2.5

README.md

@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ While this version doesn't have a better performance than **json_encode()** and
 extension, but it has the next features:
 
 - [x]  it doesn't require an extension. If you can't install ext-json, then you can use this version.
-- [x] **it works with JSON with unquoted keys** (for example JavaScript notation)
+- [x] **it works with JSON with unquoted keys** (for example JavaScript notation), {aaa:2,bbb:"hello"}
+- [x] **it could also work with unquoted values**  {"aaa":2,"bbb":hello}
+- [x] **it could also work with unwrapped content** "aaa":2,"bbb":"hello" instead of {aaa:2,bbb:"hello"}
 - [x] It is a simple .php file with no dependency.
 
 ## Usage
@@ -53,12 +55,12 @@ See the folder examples for further examples
 
 ### Decode
 
-Decode transform (de-codified) a JSON string into a stdclass or an associative array
+Decode a JSON string into a stdclass or an associative array
 
 ```php
 $json='{"hello":{"a":2,"b":3},"world":[1,2,3,"aaa"]}';
 var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json)); // as stdclass
-var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY)); // as array
+var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY)); // as array
 ```
 It also works with unquoted keys
 
@@ -66,9 +68,41 @@ It also works with unquoted keys
 
 $json='{hello:{a:2,b:3},world:[1,2,3,"aaa","bbbb"]}';  // the keys are unquoted.
 var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json)); // as stdclass
-var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY)); // as array
+var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY)); // as array
 ```
 
+#### Json unwrapped.
+
+With the flag **Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT**, it also works when the origin text misses [] and {} at the start of the code.
+Note, this feature is not foolproof, for example  "[1,2,3],[4,5,6]" will not wrap as "[[1,2,3],[4,5,6]]" 
+
+```
+{"a":222,"b:"ccc"}  # normal json
+"a":222,"b:"ccc"    # json without the root parenthesis.    
+```
+
+```php
+Services_JSON::decode('1,2,3',Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT); // returns [1,2,3]
+Services_JSON::decode('"k1":"v1", k2:2',Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT) // returns [ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>2]
+```
+
+> Note: DECODE_FIX_ROOT flag detects if the near character is ":" or ",". If the closest character is ":", then it returns
+> an object, otherwise it returns a list.  If there is none, then it returns a list.
+
+#### Json with unquoted values
+
+With the flag **Services_JSON::DECODE_NO_QUOTE** it also works when the string values are not quoted.
+
+>Note: invisible characters at the beginner and at the end (tabs, line carriages) will be trimmed.
+
+```php
+
+Services_JSON::decode('{"a":aaa,"b":bbbb,"c": aaaaa}'
+  , Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_NO_QUOTE) // ['a'=>'aaa','b'=>'bbbb','c' => 'aaaaa']
+```
+
+
+
 ### Encode
 
 Encode transform a value (array, object, primitive value, etc.) into a json expression (a string)
@@ -82,8 +116,21 @@ var_dump(Services_JSON::encode($obj)); // encode an object
 
 
 ## Changelog
-
-* 2.0
+* 2.5 
+  * now allows "@" and "." for key values. 
+* 2.4 
+  * update requirements to php 7.4 
+  * added more type hinting (type validation)
+* 2.3.2
+  * Added flag to decode() DECODE_NO_QUOTE 
+* 2.3.1
+  * deleted unused code
+  * fixed comments.
+  * 25% of the code has been refactored.
+* 2.3
+  * Fixed a typo with a comment.
+  * added phpunit. The entire code is tested but special codification.
+* 2.2
   * Now the library is static, so you can call the methods without creating an instance.
