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Hide a discarded container's content from the parser callback - #5706
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When a parser callback rejects an object's or array's start event,
json_sax_dom_callback_parser kept calling it for everything inside
that container anyway: nested keys, values, and the start/end events
of containers below it. This contradicts parser_callback_t's own
documentation, which promises that discarding a container at its
start event also hides its content from the callback.
The same code path also kept a full copy of every key inside such a
discarded container in key_stack until the whole parse finished,
because the early return for values that are not stored skipped the
matching pop. Filtering out a large subtree is the main reason to use
a callback, so this made peak memory during the parse scale with the
size of the very subtree the callback was trying to skip.
Fix start_object(), start_array(), and key() so that a container
whose own start event was discarded, or that is nested inside one, is
never handed to the callback, and no longer pushes onto the key
stacks. A container whose start event was accepted but whose key was
rejected still gets its content reported, as documented ("the
callback is still called for the associated value, but its return
value has no further effect"); only its own bookkeeping is skipped
since it will not be stored.
Fixes #5643.
Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
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…5731) * Share the diagnostic-position setter of the DOM SAX parsers json_sax_dom_parser and json_sax_dom_callback_parser each had a private copy of handle_diagnostic_positions_for_json_value(), identical except for comments. Move the body into one static member function, detail::diagnostic_positions::set_from_lexer(value, lexer), which both classes call with their lexer pointer. basic_json befriends the new struct (only when JSON_DIAGNOSTIC_POSITIONS is enabled), as the position members are private. The discarded case is reached through the callback parser, so the LCOV_EXCL markers that only the dom parser's copy had are gone. The NOLINT on the unreachable default case loses the stray "-warnings-as-errors", which is not a check name. The start-position setup in start_object()/start_array() is left alone, as #5706 is editing the callback parser's versions. Behavior, the public API and the ABI are unchanged. Part of #5712 Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> * Correct the parser comments on recursion and skip_to_state_evaluation The class documentation called the parser a recursive descent parser, but sax_parse_internal() is a loop that keeps the open containers on an explicit stack. The comment at the end of an array and of an object said the flag is set to false while the code below it sets it to true. Describe what the code does instead. Comments only; behavior, the public API and the ABI are unchanged. Part of #5712 Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> * Update the discard_number_values comments to the current number path The comments explaining the accept() shortcut in convert_number() and the member documentation still argued in terms of strtoull()/strtoll() and errno, which #5283 replaced with convert_integer(), and pointed at scan_number() instead of convert_number(). They also did not say that scan_number_bulk_contiguous() converts integers itself, so the shortcut is only reached for input without bulk access, with JSON_DIAGNOSTIC_POSITIONS, or when the bulk scanner falls back. Rewrite both comments to describe the digit-count check in front of convert_integer(), keeping the 18-digit bound and the json_sax_acceptor argument. The stale <cstdlib> comment is left for after #5616, which edits that include block. Comments only; behavior, the public API and the ABI are unchanged. Part of #5712 Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> * List the UTF-8 validators instead of calling the DFA the only one The documentation of decode() called the Hoehrmann DFA the single source of truth for UTF-8 validation. It is used only by the serializer and by is_valid_utf8() (CBOR/MessagePack/BSON/UBJSON/BJData text strings). The lexer's scan_string() switch, validate_one_utf8() / valid_utf8_prefix() (bulk string scan, BON8 bulk path and BON8 writer) and the BON8 byte path in get_bon8_string() check the RFC 3629 ranges on their own. Replace the sentence with a list of the four validators, what each is used for, and a note that they must accept the same sequences. Sharing code between them was considered and dropped: it would save a few lines in a validator that is entangled with BON8 pushback, and #5677 is editing the BON8 byte path. Comments only; behavior, the public API and the ABI are unchanged. Part of #5712 Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> * Fix stale doc comments and include lists in the input headers input_adapters.hpp included <memory> and <numeric> for the removed shared_ptr-based adapter design but used neither; it called (std::min) without including <algorithm>. json_sax.hpp used std::numeric_limits without including <limits>. Also corrected comments that no longer matched the code: input_stream_adapter does not skip the input's BOM (the lexer's skip_bom() does), the span_input_adapter comment named the no-longer-existing input_buffer_adapter type, lexer::get_string() does not reset the token, binary_reader's get_number() doc opened with /* instead of /*! (so Doxygen skipped it) and omitted BON8 from its endianness note, and the UBJSON-binary-types note did not mention that BJData 'B' arrays are read as binary. Left out: the lgtm suppression on lexer.hpp's scan_number() (in #5616's hunk) and the "-1 if unknown" wording in json_sax.hpp's start_object/start_array docs (in draft #5267's hunk), per the verdict's conflict list. Part of #5712 Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> * Deduplicate the strict-EOF/release_lookahead/error block in