Bates Numbering
A sequential numbering system used in legal documents for identification and retrieval.
Technical Detail
In the PDF specification (ISO 32000-2:2020), bates numbering is implemented as a specialized object within the document's object graph. PDF files use a cross-reference table to index every object by byte offset, enabling random access without sequential parsing. This architecture allows bates numbering to be read, modified, or extracted independently of other document elements. The binary structure supports incremental saves, where changes append to the file without rewriting existing content.
Example
```javascript
// Bates Numbering: PDF manipulation example
import { PDFDocument } from 'pdf-lib';
const pdfDoc = await PDFDocument.load(fileBytes);
const pages = pdfDoc.getPages();
console.log(`Pages: ${pages.length}`);
```