   * If you want to work with the non-static library, then install 1.1
 * 1.1

composer.json

@@ -25,9 +25,12 @@
         }
     ],
     "require": {
-        "php": ">=7.2.5"
+        "php": ">=7.4"
     },
     "suggest": {
         "ext-mbstring": "*"
+    },
+    "require-dev": {
+        "phpunit/phpunit": "^9.5"
     }
 }

examples/example_decode.php

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<?php
+<?php /** @noinspection ForgottenDebugOutputInspection */
 
 use eftec\ServicesJson\Services_JSON;
 include '../vendor/autoload.php';
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json));
 echo "</pre>";
 echo "Decode as array:<br>";
 echo "<pre>";
-var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json, Services_JSON::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY));
+var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json, Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY));
 echo "</pre>";

examples/example_decode_unquoted.php

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<?php
+<?php /** @noinspection ForgottenDebugOutputInspection */
 
 use eftec\ServicesJson\Services_JSON;
 
@@ -9,12 +9,27 @@ include '../vendor/autoload.php';
 
 $json='{hello:{a:2,b:3},world:[1,2,3,"aaa","bbbb"]}';
 
+echo "<h1>Original:</h1><pre>$json</pre><br>";
 
-echo "Decode as stdclass:<br>";
+echo "<h1>Decode as stdclass:</h1>";
 echo "<pre>";
 var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json));
 echo "</pre>";
-echo "Decode as array:<br>";
+echo "<h1>Decode as array:</h1>";
 echo "<pre>";
-var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY));
+var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY));
 echo "</pre>";
+
+$json='hello.world:{a:2,b:3},hello@world:[1,2,3,"aaa","bbbb"]';
+
+echo "<h1>Original (.@ and missing {} or [] in root):</h1><pre>$json</pre><br>";
+
+echo "<h1>Decode as stdclass:</h1>";
+echo "<pre>";
+var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT));
+echo "</pre>";
+echo "<h1>Decode as array:</h1>";
+echo "<pre>";
+var_dump(Services_JSON::decode($json,Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY|Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT));
+echo "</pre>";
+

examples/example_encode.php

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<?php
+<?php /** @noinspection ForgottenDebugOutputInspection */
 
 use eftec\ServicesJson\Services_JSON;
 

src/Services_JSON.php

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-<?php
-/** @noinspection PhpUndefinedVariableInspection
+<?php /** @noinspection UnknownInspectionInspection */
+
+/**
  * @noinspection TypeUnsafeArraySearchInspection
  * @noinspection PhpComposerExtensionStubsInspection
  * @noinspection TypeUnsafeComparisonInspection
@@ -63,38 +64,41 @@ use stdClass;
  * Brief example of use:
  *
  * <code>
- * // create a new instance of Services_JSON
- * $json = new Services_JSON();
  *
  * // convert a complexe value to JSON notation, and send it to the browser
  * $value = array('foo', 'bar', array(1, 2, 'baz'), array(3, array(4)));
- * $output = $json->encode($value);
+ * $output = Services_JSON::encode($value);
  *
  * print($output);
  * // prints: ["foo","bar",[1,2,"baz"],[3,[4]]]
  *
  * // accept incoming POST data, assumed to be in JSON notation
  * $input = file_get_contents('php://input', 1000000);
- * $value = $json->decode($input);
+ * $value = Services_JSON::decode($input);
  * </code>
  */
 class Services_JSON
 {
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_SLICE = 1;
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_IN_STR = 2;
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR = 3;
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ = 4;
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_IN_CMT = 5;
+    protected const SLICE = 1;
+    protected const IN_STR = 2;
+    protected const IN_ARR = 3;
+    protected const IN_OBJ = 4;
+    protected const IN_CMT = 5;
+    /** @var int the value returned will be an array instead of a stdclass */
+    public const GET_ARRAY = 16;
+    /** @var int supresses the errors and replaces by a null */
+    public const SUPPRESS_ERRORS = 32;
+    /** @var int supports to-json */
+    public const USE_TO_JSON = 64;
+    /** @var int If the fix value is broken, then it adds [] or {} automatically */
+    public const DECODE_FIX_ROOT = 128;
+    public const DECODE_NO_QUOTE = 256;
 
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY = 16;
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_SUPPRESS_ERRORS = 32;
-    public const SERVICES_JSON_USE_TO_JSON = 64;
-
-    protected static $use=0;
+    protected static int $use = 0;
     // private - cache the mbstring lookup results..
-    protected static $_mb_strlen = false;
-    protected static $_mb_substr = false;
-    protected static $_mb_convert_encoding = false;
+    protected static bool $_mb_strlen = false;
+    protected static bool $_mb_substr = false;
+    protected static bool $_mb_convert_encoding = false;
 
     /**
      * constructs a new JSON instance. We force this library as static
@@ -106,7 +110,7 @@ class Services_JSON
 
     protected static function init(?int $use = null): void
     {
-        if($use!==null) {
+        if ($use !== null) {
             self::$use = $use;
         }
         self::$_mb_strlen = function_exists('mb_strlen');
@@ -125,7 +129,7 @@ class Services_JSON
      * @return   string  UTF-8 character
      * @access   private
      */
-    protected static function utf162utf8($utf16): string
+    protected static function utf162utf8(string $utf16): string
     {
         if (self::$_mb_convert_encoding) {
             return mb_convert_encoding($utf16, 'UTF-8', 'UTF-16');
@@ -134,19 +138,16 @@ class Services_JSON
         switch (true) {
             case ((0x7F & $bytes) == $bytes):
                 // this case should never be reached, because we are in ASCII range
-                // see: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                // see: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                 return chr(0x7F & $bytes);
             case (0x07FF & $bytes) == $bytes:
                 // return a 2-byte UTF-8 character
-                // see: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                return chr(0xC0 | (($bytes >> 6) & 0x1F))
-                    . chr(0x80 | ($bytes & 0x3F));
+                // see: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                return chr(0xC0 | (($bytes >> 6) & 0x1F)) . chr(0x80 | ($bytes & 0x3F));
             case (0xFFFF & $bytes) == $bytes:
                 // return a 3-byte UTF-8 character
-                // see: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                return chr(0xE0 | (($bytes >> 12) & 0x0F))
-                    . chr(0x80 | (($bytes >> 6) & 0x3F))
-                    . chr(0x80 | ($bytes & 0x3F));
+                // see: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                return chr(0xE0 | (($bytes >> 12) & 0x0F)) . chr(0x80 | (($bytes >> 6) & 0x3F)) . chr(0x80 | ($bytes & 0x3F));
         }
         // ignoring UTF-32 for now, sorry
         return '';
