epubcheck errors regarding NCX - can you help me translate these?

Dusk · 05-27-2011, 07:15 PM

Here are the error messages from epubcheck (specifically, Threepress's Web-based validation service) concerning an ePub file I'm trying to validate:

* * *

ERROR: first-time-the-eternal-dungeon-13.epub/toc.ncx(17): element "navMap" incomplete; missing required element "navPoint"

ERROR: first-time-the-eternal-dungeon-13.epub/toc.ncx(2): assertion failed: first playOrder value is not 1

* * *

I'm using Smashwords's Meatgrinder for the conversion of the DOC file. I'm in touch with Smashwords's customer service concerning this, but since they're not experts on ePub code (and I certainly am not), I thought I'd try you folks as well.

What's mysterious about this particular situation is that the DOC that's being converted is an abridged version of a DOC file which, when converted to ePub by the Meatgrinder, *did* pass epubcheck. So I'm mystified as to why the converted abridgement isn't passing.

pholy · 05-27-2011, 11:33 PM

I'm guessing here, but when you created your abridged version of the doc file, did you re-create the Table of Contents after your edits? I've fouled up more than one of my documents by forgetting that, although I don't know if it would create the Meatgrinder problem you are getting.

Dusk · 05-28-2011, 02:40 AM

There's no table of contents; it's a single-story e-book. I've tried formatting the file with and without bookmarks (i.e. internal links); I get the same error messages, either way.

Jellby · 05-28-2011, 03:58 AM

It seems your TOC is empty. Try this "minimal" NCX:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE ncx PUBLIC "-//NISO//DTD ncx 2005-1//EN" "http://www.daisy.org/z3986/2005/ncx-2005-1.dtd">
<ncx xmlns="http://www.daisy.org/z3986/2005/ncx/" xml:lang="en" version="2005-1">
  <head>
    <meta name="dtb:uid" content="the book id" />
    <meta name="dtb:depth" content="1" />
    <meta name="dtb:totalPageCount" content="0" />
    <meta name="dtb:maxPageNumber" content="0" />
  </head>
  <docTitle>
    <text>Title</text>
  </docTitle>
  <docAuthor>
    <text>Author</text>
  </docAuthor>
  <navMap>
    <navPoint id="Book" playOrder="1">
      <navLabel>
        <text>Title</text>
      </navLabel>
      <content src="filename" />
    </navPoint>
  </navMap>
</ncx>

Dusk · 05-28-2011, 05:21 AM

"It seems your TOC is empty."

Since my e-book doesn't have a table of contents, I take it you're using "TOC" in a technical sense. Could you say more, please? Remember, I don't work with ePub code.

"Try this 'minimal' NCX."

I'm afraid I can't. I'm not creating the ePub file manually; it's being created automatically through a conversion at Smashwords. The only thing I have control over is the DOC file I submit to Smashwords. None of my previously submitted files underwent this problem during conversion. I want to learn what the error messages mean, so that I can figure out whether the problem lies with the DOC file I'm submitting.

Sorry - I know this is a rather roundabout query.

But could somebody please tell me, in layman's language, what the error messages are referring to?

Jellby · 05-28-2011, 06:05 AM

Then it's a problem with the automatic conversion. I can't help much with that, but you could try adding a title, as if it were a one-chapter book.

Dusk · 05-28-2011, 05:23 PM

If somebody here would tell me what the error messages mean, then I might be able to fix the problem by altering the DOC file I submit. All I know so far, from what you've said, is that it's connected with the TOC, but you haven't said what the TOC is or how the TOC relates to the two error messages.

"you could try adding a title, as if it were a one-chapter book."

By "adding a title," you mean . . . ?

JSWolf · 05-28-2011, 07:34 PM

Like Chapter One or Start Here or something.

But no matter what you do to fix the problem, Smashwords is going to take the mess from Word and put the mess into your ePub and make that a mess. Smashwords is a terrible meatgrinder. It basically does it in a way that makes awful code. They really should allow you to upload an already made ePub and use that to convert from instead of a Word document.

Dusk · 05-28-2011, 10:46 PM

I was wondering when the Smashwords-bashing would begin.

My preference would be for Smashwords to accept HTML files, since that's what I start with (my DOC file is actually a conversion of an HTML file), but I have to work with the circumstances I'm given.

My previous files - including a file without any table of contents - have gone through Meatgrinder without any problems, which is why it's important to me to identify the exact nature of the problem here.

Let me try to be more specific in my questions:

What does "element 'navMap' incomplete; missing required element 'navPoint'" mean?

What does "assertion failed: first playOrder value is not 1" mean?

Dusk · 05-28-2011, 11:56 PM

Just an additional note that I only come online on Friday and Saturday; I'll check for replies next weekend.

