Files
json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json_document/source.md
T
Niels Lohmann 94331d1050 Document that read() must not be given a view of the document itself (#6086)
* Document that read() must not be given a view of the document itself

basic_json_document::read() releases the previous text, the decoded
strings and the edits before it parses its input. An input that points
into them (source(), get_string(), number_token(), or a string of an
edited document) is read after its memory was cleared or freed.

A guard that copies such input costs about 1 ns per read() (5 % of a
read of a 7-byte input), which this API exists to avoid, so state the
precondition in read.md, lifetime.md and the pages of the views that
hand out such strings instead, and show how to copy the string first.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Assert in debug builds that read() is not given its own text

read() releases the document's text, decoded strings, owned image and
edits before it parses, so an input that points into them is read after
release. Without NDEBUG, read() now asserts that a borrowed input, a
copied contiguous input and (before C++17) a string_ref input are not
held by the document: its owned text, its decoded strings, an owned
image, and the current buffer of edited strings. Release builds keep
the documented precondition without a check, which would cost 2-4.5 %
per read() of a small message.

JSON_ASSERT is undefined at the end of json.hpp, so the view uses
assert() through a new internal NLOHMANN_VIEW_ASSERT.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

---------

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-11-11 22:36:17 +01:00

1.4 KiB

nlohmann::basic_json_document::source

view_type::string_view_t source() const noexcept;

Returns the parsed text, whether it is borrowed from the caller or owned by the document.

Return value

A #!cpp string_view_t (#!cpp std::string_view on C++17 and newer) over the parsed text, or an empty one if the document is discarded.

Exception safety

No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.

Complexity

Constant.

Notes

For a borrowed document, source() points directly into the caller's buffer, so it is only valid while that buffer is; see owns_source.

The text of a document that owns it must not be passed to read() of the same document: read() releases an owned text before it parses its input. Copy it first. (A borrowed text belongs to the caller and is not affected.)

Examples

??? example

```cpp
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__source.cpp"
```

Output:

```json
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__source.output"
```

See also

Version history

  • Added in version 3.13.0.