metadatal.xml error prevents epub upload to iBookstore

[Ryn]

Crossposted from barren Apple Support Forums

Does anyone have a clue about this error?

/itrans_data/files/<isbn>.itmsp - Error Messages:

The metadatal.xml file in /itrans_data/files/<isbn>.itmsp doesn't exist or is empty.
The package: <isbn>.itmsp will NOT be uploaded.

Where: <isbn> is the actual ISBN.

I've been creating books for the iBookstore for over a year and haven't seen this error before. A google search for "metadatal.xml ibooks" returns only eight (irrelevant) results, so I'm guessing it's not a very common one.

I've never heard of a metadatal.xml file to be needed when uploading to iBooks. For the record, the book involved is a Sigil-produced, Flightcrew and epubCheck-3.0.1 validated epub 2 archive. The META-INF folder holds only the container.xml file and the OEBPS folder has all the requisite files: toc.ncx, content.opf, xhtml files, css file and image files.

[DaleDe]

This is a requirement of iBooks, not ePub. Read about iBooks in our wiki. It tells you about this file and what it needs to contain.

Dale

[mrmikel]

Where would that be, Dale? It is not immediately obvious when I just went to check. Maybe there need to be top level apple and kindle entries. I'm just idly curious being a Sony critter, myself.

[DaleDe]

Sorry, I misread the post. It seems that the reference to metadata has a typo with the l on the end making it metadatal which is likely the wrong name. I wrongly jumped to the conclusion it was talking about the unique apple file.

[Ryn]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I don't know that it's a typo. The paste is from the direct Apple e-mail, so the metadatal.xml file is their invention, not some typo on my part. Also, as these checks are algorithmically applied, there probably is no human error involved at all.

Which begs the question: have Apple changed their formulae or is there some random bugginess at work. The aggregator we use to ferry ebooks to Apple has never seen this error before either.

We've decided to resubmit the book and see what happens. Is is just a fluke, or will the mystery deepen?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Ryn

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I don't know that it's a typo. The paste is from the direct Apple e-mail, so the metadatal.xml file is their invention, not some typo on my part. Also, as these checks are algorithmically applied, there probably is no human error involved at all.

Which begs the question: have Apple changed their formulae or is there some random bugginess at work. The aggregator we use to ferry ebooks to Apple has never seen this error before either.

We've decided to resubmit the book and see what happens. Is is just a fluke, or will the mystery deepen?

I meant that there is a file somewhere in the document (epub) that was supposed to link to metadata.xml but the file really links to metadatal.xml which was not present. I am not sure why such a file is even referenced but that is what the error message says.

Dale

[Ryn]

Hi Dale,

Almost correct. As we're using an aggregator to offer books to the iBookstore, it would now appear that the aggregator people are adding this metadata.xml file to the package, based on publishers' manually entered metadata information. This seems superfluous, as any ebook designer worth his salt would just use the metadata section in the opf file for this purpose, but that is how it is done.

It now seems that something went awry in this process of the aggregator's adding the metadata.xml file to the package. At least that is our current working hypothesis.

Thanks for your help!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ryn

Hi Dale,

Almost correct. As we're using an aggregator to offer books to the iBookstore, it would now appear that the aggregator people are adding this metadata.xml file to the package, based on publishers' manually entered metadata information. This seems superfluous, as any ebook designer worth his salt would just use the metadata section in the opf file for this purpose, but that is how it is done.

It now seems that something went awry in this process of the aggregator's adding the metadata.xml file to the package. At least that is our current working hypothesis.

Thanks for your help!

From what you just said, it sounds like they made a mistake in the filename of metadata.xml and named it metadatal.xml. Try renaming the file to the correct filename and see what happens.