Using Podofyllin’s Source window brought two things to my attention:

• Because metadata provided in extended XML format, which is required in certain specialist PDF standards, is delivered as a stream, this was being removed from the source displayed. Metadata has high potential for leaking data whose release wasn’t intended, so I have restored the display of text versions of XML metadata streams. Interestingly, Quartz tends to recode this into compressed streams, so you will find it preferable to view them uncompressed in the lower view, where they occur.
• Although the processed source code is a faithful summary of the complete PDF source, there is always the possibility that its processing may have omitted some important information. I have therefore added an option in the main application menu to display raw source including all binary content, without any further processing. When this option is ticked, all new Source windows will show raw source, which makes it easy for you to compare raw and processed. Simply open a Source window with this option unticked, select the option so it’s ticked, and open another.

Although these improvements only concern those using the Source window, I feel that the first is significant enough to warrant a new release. So here is Podofyllin 1.0b12: podofyllin10b12
and it’s in Downloads above, as usual.

Those struggling to keep pace with these frequent builds may be pleased to know that – unless this version has any horrible bugs – I will be taking a break from further work on Podofyllin until next week. We could all do with a rest, but mine is to write another article for MacFormat magazine, not about PDF.