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ class Services_JSON
      * @return   string  UTF-16 character
      * @access   private
      */
-    public static function utf82utf16($utf8): string
+    public static function utf82utf16(string $utf8): string
     {
         if (self::$_mb_convert_encoding) {
             return mb_convert_encoding($utf8, 'UTF-16', 'UTF-8');
@@ -170,21 +171,16 @@ class Services_JSON
         switch (self::strlen8($utf8)) {
             case 1:
                 // this case should never be reached, because we are in ASCII range
-                // see: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                // see: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                 return $utf8;
             case 2:
                 // return a UTF-16 character from a 2-byte UTF-8 char
-                // see: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                return chr(0x07 & (ord($utf8[0]) >> 2))
-                    . chr((0xC0 & (ord($utf8[0]) << 6))
-                        | (0x3F & ord($utf8[1])));
+                // see: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                return chr(0x07 & (ord($utf8[0]) >> 2)) . chr((0xC0 & (ord($utf8[0]) << 6)) | (0x3F & ord($utf8[1])));
             case 3:
                 // return a UTF-16 character from a 3-byte UTF-8 char
-                // see: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                return chr((0xF0 & (ord($utf8[0]) << 4))
-                        | (0x0F & (ord($utf8[1]) >> 2)))
-                    . chr((0xC0 & (ord($utf8[1]) << 6))
-                        | (0x7F & ord($utf8[2])));
+                // see: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                return chr((0xF0 & (ord($utf8[0]) << 4)) | (0x0F & (ord($utf8[1]) >> 2))) . chr((0xC0 & (ord($utf8[1]) << 6)) | (0x7F & ord($utf8[2])));
         }
         // ignoring UTF-32 for now, sorry
         return '';
@@ -201,7 +197,7 @@ class Services_JSON
      * @return   mixed   JSON string representation of input var or an error if a problem occurs
      * @access   public
      */
-    public static function encode($var,$use=0)
+    public static function encode($var, $use = 0)
     {
         //header('Content-type: application/json');
         self::init($use);
@@ -209,7 +205,7 @@ class Services_JSON
     }
 
     /**
-     * encodes an arbitrary variable into JSON format without JSON Header - warning - may allow XSS!!!!)
+     * encodes an arbitrary variable into JSON format without JSON Header - warning - may allow XSS!!!!
      *
      * @param mixed $var         any number, boolean, string, array, or object to be encoded.
      *                           see argument 1 to Services_JSON() above for array-parsing behavior.
@@ -290,7 +286,7 @@ class Services_JSON
                             break;
                         case (($ord_var_c & 0xE0) == 0xC0):
                             // characters U-00000080 - U-000007FF, mask 110XXXXX
-                            // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                            // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                             if ($c + 1 >= $strlen_var) {
                                 ++$c;
                                 $ascii .= '?';
@@ -308,10 +304,8 @@ class Services_JSON
                                 break;
                             }
                             // characters U-00000800 - U-0000FFFF, mask 1110XXXX
-                            // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c,
-                                @ord($var[$c + 1]),
-                                @ord($var[$c + 2]));
+                            // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c, @ord($var[$c + 1]), @ord($var[$c + 2]));
                             $c += 2;
                             $utf16 = self::utf82utf16($char);
                             $ascii .= sprintf('\u%04s', bin2hex($utf16));
@@ -323,28 +317,21 @@ class Services_JSON
                                 break;
                             }
                             // characters U-00010000 - U-001FFFFF, mask 11110XXX
-                            // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c,
-                                ord($var[$c + 1]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 2]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 3]));
+                            // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c, ord($var[$c + 1]), ord($var[$c + 2]), ord($var[$c + 3]));
                             $c += 3;
                             $utf16 = self::utf82utf16($char);
                             $ascii .= sprintf('\u%04s', bin2hex($utf16));
                             break;
                         case (($ord_var_c & 0xFC) == 0xF8):
                             // characters U-00200000 - U-03FFFFFF, mask 111110XX
-                            // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                            // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                             if ($c + 4 >= $strlen_var) {
                                 $c += 4;
                                 $ascii .= '?';
                                 break;
                             }
-                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c,
-                                ord($var[$c + 1]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 2]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 3]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 4]));
+                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c, ord($var[$c + 1]), ord($var[$c + 2]), ord($var[$c + 3]), ord($var[$c + 4]));
                             $c += 4;
                             $utf16 = self::utf82utf16($char);
                             $ascii .= sprintf('\u%04s', bin2hex($utf16));
@@ -356,13 +343,8 @@ class Services_JSON
                                 break;
                             }
                             // characters U-04000000 - U-7FFFFFFF, mask 1111110X
-                            // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
-                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c,
-                                ord($var[$c + 1]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 2]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 3]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 4]),
-                                ord($var[$c + 5]));
+                            // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                            $char = pack('C*', $ord_var_c, ord($var[$c + 1]), ord($var[$c + 2]), ord($var[$c + 3]), ord($var[$c + 4]), ord($var[$c + 5]));
                             $c += 5;
                             $utf16 = self::utf82utf16($char);
                             $ascii .= sprintf('\u%04s', bin2hex($utf16));
@@ -387,12 +369,9 @@ class Services_JSON
                  * ECMA reserved word or starts with a digit the
                  * parameter is only accessible using ECMAScript's
                  * bracket notation.
