Ibooks-   invalid?

jrett · 12-27-2016, 01:03 PM

Hi,

I'm trying to read in Ibooks the epubs I create, but it says that   is invalid. I read another post on here that said that this is related to an extra space in the DTD, however, I went in and took out the space and it still says that   is invalid. Does anyone know why this is happening and how to fix it?

Oh, and not sure if it's relevant, but I'm trying to edit them in Dreamweaver. I know Calibre is capable of creating the space without the   but I can't use Calibre for these specific books.

Doitsu · 12-27-2016, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrett

I'm trying to read in Ibooks the epubs I create, but it says that   is invalid.

iBooks is an epub3 app and you can't use named entities such as   in epub3 books. You should use numerical entities instead. For example:

Code:

&#160;

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrett

I know Calibre is capable of creating the space without the   but I can't use Calibre for these specific books.

Why don't you give Sigil a try. It has much better epub3 support than Calibre Editor. (Otherwise they pretty much have the same functionality.)

cedhax · 12-27-2016, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

iBooks is an epub3 app and you can't use named entities such as   in epub3 books. ...

I thought I read it somewhere else too, but can't it on the official EPUB site. So I am not 100% sure about it. Can you give me a pointer? Thanks.

JSWolf · 12-27-2016, 07:08 PM

You do not need to make ePub 3 eBooks for iBooks. You can make ePub 2 eBooks.

Doitsu · 12-28-2016, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cedhax

I thought I read it somewhere else too, but can't it on the official EPUB site. So I am not 100% sure about it. Can you give me a pointer? Thanks.

Epub3 books are based on the HTML5 XHTML syntax and HTML5 XHTML files mustn't contain named entities. (XHTML is based on XML and XML only supports 5 predefined entities.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by W3C

Note: According to the XML specification, XML processors are not guaranteed to process the external DTD subset referenced in the DOCTYPE. This means, for example, that using entity references for characters in XHTML documents is unsafe if they are defined in an external file (except for <, >, &, " and ').

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You do not need to make ePub 3 eBooks for iBooks. You can make ePub 2 eBooks.

You need to create epub3 books, if you want to sell on iBooks.

DaleDe · 12-29-2016, 12:24 PM

Where does the idea that HTML5 does not support named characters? It certainly does and if iBooks doesn't then it is not HTML5 compliant. The list of Named character references is in our wiki. This list is a superset of entities and certainly includes nbsp.

Dale

Doitsu · 12-29-2016, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Where does the idea that HTML5 does not support named characters? It certainly does and if iBooks doesn't then it is not HTML5 compliant. The list of Named character references is in our wiki. This list is a superset of entities and certainly includes nbsp.

HTML5 does support named entities, however, the epub3 standard does not support them without additional entity declarations in the doctype, because epub3 content docs (=HTML files) need to be formatted as HTML5 XHTML files. For more information, see the official epub3 specs.

BTW, you can easily test this for yourself. Create a new epub3 book, insert named entities such as   and have it checked by epubcheck.

For example, the following code will fail epubcheck:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:epub="http://www.idpf.org/2007/ops">
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</body>
</html>

it'll only pass epubcheck if an entity definition is added:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html [
    <!ENTITY nbsp "&#160;"> 
]>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:epub="http://www.idpf.org/2007/ops">
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</body>
</html>

AlanHK · 02-19-2017, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

it'll only pass epubcheck if an entity definition is added:

Can this be put in the css file, or otherwise just once in the book rather than in the head of every xhtml file?

I've just been looking at a HarperCollins ePub and had ePubCheck warn me of this, so I'm pretty sure it's not a fatal error, but I'd like to stop it complaining. I could of course just convert to numeric entities, but I'm a human being and I prefer readable code rather than having to decompile as I read.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You do not need to make ePub 3 eBooks for iBooks. You can make ePub 2 eBooks.

You can, but the TOC may not work properly. I used to hand code an epub3-style nav.xhtml file and put it in a ePub2 until I found the ePub3-itizer for Sigil.

Doitsu · 02-19-2017, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanHK

Can this be put in the css file, or otherwise just once in the book rather than in the head of every xhtml file?

No.You'll have to define it in each XHTML file or simply replace all   with  .

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12-27-2016, 01:03 PM	#1
jrett Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2016 Device: none	Ibooks-   invalid? Hi, I'm trying to read in Ibooks the epubs I create, but it says that   is invalid. I read another post on here that said that this is related to an extra space in the DTD, however, I went in and took out the space and it still says that   is invalid. Does anyone know why this is happening and how to fix it? Oh, and not sure if it's relevant, but I'm trying to edit them in Dreamweaver. I know Calibre is capable of creating the space without the   but I can't use Calibre for these specific books.

12-27-2016, 07:08 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,681 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	You do not need to make ePub 3 eBooks for iBooks. You can make ePub 2 eBooks.

12-29-2016, 12:24 PM	#6
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	Where does the idea that HTML5 does not support named characters? It certainly does and if iBooks doesn't then it is not HTML5 compliant. The list of Named character references is in our wiki. This list is a superset of entities and certainly includes nbsp. Dale

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