Epub error help

[Greyman777]

First of all hello to all! I greatly appreciate the privilege of being a new member to this forum.

My question is what does the following epub error mean?

BK00017800.epub/OEBPS/content.opf(159,60): hyperlink to resource outside spine 'OEBPS/toc.xhtml'

Can anyone please let me know if this has a simple solution. I'm trying to get my novel's epub file wider distribution through a company, and although the file did pass the standard beta validator checker, it failed the distribution company's check with this one error. It is already up on Amazon Kindle with no problems.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance!

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by Greyman777

First of all hello to all! I greatly appreciate the privilege of being a new member to this forum.

Welcome!

Originally Posted by Greyman777

My question is what does the following epub error mean?

BK00017800.epub/OEBPS/content.opf(159,60): hyperlink to resource outside spine 'OEBPS/toc.xhtml'

How did you build this EPUB? Did you use Sigil, or did you do it by hand (or some other method)?

I looked up that error and ran into another topic which mentions it here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=109642

in which Jellby answered:

Originally Posted by Jellby

But the linked file must be listed in the <spine> section of the OPF, otherwise the system won't know what to do when you page forward/backward after following the link.

It could be that whatever tool you used to build the EPUB (if you did it by hand) forgot to include "toc.xhtml" into the content.opf. Those are a pain in the neck to create by hand, so creating your book using Sigil will take care of a lot of that annoying minutiae.

If you open the EPUB in Sigil, and click on the checkmark in the corner, it might also give you a slightly more "understandable/helpful" error:

[Greyman777]

Hi Tex2002ans...

Thank you for your answer.

I didn't build the file. I had it professionally built and have no idea what was used to build the file. The person who built the file mentioned Sigil if I ever needed to amend it, so I take it that may have been the program that was used?

I'll certainly see what comes up on Sigil using your suggestion.

Thanks again!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Greyman777

Hi Tex2002ans...

Thank you for your answer.

I didn't build the file. I had it professionally built and have no idea what was used to build the file. The person who built the file mentioned Sigil if I ever needed to amend it, so I take it that may have been the program that was used?

I'll certainly see what comes up on Sigil using your suggestion.

Thanks again!

It's possible that the professional converter built your ePUB, thinking it was going to be used strictly for ePUB--that it would use the NCX as the TOC, not the toc.xhtml.

If the converter then added the TOC.XHTML to your file, thinking you would be then uploading it at the KDP, say (as Amazon needs the inline TOC), s/he may have forgotten to rebuild the NCX to include it. You should be able to simply open the ePUB in Sigil, rebuild the NCX, and be good-to-go. (Hopefully. Assuming that the person used structured headers correctly. if the work was farmed out, to a 3rd world nation, it's possible that they are using paragraph styles for "headers," and then you have a different issue that has to be addressed. Let us know if you can't get the rebuild of the NCX to work.)

Hitch

[JSWolf]

But you don't need a contents entry in the NCX file. You can have the internal ToC and the real ToC (NCX) and the NCX does not need to link to the internal ToC. In fact, I feel it should not link to the internal ToC. There's no need for it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But you don't need a contents entry in the NCX file. You can have the internal ToC and the real ToC (NCX) and the NCX does not need to link to the internal ToC. In fact, I feel it should not link to the internal ToC. There's no need for it.

Wolfie, dear laddie:

We don't know how the book was built. The easiest way to get it fixed is for the user to rebuild the book's NCX using Sigil. That will solve the spine error, unless something really peculiar is going on. Your personal preference against inline TOC's isn't really related to the error message problem.

And, lest you forget, the "inline TOC" is basically ePUB3 standard now, so...you may as well sort of bite the bullet and get over it. You'll be seeing more of them, not less of them, as time passes. Ye olden NCX will be going the way of the Dodo.

Hitch

[JSWolf]

The reason I dislike inline ToC in ePub2 is because there's no easy way to get to it. It's OK in ePub3 if there's an easy way to get to it like there is the NCX ToC in ePub2.