-                 */
-                // treat as a JSON object
+                 */ // treat as a JSON object
                 if (is_array($var) && count($var) && (array_keys($var) !== range(0, count($var) - 1))) {
-                    $properties = array_map([self::class, 'name_value'],
-                        array_keys($var),
-                        array_values($var));
+                    $properties = array_map([self::class, 'name_value'], array_keys($var), array_values($var));
                     foreach ($properties as $property) {
                         if (self::isError($property)) {
                             return $property;
@@ -410,23 +389,20 @@ class Services_JSON
                 return '[' . implode(',', $elements) . ']';
             case 'object':
                 // support toJSON methods.
-                if ((self::$use & self::SERVICES_JSON_USE_TO_JSON) && method_exists($var, 'toJSON')) {
+                if ((self::$use & self::USE_TO_JSON) && method_exists($var, 'toJSON')) {
                     // this may end up allowing unlimited recursion, so we check the return value to make sure it's
                     // not got the same method.
                     $recode = $var->toJSON();
                     if (method_exists($recode, 'toJSON')) {
-                        if ((self::$use & self::SERVICES_JSON_SUPPRESS_ERRORS)) {
+                        if ((self::$use & self::SUPPRESS_ERRORS)) {
                             return 'null';
                         }
-                        self::Services_JSON_Error(get_class($var) .
-                            " toJSON returned an object with a toJSON method.");
+                        self::Services_JSON_Error(get_class($var) . " toJSON returned an object with a toJSON method.");
                     }
                     return self::_encode($recode);
                 }
                 $vars = get_object_vars($var);
-                $properties = array_map([self::class, 'name_value'],
-                    array_keys($vars),
-                    array_values($vars));
+                $properties = array_map([self::class, 'name_value'], array_keys($vars), array_values($vars));
                 foreach ($properties as $property) {
                     if (self::isError($property)) {
                         return $property;
@@ -434,7 +410,7 @@ class Services_JSON
                 }
                 return '{' . implode(',', $properties) . '}';
             default:
-                if ((self::$use & self::SERVICES_JSON_SUPPRESS_ERRORS)) {
+                if ((self::$use & self::SUPPRESS_ERRORS)) {
                     return 'null';
                 }
                 self::Services_JSON_Error(gettype($var) . " can not be encoded as JSON string");
@@ -450,13 +426,13 @@ class Services_JSON
      * @return   string  JSON-formatted name-value pair, like '"name":value'
      * @access   private
      */
-    protected static function name_value($name, $value)
+    protected static function name_value(string $name, $value)
     {
         $encoded_value = self::_encode($value);
         if (self::isError($encoded_value)) {
             return $encoded_value;
         }
-        return self::_encode((string)$name) . ':' . $encoded_value;
+        return self::_encode($name) . ':' . $encoded_value;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -467,16 +443,12 @@ class Services_JSON
      * @return   string  string value stripped of comments and whitespace
      * @access   private
      */
-    protected static function reduce_string($str): string
+    protected static function reduce_string(string $str): string
     {
-        $str = preg_replace([
-            // eliminate single line comments in '// ...' form
-            '#^\s*//(.+)$#m',
-            // eliminate multi-line comments in '/* ... */' form, at start of string
-            '#^\s*/\*(.+)\*/#Us',
-            // eliminate multi-line comments in '/* ... */' form, at end of string
-            '#/\*(.+)\*/\s*$#Us'
-        ], '', $str);
+        $str = preg_replace([// eliminate single line comments in '// ...' form
+            '#^\s*//(.+)$#m', // eliminate multi-line comments in '/* ... */' form, at start of string
+            '#^\s*/\*(.+)\*/#Us', // eliminate multi-line comments in '/* ... */' form, at end of string
+            '#/\*(.+)\*/\s*$#Us'], '', $str);
         // eliminate extraneous space
         return trim($str);
     }
@@ -486,29 +458,51 @@ class Services_JSON
      *
      * @param string $str JSON-formatted string
      * @param int    $use object behavior flags; combine with boolean-OR possible values:<br>
-     *                           - <b>self::SERVICES_JSON_LOOSE_TYPE</b>:  loose typing.<br>
-     *                                   "{...}" syntax creates associative arrays<br>
-     *                                   instead of objects in decode().<br>
-     *                           - <b>self::SERVICES_JSON_SUPPRESS_ERRORS</b>:  error suppression.<br>
-     *                                   Values which can't be encoded (e.g. resources)<br>
-     *                                   appear as NULL instead of throwing errors.<br>
-     *                                   By default, a deeply-nested resource will<br>
-     *                                   bubble up with an error, so all return values<br>
-     *                                   from encode() should be checked with isError()<br>
-     *                           - <b>self::SERVICES_JSON_USE_TO_JSON</b>:  call toJSON when serializing objects<br>
-     *                                   It serializes the return value from the toJSON call rather<br>
-     *                                   than the object it'self,  toJSON can return associative arrays,<br>
-     *                                   strings or numbers, if you return an object, make sure it does<br>
-     *                                   not have a toJSON method, otherwise an error will occur.<br>
-     * @return   mixed   number, boolean, string, array, or object<br>
+     *                    - <b>self::GET_ARRAY</b>:  syntax creates associative arrays<br>
+     *                    instead of objects in decode().<br>
+     *                    - <b>self::SUPPRESS_ERRORS</b>:  error suppression.<br>
+     *                    Values which can't be encoded (e.g. resources)<br>
