HexaPDF 0.13.0 - Cross-reference Table Reconstruction Published on

There are two big changes in this release. The more user-visible one is that HexaPDF gained the ability to recover a damaged PDF by reconstructing the cross-reference table (i.e. the part of a PDF which stores which objects are located at which offset in the file).

This new feature together with the already existing recovery features allows HexaPDF to parse a wide variety of invalid and/or damaged PDF files. Repairing a damaged file is now as easy as executing hexapdf modify damaged.pdf repaired.pdf, making HexaPDF a good tool for PDF file recovery.

The other big and breaking change is the overhaul of the PDF document/object validation feature. By making the interfaces more similar, it is now easier to use from an API perspective. Furthermore, the new internal structure allows reporting of mulitple validation problems in one go.

In relation to these changes, the hexapdf info command also gained a new --check flag which points out parse and validation problems.

As always, have a look at the changelog for an overview of all changes.