* **`REDIS_REPLY_ARRAY`**:
* A multi bulk reply. The number of elements in the multi bulk reply is stored in
`reply->elements`. Every element in the multi bulk reply is a `redisReply` object as well
- and can be accessed via `reply->elements[..index..]`.
+ and can be accessed via `reply->element[..index..]`.
Redis may reply with nested arrays but this is fully supported.
Replies should be freed using the `freeReplyObject()` function.
contained in arrays and nested arrays, so there is no need for the user to
free the sub replies (it is actually harmful and will corrupt the memory).
+**Important:** the current version of hiredis (0.10.0) free's replies when the
+asynchronous API is used. This means you should not call `freeReplyObject` when
+you use this API. The reply is cleaned up by hiredis _after_ the callback
+returns. This behavior will probably change in future releases, so make sure to
+keep an eye on the changelog when upgrading (see issue #39).
+
### Cleaning up
To disconnect and free the context the following function can be used:
the `err` field in the context can be used to find out what the cause of this error is.
The following examples shows a simple pipeline (resulting in only a single call to `write(2)` and
-a single call to `write(2)`):
+a single call to `read(2)`):
redisReply *reply;
redisAppendCommand(context,"SET foo bar");
returned on calls to the `redisAsyncCommand` family.
If the reply for a command with a `NULL` callback is read, it is immediately free'd. When the callback
-for a command is non-`NULL`, it is responsible for cleaning up the reply.
+for a command is non-`NULL`, the memory is free'd immediately following the callback: the reply is only
+valid for the duration of the callback.
All pending callbacks are called with a `NULL` reply when the context encountered an error.
## Reply parsing API
-To be done.
+Hiredis comes with a reply parsing API that makes it easy for writing higher
+level language bindings.
+
+The reply parsing API consists of the following functions:
+
+ redisReader *redisReaderCreate(void);
+ void redisReaderFree(redisReader *reader);
+ int redisReaderFeed(redisReader *reader, const char *buf, size_t len);
+ int redisReaderGetReply(redisReader *reader, void **reply);
+
+### Usage
+
+The function `redisReaderCreate` creates a `redisReader` structure that holds a
+buffer with unparsed data and state for the protocol parser.
+
+Incoming data -- most likely from a socket -- can be placed in the internal
+buffer of the `redisReader` using `redisReaderFeed`. This function will make a
+copy of the buffer pointed to by `buf` for `len` bytes. This data is parsed
+when `redisReaderGetReply` is called. This function returns an integer status
+and a reply object (as described above) via `void **reply`. The returned status
+can be either `REDIS_OK` or `REDIS_ERR`, where the latter means something went
+wrong (either a protocol error, or an out of memory error).
+
+### Customizing replies
+
+The function `redisReaderGetReply` creates `redisReply` and makes the function
+argument `reply` point to the created `redisReply` variable. For instance, if
+the response of type `REDIS_REPLY_STATUS` then the `str` field of `redisReply`
+will hold the status as a vanilla C string. However, the functions that are
+responsible for creating instances of the `redisReply` can be customized by
+setting the `fn` field on the `redisReader` struct. This should be done
+immediately after creating the `redisReader`.
+
+For example, [hiredis-rb](https://github.com/pietern/hiredis-rb/blob/master/ext/hiredis_ext/reader.c)
+uses customized reply object functions to create Ruby objects.
## AUTHORS