Jellby · 05-29-2011, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusk

My previous files - including a file without any table of contents - have gone through Meatgrinder without any problems, which is why it's important to me to identify the exact nature of the problem here.

The problem is not the table of contents that you might have in the DOC file, but the generated NCX built from the chapter-like headings in the text. At least, that's what I'm guessing the conversion does.

If your text has some bold, centered heading saying "Chapter 1", or "The Death of Mary Poppins", or whatever, those are probably detected as "chapters" and included in the NCX (which is a TOC). If your text has none of these and is only plain paragraphs, there are no "chapters" detected and the NCX is empty, which is apparently not allowed. By "adding a title" I mean adding a heading in a different style, that looks like a chapter title.

Quote:

What does "element 'navMap' incomplete; missing required element 'navPoint'" mean?

What does "assertion failed: first playOrder value is not 1" mean?

See the post #4 above, there is a <navMap>, with a <navPoint> inside, and the <navPoint> has a playOrder="1" attribute.

The first message says that in your case there is no <navPoint> inside the <navMap>, and since it is required, the <navMap> is regarded as incomplete. The second message says that the first playOrder attribute is not "1", this is probably a bogus message due to the lack of <navPoint> (and therefore of any playOrder attribute).

AlexBell · 05-29-2011, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusk

I was wondering when the Smashwords-bashing would begin.

My preference would be for Smashwords to accept HTML files, since that's what I start with (my DOC file is actually a conversion of an HTML file), but I have to work with the circumstances I'm given.

My previous files - including a file without any table of contents - have gone through Meatgrinder without any problems, which is why it's important to me to identify the exact nature of the problem here.

Let me try to be more specific in my questions:

What does "element 'navMap' incomplete; missing required element 'navPoint'" mean?

What does "assertion failed: first playOrder value is not 1" mean?

Below is part of the toc.ncx file from an ebook I'm working on

<navPoint id="navpoint-1" playOrder="1">
<navLabel><text>Cover page</text></navLabel>
<content src="Frontmatter.html#coverpage"/>
</navPoint>

You see the last line? The error message tells you that </navPoint> is missing. The error message does not tell you why it's missing; that's up to you to find out, and I think that will be very difficult without at least some knowledge of HTML and of the ePub standards. Have you read Harrison Ainsworth's book? It's very helpful, but again you'll need some HTML knowledge.

You see the first line? The first navPoint MUST have "1" in both places in that line, and the navPoints MUST be consecutive 1, 2, 3, etc. That's part of the standards. Again, the error message does not tell you why whatever number is there is not "1", that's for you and Smashwords to find out.

I really and truly am not trying to put you down, but it seems to me that what I think you are asking (to be able to produce valid ePub ebooks with no knowledge of HTML) is simply not realistic.

Regards, Alex

JSWolf · 05-29-2011, 12:47 PM

Here's my suggestion...

Take your Word file and run it through Calibre to convert it to ePub. Then take the ePub and run it through ePubcheck. I believe that Smashwords is using Calibre to meatgrind the Word document into different eBook formats. This might help you figure out what the problem is.

Dusk · 05-30-2011, 11:46 PM

AlexBell wrote about me:

"with no knowledge of HTML"

It's a bad idea to make assumptions. ☻

I know basic HTML, just not at this high a level, and not in reference to ePub. (These codes are specific to ePub, aren't they?) I agree that it would be ideal for me to know ePub code, but I'll likely learn it the same way I learned HTML: by having things go wrong with my files, with the result that I dig into the code to try to figure out what the problem is.

So thank you all for your ePub 101 lessons; I really appreciate it.

Anyway, I and Smashwords put our heads together, and we identified the problem, with the help of some of your posts above. See, I didn't know that "toc.ncx" was ePub-talk for the table of contents that e-readers use for navigation (for example, in the sidebar of Adobe Digital Editions) - that was the information I was seeking above, in my garbled fashion. To me, "TOC" meant that list of links that the e-book designer puts at the top of the file. (Or that page in between the dedication page and the epigraph page, unless the epigraph page is replaced by a second bastard title page. Threads like this make me miss the old days, when I knew the lingo.) Hence my confusion when you guys kept saying, "There's a problem with your TOC."

The exact problem - it turned out - was that recent changes to Smashwords's converter, Meatgrinder, accidentally eliminated its ability to automatically identify chapters and create a TOC for them (in the ePub sense), in cases where there isn't a linked table of contents (in the HTML sense) within the file (just as you guys guessed; man, you're good). Smashwords is working now on correcting the problem, but since it's no sweat for me to create a linked table of contents, I did so in my DOC file, and my converted e-book passed epubcheck.