+     *                    appear as NULL instead of throwing errors.<br>
+     *                    By default, a deeply-nested resource will<br>
+     *                    bubble up with an error, so all return values<br>
+     *                    from encode() should be checked with isError()<br>
+     *                    - <b>self::USE_TO_JSON</b>:  call toJSON when serializing objects<br>
+     *                    It serializes the return value from the toJSON call rather<br>
+     *                    than the object it'self,  toJSON can return associative arrays,<br>
+     *                    strings or numbers, if you return an object, make sure it does<br>
+     *                    not have a toJSON method, otherwise an error will occur.<br>
+     *                    -<b>self::DECODE_FIX_ROOT</b>: Fix the code if the root parenthesis are
+     *                    missing<br> Example: "1,2,3" works as "[1,2,3]" and "a:1,b:2" works as "{a:1,b:2}"
+     *
+     * @return   array|bool|float|int|stdClass|string|null   number, boolean, string, array, or object<br>
      *                             corresponding to given JSON input string.<br>
      *                             See argument 1 to Services_JSON() above for object-output behavior.<br>
      *                             Note that decode() always returns strings<br>
      *                             in ASCII or UTF-8 format!<br>
-     * @access   public
+     * @access       public
      */
-    public static function decode($str, int $use = 0)
+    public static function decode(string $str, int $use = 0)
     {
+        if ($use & self::DECODE_FIX_ROOT) {
+            $str = trim($str);
+            if($str==="") {
+                throw new RuntimeException("no value to decode");
+            }
+            $firstChar = $str[0];
+            if ($firstChar !== '{' && $firstChar !== '[') {
+                // fixing a malformed json-u, if the json-u doesn't start with { [ and ends with ] } then it wraps it
+                // note:: it will fail for a simple value su as "hello", so it will return ["hello"]
+                $p0 = strpos($str, ':'); // content:2,content2:3 =>  {content:2,content2:3}
+                $p0 = $p0 === false ? PHP_INT_MAX : $p0;
+                $p1 = strpos($str, ','); // 2,a:3  => [2,a:3]
+                $p1 = $p1 === false ? PHP_INT_MAX : $p1;
+                if ($p0 < $p1) {
+                    $str = '{' . $str . '}';
+                } else {
+                    $str = '[' . $str . ']';
+                }
+            }
+        }
         self::init($use);
         return self::decode2($str);
     }
@@ -516,11 +510,11 @@ class Services_JSON
     /**
      * It is used internally.
      * @param $str
-     * @param $asAssocArray
-     * @return array|bool|float|int|mixed|stdClass|string|null
+     * @return array|bool|float|int|stdClass|string|null
      *
+     * @noinspection PhpUndefinedVariableInspection
      */
-    protected static function decode2($str, $asAssocArray = false)
+    protected static function decode2($str)
     {
         $str = self::reduce_string($str);
         switch (strtolower($str)) {
@@ -538,9 +532,7 @@ class Services_JSON
                     // good about returning integers where appropriate:
                     // return (float)$str;
                     // Return float or int, as appropriate
-                    return ((float)$str == (integer)$str)
-                        ? (integer)$str
-                        : (float)$str;
+                    return ((float)$str == (integer)$str) ? (integer)$str : (float)$str;
                 }
                 if (preg_match('/^(["\']).*(\1)$/s', $str, $m) && $m[1] == $m[2]) {
                     // STRINGS RETURNED IN UTF-8 FORMAT
@@ -576,15 +568,13 @@ class Services_JSON
                             case $substr_chrs_c_2 === '\\\'':
                             case $substr_chrs_c_2 === '\\\\':
                             case $substr_chrs_c_2 === '\\/':
-                                if (($delim === '"' && $substr_chrs_c_2 !== '\\\'') ||
-                                    ($delim === "'" && $substr_chrs_c_2 !== '\\"')) {
+                                if (($delim === '"' && $substr_chrs_c_2 !== '\\\'') || ($delim === "'" && $substr_chrs_c_2 !== '\\"')) {
                                     $utf8 .= $chrs[++$c];
                                 }
                                 break;
                             case preg_match('/\\\u[0-9A-F]{4}/i', self::substr8($chrs, $c, 6)):
                                 // single, escaped unicode character
-                                $utf16 = chr(hexdec(self::substr8($chrs, ($c + 2), 2)))
-                                    . chr(hexdec(self::substr8($chrs, ($c + 4), 2)));
+                                $utf16 = chr(hexdec(self::substr8($chrs, ($c + 2), 2))) . chr(hexdec(self::substr8($chrs, ($c + 4), 2)));
                                 $utf8 .= self::utf162utf8($utf16);
                                 $c += 5;
                                 break;
@@ -593,31 +583,31 @@ class Services_JSON
                                 break;
                             case ($ord_chrs_c & 0xE0) == 0xC0:
                                 // characters U-00000080 - U-000007FF, mask 110XXXXX
-                                //see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                                //see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                                 $utf8 .= self::substr8($chrs, $c, 2);
                                 ++$c;
                                 break;
                             case ($ord_chrs_c & 0xF0) == 0xE0:
                                 // characters U-00000800 - U-0000FFFF, mask 1110XXXX
-                                // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                                // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                                 $utf8 .= self::substr8($chrs, $c, 3);
                                 $c += 2;
                                 break;
                             case ($ord_chrs_c & 0xF8) == 0xF0:
                                 // characters U-00010000 - U-001FFFFF, mask 11110XXX
-                                // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                                // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                                 $utf8 .= self::substr8($chrs, $c, 4);
