NAME

Data::BISON - Encode or decode a BISON stream

VERSION

This document describes Data::BISON version 0.0.3

SYNOPSIS

    use Data::BISON;

    my $obj = {
        this => [ 1, 2, 3 ],
        that => { oops => 'frogs' },
    };

    my $bison = encode_bison( $obj );
    my $obj2 = decode_bison( $bison );

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

Data::BISON is a thin procedural interface around the Data::BISON::Encoder and Data::BISON::Decoder classes. See their documentaion for more information.

INTERFACE

decode_bison( $data [, $options ] )

Decode BISON encoded data.

    my $struct = decode_bison( $some_data );

If present the second argument is a reference to a hash of options that is passed to the Data::BISON::Decoder constructor.

encode_bison( $data [, $options ] )

Encode a data structure into BISON.

    my $data = encode_bison( $some_structure );

If present the second argument is a reference to a hash of options that is passed to the Data::BISON::Encoder constructor.

    my $struct = {
        pi => 3.1415
    };

    # Encode using doubles instead of floats
    my $data = encode_bison( $struct, { double => 1 } );

DIAGNOSTICS

Illegal option(s): %s

You passed an illegal option to encode_bison or decode_bison. Check the documentation for Data::BISON::Encoder or Data::BISON::Decoder respectively for valid options and their meaning.

Unrecognised BISON data (no signature found)

You attempted to decode data that didn't start with the BISON signature 'FMB'.

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.

Unrecognised object type %s at offset %s in data stream

The BISON parser found a syntax error at the specified offset in the data.

CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Data::BISON 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.