Build a court exhibit bundle with an index

A bundle is a cover, an index that is actually accurate, bookmarks down the side and numbering that runs through the whole thing. This builds all four from the files in the order you set.

• The index is built after the page count is known, so it never truncates.
• Every index row links to its tab, and the bookmarks match.
• Numbering runs through the finished bundle in one pass.

The index has to agree with the bundle

An index is a list of page numbers, and the page numbers depend on how long the index is. Work them out in the wrong order and the index is one page long, the numbers are all short by however many pages it really needs, and the list quietly stops at whatever fitted on the page while the bookmarks still show every entry.

That arithmetic is done first here: how many index pages the number of entries needs, then the offsets, then the index itself. Forty exhibits get an index that runs to however many pages forty exhibits need.

Build order is not a detail

Links first, then bookmarks, then the numbers drawn on in place. Any stamping done through a fresh drawing context at the end throws away the links and the outline that were just built, which is exactly what happens when numbering is left until last and left on by default.

The result is one PDF. It opens in any reader, the sidebar shows the tabs, clicking a row in the index jumps to the exhibit, and the page numbers on the paper match the numbers in the list.

Reorder the exhibits before you build rather than afterwards. Everything downstream is derived from the order: the index rows, the bookmark order, the page offsets and the numbering all follow it, so changing your mind later means building again rather than editing the result.

Nothing is uploaded, and nothing about the bundle is kept once the tab is closed. A bundle is usually the most sensitive single file in a matter, and it is the one people most often assemble with whatever is free.

Can I retitle an exhibit?

Yes. Each entry takes a title of its own; the file name is only the default.

How many exhibits can go in one bundle?

Enough for an ordinary matter. The limit and the page budget are shown on the panel before anything runs.

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