                                 $c += 3;
                                 break;
                             case ($ord_chrs_c & 0xFC) == 0xF8:
                                 // characters U-00200000 - U-03FFFFFF, mask 111110XX
-                                // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                                // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                                 $utf8 .= self::substr8($chrs, $c, 5);
                                 $c += 4;
                                 break;
                             case ($ord_chrs_c & 0xFE) == 0xFC:
                                 // characters U-04000000 - U-7FFFFFFF, mask 1111110X
-                                // see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
+                                // see https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html#utf-8
                                 $utf8 .= self::substr8($chrs, $c, 6);
                                 $c += 5;
                                 break;
@@ -628,144 +618,107 @@ class Services_JSON
                 if (preg_match('/^\[.*]$/s', $str) || preg_match('/^\{.*}$/s', $str)) {
                     // array, or object notation
                     if ($str[0] === '[') {
-                        $stk = [self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR];
+                        $stk = [self::IN_ARR];
                         $arr = [];
                     } else {
-                        $stk = [self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ];
-                        if (self::$use & self::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY) {
+                        $stk = [self::IN_OBJ];
+                        if (self::$use & self::GET_ARRAY) {
                             $obj = [];
                         } else {
                             $obj = new stdClass();
                         }
                     }
-                    $stk[] = ['what' => self::SERVICES_JSON_SLICE,
-                        'where' => 0,
-                        'delim' => false];
+                    $stk[] = ['what' => self::SLICE, 'where' => 0, 'delim' => false];
                     $chrs = self::substr8($str, 1, -1);
                     $chrs = self::reduce_string($chrs);
                     if ($chrs == '') {
-                        if (reset($stk) == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR) {
+                        if (reset($stk) == self::IN_ARR) {
                             return $arr;
                         }
                         return $obj;
                     }
-                    //print("\nparsing {$chrs}\n");
                     $strlen_chrs = self::strlen8($chrs);
                     for ($c = 0; $c <= $strlen_chrs; ++$c) {
                         $top = end($stk);
                         $substr_chrs_c_2 = self::substr8($chrs, $c, 2);
-                        if (($c == $strlen_chrs) || (($chrs[$c] === ',') && ($top['what'] == self::SERVICES_JSON_SLICE))) {
+                        if (($c == $strlen_chrs) || (($chrs[$c] === ',') && ($top['what'] == self::SLICE))) {
                             // found a comma that is not inside a string, array, etc.,
                             // OR we've reached the end of the character list
                             $slice = self::substr8($chrs, $top['where'], ($c - $top['where']));
-                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::SERVICES_JSON_SLICE, 'where' => ($c + 1), 'delim' => false];
-                            //print("Found split at {$c}: ".$this->substr8($chrs, $top['where'], (1 + $c - $top['where']))."\n");
-                            if (reset($stk) == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR) {
+                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::SLICE, 'where' => ($c + 1), 'delim' => false];
+                            if (reset($stk) == self::IN_ARR) {
                                 // we are in an array, so just push an element onto the stack
                                 $arr[] = self::decode2($slice);
-                            } elseif (reset($stk) == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ) {
-                                // we are in an object, so figure
-                                // out the property name and set an
-                                // element in an associative array,
-                                // for now
+                            } elseif (reset($stk) == self::IN_OBJ) {
+                                // we are in an object, so figure out the property name and set an
+                                // element in an associative array,for now
                                 $parts = [];
                                 /** @noinspection NotOptimalRegularExpressionsInspection */
                                 if (preg_match('/^\s*(["\'].*[^\\\]["\'])\s*:/Uis', $slice, $parts)) {
                                     // "name":value pair
                                     $key = self::decode2($parts[1]);
                                     $val = self::decode2(trim(substr($slice, strlen($parts[0])), ", \t\n\r\0\x0B"));
-                                    if (self::$use & self::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY) {
+                                    if (self::$use & self::GET_ARRAY) {
                                         $obj[$key] = $val;
                                     } else {
                                         $obj->$key = $val;
                                     }
-                                } /** @noinspection NotOptimalRegularExpressionsInspection */ elseif (preg_match('/^\s*(\w+)\s*:/Ui', $slice, $parts)) {
+                                } /** @noinspection NotOptimalRegularExpressionsInspection */ elseif (preg_match('/^\s*([a-z.@A-Z0-9_]+)\s*:/Ui', $slice, $parts)) {
                                     // name:value pair, where name is unquoted
                                     $key = $parts[1];
                                     $val = self::decode2(trim(substr($slice, strlen($parts[0])), ", \t\n\r\0\x0B"));
-                                    if (self::$use & self::SERVICES_JSON_AS_ARRAY) {
