From 7f381eb494875e34ac200b44361bb45c1fb46694 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Dylan M. Taylor" <dylan@dylanmtaylor.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 16:48:21 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix(a11y): collect a structure element once whatever
 generation references it
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The structure collector deduplicated by full reference while object lookup goes by
number, so 3 0 R, 3 1 R, 3 2 R… each cloned the same element and its children again.
---
 crates/a11y/src/alt.rs   |  4 +++-
 crates/a11y/src/tests.rs | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/crates/a11y/src/alt.rs b/crates/a11y/src/alt.rs
index fde1048e47..efa96c4dfe 100644
--- a/crates/a11y/src/alt.rs
+++ b/crates/a11y/src/alt.rs
@@ -99,7 +99,9 @@ pub(crate) fn elements(doc: &Document) -> Vec<Element> {
         match k {
             Object::Array(a) => stack.extend(a.into_iter().rev().map(|x| (x, pg, parent, depth))),
             Object::Ref(r) => {
-                if !seen.insert(r) {
+                // By number: objects are looked up by number, so `4 1 R` is `4 0 R` again, and
+                // must not be collected (with its children) once per generation written.
+                if !seen.insert(r.num) {
                     continue;
                 }
                 let Some(d) = doc.get(r).as_dict().cloned() else { continue };
diff --git a/crates/a11y/src/tests.rs b/crates/a11y/src/tests.rs
index 3024319ec3..6e74e97e92 100644
--- a/crates/a11y/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/a11y/src/tests.rs
@@ -1504,3 +1504,19 @@ fn marking_a_tag_artifact_refuses_content_past_the_decode_budget() {
     assert_eq!(mark_tag_artifact(&mut doc, ObjRef::new(7, 0)), Err(ArtifactError::TooLarge));
     assert_eq!(doc.get(ObjRef::new(3, 0)).as_dict().unwrap().get(b"Contents"), Some(&contents), "the page keeps its content");
 }
+
+/// One structure element referenced under several generations is collected once: lookup goes by
+/// object number, so each alias would otherwise copy the element and its children again.
+#[test]
+fn a_structure_element_under_many_generations_is_collected_once() {
+    let aliases: String = (0..200).map(|g| format!(" 3 {g} R")).collect();
+    let doc = pdf(
+        &[
+            "<< /Type /Catalog /StructTreeRoot 2 0 R >>".into(),
+            format!("<< /Type /StructTreeRoot /K [{aliases}] >>"),
+            format!("<< /S /Figure /Alt (x) /K [{aliases}] >>"),
+        ],
+        "",
+    );
+    assert_eq!(crate::alt::elements(&doc).len(), 1);
+}