PDFs

a PDF link that would be dead once published, and a PDF over 20 MB

Contents

1Refusals
2Scope
3Exceptions
4Enforcement
5Clearing
6References

wiki check refuses a link to a PDF that would lead nowhere once the site is published, and a PDF over the size limit.^[1] Where PDFs are kept and how a page links one is described on PDFs.

Refusals

A build publishes a PDF only from the wiki's files folder, so every other place a link can lead is refused.^[2]

Refused	Message
A link to a PDF outside the `files` folder, or in a folder inside it^[2]	`wiki: refunds.md:12: links to ../policy.pdf, which is outside the wiki's files folder and would be dead once published; put policy.pdf in the files folder and link it as ../files/policy.pdf`
A link to a PDF the `files` folder does not hold^[3]	`wiki: refunds.md:14: links to ../files/old-policy.pdf, which does not exist; put old-policy.pdf in the wiki's files folder, or correct the link`
A PDF over 20 MB^[4]	`wiki: refunds.md:16: links to ../files/big.pdf, which is 20.1 MB, over the 20 MB a PDF may be; make it smaller, such as by compressing its pictures, or split it into parts`

The limit is 20 MB, counted as 20 × 1,048,576 bytes, so a PDF of exactly 20 MB passes and one byte more is refused.^[4]

Scope

The check judges the links the build writes, so it and the build never disagree about a link.^[5] Every link whose file name ends in .pdf, in any case, is checked, whether markdown writes it plainly, with a title, in angle brackets, by reference or with a query after the name.^[5] A link in a reference is checked too, and the citation check also refuses a PDF there, as Citations describes.^[5]

Exceptions

A link shown in code is not checked, and neither is a link to an address outside the wiki, such as a vendor's own PDF.^[5]

Enforcement

wiki check lists every problem and exits with 1.^[1] A PDF that is a symbolic link to a file outside the files folder stops the build, and so does a files folder that is itself a symbolic link, so no build publishes a file from outside the wiki.^[6]

wiki: refunds.md links to terms.pdf, which links to a file outside the files folder; put the PDF itself in the wiki's files folder
wiki: the wiki's files folder is a symbolic link, so a build would publish whatever it points at; make files a folder of its own inside the wiki, and put the PDFs in it

Clearing

Each refusal names its fix: put the PDF in the files folder and link it there, add the missing PDF or correct the link, or make the PDF smaller.^[1]

References

src/builder/build.py — pdf_problems(), called from check(), names the page, the line, the link and the fix; src/builder/cli.py — run() returns 1 when there is a problem.
src/builder/build.py — pdf_problems() refuses a link for which filed_name() finds no plain file name directly in FILES.
src/builder/build.py — pdf_problems() refuses a name the files folder holds no file for.
src/builder/build.py — pdf_problems() refuses a file larger than PDF_LIMIT, 20 × MEGABYTE, and gives its size with file_size().
src/builder/build.py — rewrite_references() records every link is_pdf() accepts, read back from the rendered page with html.unescape() and its query set aside, into the pdf_links list check() hands build(); pdf_problems() judges each one and finds its line with link_line(). Code is rendered as text, and an address outside the wiki matches SETTLED_LINK first.
src/builder/build.py — filed_pdf(), called from rewrite_references(), raises WikiError when the file resolves outside the folder, and write_site() raises it when FILES is a symbolic link.

Categories: Refusals

Last updated 15 September 2026Last audited never380 wordsabout 2 minutes to read6 sources cited0 claims with no source