+                                    if (self::$use & self::GET_ARRAY) {
                                         $obj[$key] = $val;
                                     } else {
                                         $obj->$key = $val;
                                     }
                                 }
                             }
-                        } elseif ((($chrs[$c] === '"') || ($chrs[$c] === "'")) && ($top['what'] != self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_STR)) {
+                        } elseif ((($chrs[$c] === '"') || ($chrs[$c] === "'")) && ($top['what'] != self::IN_STR)) {
                             // found a quote, and we are not inside a string
-                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_STR, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => $chrs[$c]];
-                            //print("Found start of string at {$c}\n");
-                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] == $top['delim']) &&
-                            ($top['what'] == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_STR) &&
-                            ((self::strlen8(self::substr8($chrs, 0, $c)) - self::strlen8(rtrim(self::substr8($chrs, 0, $c), '\\'))) % 2 != 1)) {
+                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::IN_STR, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => $chrs[$c]];
+                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] == $top['delim']) && ($top['what'] == self::IN_STR) && ((self::strlen8(self::substr8($chrs, 0, $c)) - self::strlen8(rtrim(self::substr8($chrs, 0, $c), '\\'))) % 2 != 1)) {
                             // found a quote, we're in a string, and it's not escaped
                             // we know that it's not escaped becase there is _not_ an
                             // odd number of backslashes at the end of the string so far
                             array_pop($stk);
-                            //print("Found end of string at {$c}: ".$this->substr8($chrs, $top['where'], (1 + 1 + $c - $top['where']))."\n");
-                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === '[') &&
-                            in_array($top['what'], [self::SERVICES_JSON_SLICE, self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR, self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ])) {
+                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === '[') && in_array($top['what'], [self::SLICE, self::IN_ARR, self::IN_OBJ])) {
                             // found a left-bracket, and we are in an array, object, or slice
-                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => false];
-                            //print("Found start of array at {$c}\n");
-                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === ']') && ($top['what'] == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR)) {
+                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::IN_ARR, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => false];
+                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === ']') && ($top['what'] == self::IN_ARR)) {
                             // found a right-bracket, and we're in an array
                             array_pop($stk);
-                            //print("Found end of array at {$c}: ".$this->substr8($chrs, $top['where'], (1 + $c - $top['where']))."\n");
-                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === '{') &&
-                            in_array($top['what'], [self::SERVICES_JSON_SLICE, self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR, self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ])) {
+                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === '{') && in_array($top['what'], [self::SLICE, self::IN_ARR, self::IN_OBJ])) {
                             // found a left-brace, and we are in an array, object, or slice
-                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => false];
-                            //print("Found start of object at {$c}\n");
-                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === '}') && ($top['what'] == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ)) {
+                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::IN_OBJ, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => false];
+                        } elseif (($chrs[$c] === '}') && ($top['what'] == self::IN_OBJ)) {
                             // found a right-brace, and we're in an object
                             array_pop($stk);
-                            //print("Found end of object at {$c}: ".$this->substr8($chrs, $top['where'], (1 + $c - $top['where']))."\n");
-                        } elseif (($substr_chrs_c_2 === '/*') &&
-                            in_array($top['what'], [self::SERVICES_JSON_SLICE, self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR, self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ])) {
+                        } elseif (($substr_chrs_c_2 === '/*') && in_array($top['what'], [self::SLICE, self::IN_ARR, self::IN_OBJ])) {
                             // found a comment start, and we are in an array, object, or slice
-                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_CMT, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => false];
+                            $stk[] = ['what' => self::IN_CMT, 'where' => $c, 'delim' => false];
                             $c++;
-                            //print("Found start of comment at {$c}\n");
-                        } elseif (($substr_chrs_c_2 === '*/') && ($top['what'] == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_CMT)) {
+                        } elseif (($substr_chrs_c_2 === '*/') && ($top['what'] == self::IN_CMT)) {
                             // found a comment end, and we're in one now
                             array_pop($stk);
                             $c++;
                             for ($i = $top['where']; $i <= $c; ++$i) {
                                 $chrs = substr_replace($chrs, ' ', $i, 1);
                             }
-                            //print("Found end of comment at {$c}: ".$this->substr8($chrs, $top['where'], (1 + $c - $top['where']))."\n");
                         }
                     }