parser::parse() json_sax_dom_callback_parser and json_sax_dom_parser branches of parser::parse() ran the same ~25 lines after sax_parse_internal(): the strict-mode EOF check (raising parse_error.101 through the SAX parser), release_lookahead() in non-strict mode, and mapping an errored SAX parser to a discarded result. The two copies had already drifted apart in formatting and in the second copy's "see above" comment. Add a private parse_dom(DomSax&, strict) member that runs this shared sequence once and returns whether the SAX parser did not error; both branches of parse() now only construct their DOM SAX parser, call parse_dom(), and (for the callback parser) map a discarded top-level value to null. sax_parse() is left untouched, since it only runs the EOF check and release_lookahead() when sax_parse_internal() succeeded, unlike parse(), which runs them unconditionally. Behavior-preserving: same operations in the same order for both SAX parser kinds. Verified with unit-class_parser (strict/non-strict, callback and non-callback), unit-deserialization and unit-disabled_exceptions (JSON_NOEXCEPTION), plus a clean make amalgamate / make check-amalgamation diff. Overlaps #5601, which touches the same lines. Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> #5712 item 2 * Share the code point to UTF-8 encoding between the wide-string helpers and the lexer The 1/2/3/4-byte UTF-8 encoding ladder was written out by hand three times: in wide_string_input_helper<..., 4>::fill_buffer() for a UTF-32 code point, in the UTF-16 helper for both a BMP code unit and a valid surrogate pair, and in the lexer's \uXXXX/\uXXXX\uYYYY handling. The copies had drifted: the UTF-32 helper masked the leading bits of each byte (& 0x1Fu, & 0x0Fu, & 0x07u) where the others relied on the shift alone, even though both give the same result for a code point that is already known to be in range. Add detail::encode_utf8(cp, out) in string_utils.hpp, a single encoder that invokes a callable once per output byte, most significant byte first. Use it in the three valid-code-point branches (UTF-32 code points up to U+10FFFF, UTF-16 code units outside the surrogate range, and valid UTF-16 surrogate pairs) and in the lexer's \u handling, where out forwards to add(). The UTF-16 helper's deliberate pass-through of malformed surrogate units and the UTF-32 helper's 0xFF sentinel for code points above U+10FFFF are untouched, since neither reaches the new helper. Behavior-preserving: same bytes in the same order for every valid code point, verified with unit-class_lexer, unit-class_parser, unit-deserialization, unit-wstring and the non-test-data parts of unit-unicode1..5 (ASan/UBSan, C++11/17/20), and an escape-heavy parse microbenchmark that shows no change (about 73 ms either way, median of 3, 1M escape sequences). single_include/ regenerated with make amalgamate; make check-amalgamation leaves a clean tree. Overlaps #5704, which rewrites the wide_string_input_helper specializations touched here. Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me> #5712 item 6 --------- Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
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Summary
When a parser callback rejects an object's or array's
object_start/array_startevent,json_sax_dom_callback_parserstill called the callback for everything inside that container: nested keys, values, and the start/end events of
containers below it. This contradicts
parser_callback_t's documentation, which promises that discarding a containerat its start event also hides its content from the callback. The same code path also kept a full copy of every key
inside such a discarded container in
key_stackuntil the whole parse finished, since the early return for valuesthat are not stored skipped the matching pop. That made peak memory during the parse scale with the size of the
subtree the callback was trying to skip in the first place (49 KB vs. 13.7 MB for a 200,000-member discarded object).
Changes
start_object()andstart_array()now short-circuit on the enclosing container's ownkeepflag, so theirobject_start/array_startcallback is not invoked when they are nested inside an already-discarded container.key()now checks whether the enclosing object is actually going to be stored before touchingkey_keep_stack/key_stack. If it is not (because it was discarded at its own start event, or because an ancestor was), the keycallback and the stack bookkeeping are both skipped. If the object's own start event was accepted but its own key
in its parent was rejected, the key callback is still invoked for the content (as documented: "the callback is still
called for the associated value, but its return value has no further effect"), just without the bookkeeping that
would otherwise never be popped.
Tests
Added to
tests/src/unit-class_parser.cpp(callback functionsection):"no callback for the content of a discarded container (#5643)": reproduces the issue's example and asserts theexact event sequence the callback receives when an object is discarded at its
object_startevent, showing that nokey/start/value events from inside it are reported.
"callback still called inside a container whose key was rejected (#5643)": asserts the event sequence for both anobject and an array whose key (not their own start event) was rejected, showing their content is still reported to
the callback as documented, exercising the same code path without breaking that guarantee.
Both new tests fail against unpatched
develop(verified by building againstorigin/develop's headers) and passwith the fix. Ran
unit-class_parser(plain and withJSON_DIAGNOSTIC_POSITIONS=1),unit-regression1,unit-regression2,unit-regression3, andunit-diagnostic-positionsfor C++11/17/20 with-fsanitize=address,undefined -Wall -Wextra -Werror; all pass.Public API
No breaking changes. This only corrects
json_sax_dom_callback_parser's behavior to match the documented contract ofparser_callback_t; no signatures changed.Fixes #5643
This PR was written by Claude Code on behalf of @nlohmann.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code