[pdftex] Section 7.6 of manual

[Suresh Govindachar]

Hello,

Section 7.6 of the pdfTeX manual describes \pdfobj and has the following

When <object type spec> is not given,
pdfTeX no longer creates a dictionary object
with contents <general text>, as it did in
the past.

Combining what else is written in that section with what is given in
"General definitions and syntax rules" I concluded that \pdfobj must be
followed by an absolute reference number or "stream" or "file" -- otherwise
nothing would happen.

However, as per the code indicated in my previous post (Subject: "RE:
[pdftex] [Resolved] Getting started with JavaScript and pdftex") it is
possible to write

\pdfobj <general text>

which appears to contradict the quote above.

So what exactly is being said by the line quoted above?

Thanks,

--Suresh

[Paul Isambert]

Post by Suresh Govindachar
Hello,
Section 7.6 of the pdfTeX manual describes \pdfobj and has the following

When <object type spec> is not given,
pdfTeX no longer creates a dictionary object
with contents <general text>, as it did in
the past.

Combining what else is written in that section with what is given in
"General definitions and syntax rules" I concluded that \pdfobj must be
followed by an absolute reference number or "stream" or "file" -- otherwise
nothing would happen.
[pdftex] [Resolved] Getting started with JavaScript and pdftex") it is
possible to write
\pdfobj <general text>
which appears to contradict the quote above.
So what exactly is being said by the line quoted above?

The important word is *dictionary*, which is a special data type in
PDF. What the quotation means is thus that an object is created, but
not a dictionary (if you want to create a dictionary, use "\pdfobj{<<material>>}"
instead of "\pdfobj{material}"). I suppose in previous versions PDFTeX
created dictionary automatically unless instructed otherwise.

Best,
Paul