-                    if (reset($stk) == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_ARR) {
+                    if (reset($stk) == self::IN_ARR) {
                         return $arr;
                     }
-                    if (reset($stk) == self::SERVICES_JSON_IN_OBJ) {
-                        if ($asAssocArray) {
-                            return self::arrayCastRecursive($obj);
-                        }
+                    if (reset($stk) == self::IN_OBJ) {
                         return $obj;
                     }
                 }
-        }
-        return null;
-    }
-
-    protected static function arrayCastRecursive($array)
-    {
-        if (is_array($array)) {
-            foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
-                if (is_array($value)) {
-                    $array[$key] = self::arrayCastRecursive($value);
-                }
-                if ($value instanceof stdClass) {
-                    $array[$key] = self::arrayCastRecursive((array)$value);
-                }
+            if(self::$use & self::DECODE_NO_QUOTE) {
+                return $str;
             }
         }
-        if ($array instanceof stdClass) {
-            return self::arrayCastRecursive((array)$array);
-        }
-        return $array;
+        return null;
     }
 
     protected static function isError($data, $code = null): bool
@@ -774,8 +727,7 @@ class Services_JSON
             /** @noinspection PhpUndefinedClassInspection */
             return PEAR::isError($data, $code);
         }
-        if (is_object($data) && (get_class($data) === 'services_json_error' ||
-                is_subclass_of($data, 'services_json_error'))) {
+        if (is_object($data) && (get_class($data) === 'services_json_error' || is_subclass_of($data, 'services_json_error'))) {
             return true;
         }
         return false;
@@ -786,7 +738,7 @@ class Services_JSON
      * @param string $str
      * @return integer length
      */
-    protected static function strlen8($str): int
+    protected static function strlen8(string $str): int
     {
         if (self::$_mb_strlen) {
             return mb_strlen($str, "8bit");
@@ -798,10 +750,10 @@ class Services_JSON
      * Returns part of a string, interpreting $start and $length as number of bytes.
      * @param string  $string
      * @param integer $start  start
-     * @param integer $length length
+     * @param integer|bool $length length
      * @return string length
      */
-    protected static function substr8($string, $start, $length = false): string
+    protected static function substr8(string $string, int $start, $length = false): string
     {
         if ($length === false) {
             $length = self::strlen8($string) - $start;

tests/FirstTest.php

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+<?php declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use eftec\ServicesJson\Services_JSON;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+final class FirstTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testDecode(): void
+    {
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            (object)[ 'k1' => "v1",'k2'=>'v2']
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{"k1":"v1","k2":"v2"}')
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            (object)[ 'k1' => "v1\n\t\f\r",'k2'=>'v2']
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{"k1":"v1\n\t\f\r","k2":"v2"}')
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>2]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{"k1":"v1","k2":2}',Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>2]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{"k1":"v1","k2":2 /* comment */}',Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>2]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{k1:"v1",k2:2}',Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>2]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('"k1":"v1", k2:2',
+                Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT)
+        );
+        //
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [ 'button1' =>["aaaa","bbb","cccc"],
+                'button2' =>["aaaa","bbb","cccc"],
+                'button3' =>["aaaa","bbb","cccc"],]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{"button1":["aaaa","bbb","cccc"],"button2":["aaaa","bbb","cccc"],"button3":["aaaa","bbb","cccc"]}',
+            Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [ 1,2,3]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('1,2,3',
+            Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            [1]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('1',
+            Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            ['a'=>1]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('a:1',
+            Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT)
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            ['a.b@c'=>1]
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('a.b@c:1',
+            Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT)
+        );
+    }
+    public function testsimple(): void
+    {
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            ['a'=>'aaa','b'=>'bbbb','c' => 'aaaaa']
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('a:aaa,b:bbbb,c: aaaaa',
+            Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_FIX_ROOT | Services_JSON::DECODE_NO_QUOTE));
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            ['a'=>'aaa','b'=>'bbbb','c' => 'aaaaa']
+            ,Services_JSON::decode('{"a":aaa,"b":bbbb,"c": aaaaa}', Services_JSON::GET_ARRAY | Services_JSON::DECODE_NO_QUOTE));
+    }
+    public function testEncode(): void
+    {
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            '{"k1":"v1","k2":"v2"}'
+            ,Services_JSON::encode([ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>'v2'])
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            '{"k1":"v1","k2":[1,2,3]}'
+            ,Services_JSON::encode((object)[ 'k1' => 'v1','k2'=>[1,2,3]])
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            '{"k\"1":"v1","k2":[1,2,3],"k3":{"k4":{"0":1,"1":2,"k5":[1,2]}}}'
+            ,Services_JSON::encode((object)[ 'k"1' => 'v1','k2'=>[1,2,3],'k3'=>['k4'=>[1,2,'k5'=>[1,2]]]])
+        );
+    }
+
+}