pdfSerializer

Typed PDF objects → Uint8Array — canonical emission, ISO 32000-2 §7.3.

Module pdfSerializer | Source packages/front/office/pdf/src/syntax/serializer.js | Deps pdfErrors | Worker-safe yes

Strict inverse of pdfParser. Emits any typed object (null, bool, int, real, name, string, array, dict, ref) as bytes. stream objects are not emitted directly — go through serializeIndirect, which rewrites /Length to the exact raw byte count. real values follow §7.3.3 (fixed point, no exponent notation, trailing zeros stripped). name values are #xx-escaped for every delimiter, space, or byte outside !..~. string values automatically pick the literal (…) or hex <…> form based on the density of non-printable bytes, unless syntax: 'hex' is explicit.

Resolve

const ser = runtime.resolve('pdfSerializer');
// Returns: { serializeObject, serializeIndirect, formatReal }

API

serializeIndirect

For a stream body, the dictionary is cloned with /Length forced to body.raw.length. The result follows <n> <g> obj\n<<…>>\nstream\n<raw>\nendstream\nendobj\n. Any other type is serialised inline between obj and endobj.

Examples

Emit a dictionary

const ser = runtime.resolve('pdfSerializer');
const dict = {
    type: 'dict',
    entries: {
        Type: { type: 'name', value: 'Catalog' },
        Pages: { type: 'ref', num: 2, gen: 0 }
    }
};
const bytes = ser.serializeObject(dict);
// → "<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>"

Emit an indirect definition

const def = ser.serializeIndirect(1, 0, dict);
// → "1 0 obj\n<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>\nendobj\n"

Emit a stream — /Length recomputed

const raw = new TextEncoder().encode('BT /F1 12 Tf (Hi) Tj ET');
const stream = {
    type: 'stream',
    dict: { type: 'dict', entries: {} },
    raw
};
const bytes = ser.serializeIndirect(4, 0, stream);
// `/Length` is raw.length, whatever the dict said.

Canonical reals

ser.formatReal(1.5);        // '1.5'
ser.formatReal(2);          // '2'
ser.formatReal(0.0500);     // '0.05'
ser.formatReal(-0);         // '0'

Errors

See also

• pdfParser — inverse operation.
• pdfWriter — main consumer.
• pdfErrors