newbie's epub error messages

[americamba]

Hi,

I need to fix two errors in my epub. I am new to this. I hope someone can tell me how to correct my epub. I have Calibre and Komposer. However, I can't find the first filename to shorten it and don't know what is missing from the META-INF. I'll appreciate your help. The epub is attached.

I get the following error message:

EPUB Validator (beta) Results
EPUB Validator (beta)
Results
Detected version: Could not determine version.
Results: The following problems were found in esl(5changed).epub:
TypeFileLinePositionMessage
ERROR-1-1Length of the first filename in archive must be 8, but was 60 !
ERROR-1-1Required META-INF/container.xml resource is missing

Validated using EpubCheck version 3.0b4.
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Copyright 2012 International Digital Publishing Forum. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use

[mmat1]

Originally Posted by americamba

I need to fix two errors in my epub.

Sounds, that are some very basic files are missing in your epub. How do you create it ? I can't believe that callibre produces things like this...

Best suggestion for now: get Sigil (here in MR is a special forum for this fine piece of software) and try to open your file with it. If you're lucky, it will fix most of the errors automatically.

[Keroberos]

Yup, looks like the "mimetype" file is missing (should be in the root of the ePUB file and not compressed). Also there should be a folder in the ePUB named "META-INF" with a "container.xml" file inside it.

The "mimetype" file is just a text document with no extension with this text inside it,

application/epub+zip

The "container.xml" is just a xml file with this text inside,

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<container version="1.0" xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:opendocument:xmlns:container">
   <rootfiles>
      <rootfile full-path="content.opf" media-type="application/oebps-package+xml"/>
   </rootfiles>
</container>

These files are used by the ePUB reader to identify the file and show where the content manifest for the ePUB is.

Fixing might be as easy as opening the ePUB in Sigil and saving [UPDATE Nope, just tried it, causes Sigil to crash.] or exploding it in Calibre and adding the files/folders manually.

Here is a zip file with the files needed. In Calibre right click the book and select "tweak Book" then "Explode ePUB" in the dialog box, copy everything in the zip file into the folder that opens, close the folder, and click "Rebuild ePUB" in the dialog box.

Hopefully this helps.

[americamba]

thanks guys,

I worked on the file again and put it throug epub check. I now get these errors:

EPUB Validator (beta) Results
EPUB Validator (beta)
Results
Detected version: EPUB 2.0
Results: The following problems were found in
esl-and-adult-learners-of-english-can-write-right(5).epub:
TypeFileLinePositionMessage
ERRORtmp_364b423744a04981bb6a59f21d349cc9_3385VP.c h.fixed.fc.tidied.stylehacked.xfixed_split_010.htm l76232attribute
"start" not allowed here; expected attribute "class", "dir", "id",
"style", "title" or "xml:lang"
ERRORtmp_364b423744a04981bb6a59f21d349cc9_3385VP.c h.fixed.fc.tidied.stylehacked.xfixed_split_010.htm l77832attribute
"start" not allowed here; expected attribute "class", "dir", "id",
"style", "title" or "xml:lang"
ERRORtmp_364b423744a04981bb6a59f21d349cc9_3385VP.c h.fixed.fc.tidied.stylehacked.xfixed_split_019.htm l149232attribute
"start" not allowed here; expected attribute "class", "dir", "id",
"style", "title" or "xml:lang"
ERRORtmp_364b423744a04981bb6a59f21d349cc9_3385VP.c h.fixed.fc.tidied.stylehacked.xfixed_split_019.htm l150432attribute
"start" not allowed here; expected attribute "class", "dir", "id",
"style", "title" or "xml:lang"
ERRORtmp_364b423744a04981bb6a59f21d349cc9_3385VP.c h.fixed.fc.tidied.stylehacked.xfixed_split_019.htm l151632attribute
"start" not allowed here; expected attribute "class", "dir", "id",
"style", "title" or "xml:lang"
ERRORtmp_364b423744a04981bb6a59f21d349cc9_3385VP.c h.fixed.fc.tidied.stylehacked.xfixed_split_019.htm l152832attribute
"start" not allowed here; expected attribute "class", "dir", "id",
"style", "title" or "xml:lang"

Validated using EpubCheck version 3.0b4.
Back to validator
Copyright 2012 International Digital Publishing Forum. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use

any idea what I should do? thanks, Frank

[DiapDealer]

You should figure out why those files that are indicated have elements that have "start" attributes (that aren't allowed).

But if I had to guess, I'd say those two xhtml files have ordered lists in them... and those ordered lists are trying to assign a "start" attribute which won't work in ePub.

[americamba]

Hi Diap,

I was told it was ordered lists but some ordered lists don't give trouble. I think I know what the problem is and this will kill you. The dumb automatic epub generator doesn't like the word "start" in the text. I changed it once to "begin" and it seems to fix it.

But, here's the rub. I am extremely limited in this stuff. I did a few typo changes after the begin thing and then went back to make the epub again but now I am stuck. I have worked days and don't know how to edit it. Could you direct me to a simple list of the steps to edit an epub . I know to change it to a zip, extract it, but when I open the offending splits and bring up the source html, it doesn't let me edit. I have calibre and Kompose but don't know how to work them. any leads for this senior citizen would be appreciated.

thanks, Frank

[DiapDealer]

I have worked days and don't know how to edit it. Could you direct me to a simple list of the steps to edit an epub . I know to change it to a zip, extract it, but when I open the offending splits and bring up the source html, it doesn't let me edit. I have calibre and Kompose but don't know how to work them. any leads for this senior citizen would be appreciated.

Honestly, the easiest method would probably be Sigil. It allows you to edit the epub files directly (without having to unzip and rezip in the proper order). Load the epub, edit the files, save & close. You might want to go with the 0.4.2 version of Sigil if you want something rock-solid. Just switch the dropdown box to "All Downloads" and look for the 0.4.2 version for your OS.

[JSWolf]

Is 0.5.3 not solid enough?

[DiapDealer]

Is 0.5.3 not solid enough?

I have no problem with the newer versions because I'm perfectly capable of of working around any of the few kinks that have presented themselves with the > 0.5.x versions. But for general purpose use (especially for non-technical users who might have need for a more casual find and replace), then no... I don't think any of the > 0.5.x versions are as solid as 0.4.2. I have every confidence they will eventually get there though. They're still in the process of making the codebase "their own" after taking over for the original creator/maintainer.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by americamba

Hi Diap,

I was told it was ordered lists but some ordered lists don't give trouble. I think I know what the problem is and this will kill you. The dumb automatic epub generator doesn't like the word "start" in the text. I changed it once to "begin" and it seems to fix it.

Not to disappoint you, but ordered lists are a hit-and-miss. Simple lists work fine, but much of the 'fancy' stuff not.
Both 'start' and 'begin' cannot be used the change the start value of an ordered list. Ordered lists will always start with 1. The root of that problem probably is, that 'start' is deprecated and no valid CSS alternative. Some browsers might allow it, but actually they should not.

[americamba]

Thanks all,

I was able to fix it with Sigil (without knowing what I was doing). I just located the area of the problem and deleted what seemed to be the problem. I was lucky.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by americamba

I was lucky.

Don't sell yourself short. Go with; "I was aggressive and resourceful."