THotPDF.RegisterSampledFunction Method

Declares a PDF 1.3+ Function Type 0 (Sampled) indirect stream object (ISO 32000-1 7.10.2). Sampled functions express an arbitrary input-to-output mapping as a regular N-dimensional grid of M-dimensional output samples; the renderer interpolates linearly between grid points to evaluate intermediate inputs. Use this where ICC profile machinery is overkill but a hand-tuned lookup table is desired - tone curves for /TransferFunction (ExtGState /TR), sampled tint transforms for /Separation or /DeviceN (alternative to the linear Type 2 / arithmetic Type 4 paths), halftone threshold curves, or any other PDF construct that accepts a Function dictionary.

function RegisterSampledFunction(const Domain: array of Single; const Range: array of Single; const Size: array of Integer; BitsPerSample: Integer; const Samples: array of byte; Order: Integer = 1): THPDFStreamObject;

THPDFStreamObject* RegisterSampledFunction(const float* Domain, int DomainCount, const float* Range, int RangeCount, const int* Size, int SizeCount, int BitsPerSample, const unsigned char* Samples, int SamplesCount, int Order = 1);

The function is emitted as an indirect stream with /FunctionType 0, the supplied /Domain, /Range, /Size, /BitsPerSample and /Order entries, plus the raw bit-packed sample stream. /Encode and /Decode are omitted so the spec defaults apply: /Encode maps each Domain endpoint to grid extents [0..Size[i]-1], and /Decode matches /Range (samples are unpacked to integers and linearly remapped back to the Range endpoints). For multi-input functions the sample byte order follows the PDF 1.7 rule "input coordinates increase fastest along the first input dimension", i.e. the byte offset for grid point (i_0, i_1, ..., i_{N-1}) with M outputs is ((((i_{N-1} * Size[N-2] + i_{N-2}) * ...) * Size[0] + i_0) * M * BitsPerSample / 8.

Order - optional, default 1. Accepts 1 (linear interpolation, PDF 1.7 default) or 3 (cubic-spline interpolation) per PDF 1.7 Table 38. Cubic gives smoother transitions at low sample-grid densities (e.g. 17-point ICC tone curves) but some older mobile readers silently fall back to linear when they encounter an Order value they do not implement. Available since HotPDF v2.54.0.

For ASCII-input use cases - the typical authoring path - a single 1-input / M-output function with BitsPerSample = 8 and Size = [256] gives a 256-sample LUT whose stream is exactly 256 * M bytes laid out as (o0_0, o1_0, ..., oM-1_0, o0_1, ..., oM-1_255).

Domain - 2N Single values, ordered [in0Min in0Max in1Min in1Max ...]. The function clamps incoming values to this range before interpolation. N is determined from Length(Domain) div 2.

Range - 2M Single values with the same shape for the M output dimensions; output samples are clamped to this range after decoding.

Size - N integers giving the grid-point count along each input axis. Length(Size) must equal N. Total grid points is the product of all Size entries.

BitsPerSample - one of 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, or 32 per PDF 1.7 Table 38. 8 is the ergonomic choice (raw byte stream); 16 through 32 are byte-aligned big-endian widths; 1 / 2 / 4 / 12 require MSB-first bit packing with the final byte zero-padded to a byte boundary. Any other value raises an exception.

Samples - the raw bit-packed sample stream. Length must be at least ceil(GridPoints * M * BitsPerSample / 8) bytes. HotPDF copies the supplied bytes verbatim into the indirect stream object; bit-pack correctness is the caller's responsibility.

Return value: the indirect THPDFStreamObject so callers can attach it wherever a Function dictionary is expected (typically by passing its indirect reference into another dict via AddValue, or to a shading / separation builder). The object is owned by the document's IndirectObjects list and freed at document end. Returns nil when StrictVersionLock is on and the active Version is below PDF 1.3 (otherwise the document version auto-bumps to 1.3).

Code Example

// 256-sample 1-input / 3-output (RGB) heatmap LUT. The LUT maps a
// scalar t in [0..1] to a blue -> green -> red gradient through the
// midpoint.
uses
  HPDFObjs;

var
  Func: THPDFStreamObject;
  Domain: array[0..1] of Single;
  Range: array[0..5] of Single;
  Size: array[0..0] of Integer;
  Samples: array[0..767] of byte;   // 256 grid points * 3 outputs
  I: Integer;
  T: Single;
begin
  HPDF.BeginDoc;
  // 1 input dim: t in [0..1]
  Domain[0] := 0; Domain[1] := 1;
  // 3 output dims: each in [0..1]
  Range[0] := 0; Range[1] := 1;
  Range[2] := 0; Range[3] := 1;
  Range[4] := 0; Range[5] := 1;
  // 256 sample points along the single input axis
  Size[0] := 256;

  for I := 0 to 255 do
  begin
    T := I / 255.0;
    if T < 0.5 then
    begin
      Samples[I*3 + 0] := 0;
      Samples[I*3 + 1] := byte(Round(2.0 * T * 255.0));
      Samples[I*3 + 2] := byte(Round((1.0 - 2.0*T) * 255.0));
    end
    else
    begin
      Samples[I*3 + 0] := byte(Round(2.0 * (T - 0.5) * 255.0));
      Samples[I*3 + 1] := byte(Round((1.0 - 2.0*(T - 0.5)) * 255.0));
      Samples[I*3 + 2] := 0;
    end;
  end;
  Func := HPDF.RegisterSampledFunction(Domain, Range, Size, 8, Samples);
  // Func is now an indirect THPDFStreamObject the caller can attach
  // to any PDF dict slot that accepts a Function reference.
  HPDF.EndDoc;
end;