Overview: PDF Split and Merge is a simple, easy to use, free, open source application to split and merge PDF documents. There are console and GUI versions of the application where the GUI is written in Java Swing. A variety of external libraries is utilized to deal with the manipulation of PDF files, XML format, and encrypted documents.
Prime Directive 1: The system successfully accomplishes a useful task.
A simple Google search on how to merge or split PDF documents will reveal a variety of free and paid solutions for the end-user. A browser-based solution, while free to some extent, is only limited to 15 MB files and offers no split functionality. A DIY method is available but only for Mac OS X users. With that said, PDF Split and Merge allowed me to quickly merge two existing PDF documents in less than a minute. Although the interface could be a little more intuitive, patient users will find the process painless by reading the manual that offers a how-to on merging and splitting PDF documents.
Prime Directive 2: An external user can successfully install and use the system.
The PDF Split and Merge website, http://www.pdfsam.org, has installers available for Windows and Max OS X, a ZIP archive, and the source code. The tutorial from the site describes that a Java Runtime Environment is required to run the application. A detailed explanation of each function in the system is available to help the end-user complete basic tasks such as Merge/Extract and Split.
Prime Directive 3: An external developer can successfully understand and enhance the system.
A Software Requirements Specification document is available at http://www.pdfsam.org/uploads/PDFsam-SRS-v2.1.0-EN.pdf. This developer-level documentation details the basic version of PDF Split and Merge that allows external developers to understand the system and to help improve it. A feature request tracker, https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=814268&group_id=160044&func=browse, has a couple dozen suggestions to improve the system’s feature set. For example, this program is currently limited to merging exactly two documents at a time. Going through the API and source code shows a lack of descriptive comments; however the methods are named in such a way to help an external developer understand the program.
Three Prime Directives of Java-based Open Source Software Engineering:
