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json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/number_unsigned_t.md
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Niels Lohmann 6b4b825af2 Handle numbers that do not fit narrow number types in the binary readers (#5607)
* Handle numbers that do not fit narrow number types in the binary readers

With custom number types narrower than the values in a binary document,
for example basic_json<..., std::int32_t, std::uint32_t, float>, every
binary reader (CBOR, MessagePack, UBJSON, BJData, BSON, BON8) passed the
decoded number to the SAX interface with an implicit conversion: the
integer 5000000000 silently became 705032704, and a finite double such as
1e300 became infinity. The lexer handles the same values in JSON text: an
integer that fits neither integer type is stored as number_float_t, and a
finite number that overflows number_float_t is rejected with
out_of_range.406.

Pass every number read from binary input through three helpers that
apply the lexer's rules:
- emit_signed(): number_integer_t, else number_unsigned_t for a
  non-negative value, else number_float_t
- emit_unsigned(): number_unsigned_t, else number_float_t
- emit_float(): out_of_range.406 if a finite value overflows
  number_float_t; infinity and NaN are passed on

For consistency, a CBOR negative integer below the range of
number_integer_t is now stored as number_float_t, like a too small
integer in JSON text, instead of being rejected with parse_error.112.
With the default number types, this is the only change in behavior.

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

* Fix MSVC and clang 3.5 in the narrow number type test

MSVC types 3000000000 and 5000000000 as unsigned long, so
json(-3000000000) triggered C4146 (unary minus on an unsigned type),
which /WX turns into an error. Use LL literals, as elsewhere in the
tests.

clang 3.5 cannot convert the lambdas in the braced initializer of the
format table to function pointers. Use named functions instead.

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

* Check integer-to-float fallbacks for overflow in the binary readers

emit_signed, emit_unsigned, and the CBOR negative integer fallback now
pass their number_float_t fallback through emit_float, so a value that
overflows number_float_t is rejected with out_of_range.406 like a
floating-point value, instead of silently becoming infinity. This only
matters for a number_float_t that cannot represent 2^64, such as a
half-precision type. The CBOR value -1 - n is computed as long double so
that emit_float sees a finite value.

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

* Use the input_format member instead of passing the format to binary_reader helpers

The helpers (get_number, get_to, get_string, get_binary, get_bytes,
emit_signed, emit_unsigned, emit_float, unexpect_eof, exception_message)
are members of binary_reader, which already stores the format it was
constructed with, so the parameter was redundant.

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

---------

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-10-04 17:53:29 +02:00

4.0 KiB

nlohmann::basic_json::number_unsigned_t

using number_unsigned_t = NumberUnsignedType;

The type used to store JSON numbers (unsigned).

RFC 8259 describes numbers as follows:

The representation of numbers is similar to that used in most programming languages. A number is represented in base 10 using decimal digits. It contains an integer component that may be prefixed with an optional minus sign, which may be followed by a fraction part and/or an exponent part. Leading zeros are not allowed. (...) Numeric values that cannot be represented in the grammar below (such as Infinity and NaN) are not permitted.

This description includes both integer and floating-point numbers. However, C++ allows more precise storage if it is known whether the number is a signed integer, an unsigned integer, or a floating-point number. Therefore, three different types, number_integer_t, number_unsigned_t and number_float_t are used.

To store unsigned integer numbers in C++, a type is defined by the template parameter NumberUnsignedType which chooses the type to use.

Template parameters

NumberUnsignedType
the type to store unsigned integers. It must be an unsigned integral type (#!cpp std::is_integral) with a #!cpp std::numeric_limits specialization, and it must be able to represent the absolute value of every number_integer_t value. See Template Parameter Requirements.

Notes

Default type

With the default values for NumberUnsignedType (std::uint64_t), the default value for number_unsigned_t is #!cpp std::uint64_t.

Default behavior

  • The restrictions about leading zeros are not enforced in C++. Instead, leading zeros in integer literals lead to an interpretation as an octal number. Internally, the value will be stored as a decimal number. For instance, the C++ integer literal 010 will be serialized to 8. During deserialization, leading zeros yield an error.

Limits

RFC 8259 specifies:

An implementation may set limits on the range and precision of numbers.

When the default type is used, the maximal integer number that can be stored is 18446744073709551615 (UINT64_MAX) and the minimal integer number that can be stored is 0. Integer numbers that are out of range will yield over/underflow when used in a constructor. During deserialization (from JSON text or any of the binary formats), too large or small integer numbers will automatically be stored as number_integer_t or number_float_t.

RFC 8259 further states:

Note that when such software is used, numbers that are integers and are in the range [-253+1, 253-1] are interoperable in the sense that implementations will agree exactly on their numeric values.

As this range is a subrange (when considered in conjunction with the number_integer_t type) of the exactly supported range [0, UINT64_MAX], this class's integer type is interoperable.

Storage

Integer number values are stored directly inside a basic_json type.

Examples

??? example

The following code shows that `number_unsigned_t` is by default, a typedef to `#!cpp std::uint64_t`.
 
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/number_unsigned_t.cpp"
```

Output:

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

See also

Version history

  • Added in version 2.0.0.