variable on success or undef on failure. The output can be fed back to dump2perl. It uses its own basic dumper. Which is recursive. So, beware of extremely deep nested data structures. Deep not long! But it probably is as efficient as it can be but definetely lacks in aesthetics and functionality compared to Dump and Dumper. dump_perl_var_recursively my $ret = dump_perl_var_recursively($perl_var) Arguments: * $perl_var, a Perl variable like a scalar or an arbitrarily nested data structure. For the latter, it requires references, e.g. hash-ref or arrayref. Return value: * $ret, the stringified version of the input Perl variable. This sub will take a Perl var (as a scalar or an arbitrarily nested data structure) and emulate a very very basic Dump/Dumper but with enforced rendering unicode (for keys or values or array items), and not escaping unicode - this is not an option, it returns a string representation of the input perl var There are 2 obvious limitations: 1) indentation is very basic, 2) it supports only scalars, hashes and arrays, (which will dive into them no problem) This sub can be used in conjuction with DataDumpFilterino() to create a Data::Dump filter like, Data::Dump::Filtered::add_dump_filter( \& DataDumpFilterino ); or dumpf($perl_var, \& DataDumpFilterino); the input is a Perl variable as a reference, so no %inp but $inp={} and $inp=[]. This function is recursive. Beware of extremely deep nested data structures. Deep not long! But it probably is as efficient as it can be but definetely lacks in aesthetics and functionality compared to Dump and Dumper. The output is a, possibly multiline, string. Which it can then be fed back to dump2perl. dump2perl my $ret = dump2perl($dumpstring) Arguments: * $dumpstring, this comes from the output of Data::Dump, Data::Dumper or our own perl2dump, perl2dump_filtered, perl2dump_homebrew. Escaped, or unescaped. Return value: * $ret, the Perl data structure on success or undef on failure. json2perl my $ret = json2perl($jsonstring) Arguments: * $jsonstring Return value: * $ret Given an input $jsonstring as a string, it will return the equivalent Perl data structure using JSON::decode_json(Encode::encode_utf8($jsonstring)). Returns the Perl data structure on success or undef on failure. In $optional_paramshashref one can specify whether to escape unicode with 'escape-unicode' => 1 and/or prettify the returned result with 'pretty' => 1. Returns the yaml string on success or undef on failure. json2yaml my $ret = json2yaml($jsonstring, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $jsonstring * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret Given an input JSON string $jsonstring, it will return the equivalent YAML string YAML by first converting JSON to a Perl variable and then converting that variable to YAML using Data::Roundtrip::perl2yaml(). All the parameters supported by Data::Roundtrip::perl2yaml() are accepted. Returns the YAML string on success or undef on failure. yaml2json my $ret = yaml2json($yamlstring, $optional_paramshashref) Arguments: * $yamlstring * $optional_paramshashref Return value: * $ret Given an input YAML string $yamlstring, it will return the equivalent YAML string YAML by first converting YAML to a Perl variable and then converting that variable to JSON using Data::Roundtrip::perl2json(). All the parameters supported by Data::Roundtrip::perl2json() are accepted. Returns the JSON string on success or undef on failure. json2json yaml2yaml Transform a json or yaml string via pretty printing or via escaping unicode or via un-escaping unicode. Parameters like above will be accepted. json2dump dump2json yaml2dump dump2yaml similar functionality as their counterparts described above. read_from_file my $contents = read_from_file($filename) Arguments: * $filename : the input filename. Return value: * $contents Given a filename, it opens it using <:encoding(UTF-8)>, slurps its contents and closes it. It's a convenience sub which could have also been private. If you want to retain the filehandle, use "read_from_filehandle ". Returns the file contents on success or undef on failure. read_from_filehandle my $contents = read_from_filehandle($filehandle) Arguments: * $filehandle : the handle to an already opened file. Return value: * $contents : the file contents slurped. It slurps all content from the specified input file handle. Upon return the file handle is still open. Returns the file contents on success or undef on failure. write_to_file write_to_file($filename, $contents) or die Arguments: * $filename : the output filename. * $contents : any string to write it to file. Return value: * 1 on success, 0 on failure Given a filename, it opens it using <:encoding(UTF-8)>, writes all specified content and closes the file. It's a convenience sub which could have also been private. If you want to retain the filehandle, use "write_to_filehandle ". Returns 1 on success or 0 on failure. write_to_filehandle write_to_filehandle($filehandle, $contents) or die Arguments: * $filehandle : the handle to an already opened file (for writing). Return value: * 1 on success or 0 on failure. It writes content to the specified file handle. Upon return the file handle is still open. Returns 1 on success or 0 on failure. SCRIPTS A few scripts have been put together and offer the functionality of this module to the command line. They are part of this distribution and can be found in the script directory. These files are: json2json.pl, json2yaml.pl, yaml2json.pl json2perl.pl, perl2json.pl, yaml2perl.pl AUTHOR Andreas Hadjiprocopis, / BUGS Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-data-roundtrip at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at https://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Data-Roundtrip. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes. SEE ALSO Convert JSON to Perl and back with unicode RFC: Perl<->JSON<->YAML<->Dumper : roundtripping and possibly with unicode SUPPORT You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command. perldoc Data::Roundtrip You can also look for information at: * RT: CPAN's request tracker (report bugs here) https://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Data-Roundtrip * AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation http://annocpan.org/dist/Data-Roundtrip * CPAN Ratings https://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Data-Roundtrip * Search CPAN https://metacpan.org/release/Data-Roundtrip ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Several Monks at PerlMonks.org (in no particular order): haukex Corion (the _qquote_redefinition_by_Corion() which harnesses Data::Dumper's incessant unicode escaping) kcott (The EXPORT section among other suggestions) jwkrahn leszekdubiel marto and an anonymous monk DEDICATIONS Almaz! LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT This software, EXCEPT the portions created by [Corion] @ Perlmonks and [kcott] @ Perlmonks, is Copyright (c) 2020 by Andreas Hadjiprocopis. This is free software, licensed under: The Artistic License 2.0 (GPL Compatible) POD ERRORS Hey! The above document had some coding errors, which are explained below: Around line 565: L<> starts or ends with whitespace Around line 617: L<> starts or ends with whitespace