Thank you! It's been really nice knowing that there are folks here who've been willing to help me out.

JSWolf · 06-01-2011, 10:09 PM

But, I would want to return any ePub that had an internal ToC (totally useless) and not an external ToC. I just wish publishers would stop putting in an internal ToC when they have a perfectly good external ToC.

05-27-2011, 07:15 PM	#1
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	epubcheck errors regarding NCX - can you help me translate these? Here are the error messages from epubcheck (specifically, Threepress's Web-based validation service) concerning an ePub file I'm trying to validate: * * * ERROR: first-time-the-eternal-dungeon-13.epub/toc.ncx(17): element "navMap" incomplete; missing required element "navPoint" ERROR: first-time-the-eternal-dungeon-13.epub/toc.ncx(2): assertion failed: first playOrder value is not 1 * * * I'm using Smashwords's Meatgrinder for the conversion of the DOC file. I'm in touch with Smashwords's customer service concerning this, but since they're not experts on ePub code (and I certainly am not), I thought I'd try you folks as well. What's mysterious about this particular situation is that the DOC that's being converted is an abridged version of a DOC file which, when converted to ePub by the Meatgrinder, did pass epubcheck. So I'm mystified as to why the converted abridgement isn't passing.

05-28-2011, 05:21 AM	#5
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	"It seems your TOC is empty." Since my e-book doesn't have a table of contents, I take it you're using "TOC" in a technical sense. Could you say more, please? Remember, I don't work with ePub code. "Try this 'minimal' NCX." I'm afraid I can't. I'm not creating the ePub file manually; it's being created automatically through a conversion at Smashwords. The only thing I have control over is the DOC file I submit to Smashwords. None of my previously submitted files underwent this problem during conversion. I want to learn what the error messages mean, so that I can figure out whether the problem lies with the DOC file I'm submitting. Sorry - I know this is a rather roundabout query. But could somebody please tell me, in layman's language, what the error messages are referring to? Last edited by Dusk; 05-28-2011 at 05:22 AM. Reason: Corrected broken link

05-28-2011, 07:34 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,887 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Like Chapter One or Start Here or something. But no matter what you do to fix the problem, Smashwords is going to take the mess from Word and put the mess into your ePub and make that a mess. Smashwords is a terrible meatgrinder. It basically does it in a way that makes awful code. They really should allow you to upload an already made ePub and use that to convert from instead of a Word document. Last edited by JSWolf; 05-28-2011 at 07:36 PM.

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05-27-2011, 11:33 PM	#2
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	I'm guessing here, but when you created your abridged version of the doc file, did you re-create the Table of Contents after your edits? I've fouled up more than one of my documents by forgetting that, although I don't know if it would create the Meatgrinder problem you are getting.

05-28-2011, 02:40 AM	#3
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	There's no table of contents; it's a single-story e-book. I've tried formatting the file with and without bookmarks (i.e. internal links); I get the same error messages, either way.

05-28-2011, 06:05 AM	#6
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,515 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Then it's a problem with the automatic conversion. I can't help much with that, but you could try adding a title, as if it were a one-chapter book.

05-28-2011, 05:23 PM	#7
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	If somebody here would tell me what the error messages mean, then I might be able to fix the problem by altering the DOC file I submit. All I know so far, from what you've said, is that it's connected with the TOC, but you haven't said what the TOC is or how the TOC relates to the two error messages. "you could try adding a title, as if it were a one-chapter book." By "adding a title," you mean . . . ?

05-28-2011, 10:46 PM	#9
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	I was wondering when the Smashwords-bashing would begin. My preference would be for Smashwords to accept HTML files, since that's what I start with (my DOC file is actually a conversion of an HTML file), but I have to work with the circumstances I'm given. My previous files - including a file without any table of contents - have gone through Meatgrinder without any problems, which is why it's important to me to identify the exact nature of the problem here. Let me try to be more specific in my questions: What does "element 'navMap' incomplete; missing required element 'navPoint'" mean? What does "assertion failed: first playOrder value is not 1" mean?

05-28-2011, 11:56 PM	#10
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	Just an additional note that I only come online on Friday and Saturday; I'll check for replies next weekend.

05-29-2011, 12:47 PM	#13
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,887 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Here's my suggestion... Take your Word file and run it through Calibre to convert it to ePub. Then take the ePub and run it through ePubcheck. I believe that Smashwords is using Calibre to meatgrind the Word document into different eBook formats. This might help you figure out what the problem is.

05-30-2011, 11:46 PM	#14
Dusk Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: None	AlexBell wrote about me: "with no knowledge of HTML" It's a bad idea to make assumptions. ☻ I know basic HTML, just not at this high a level, and not in reference to ePub. (These codes are specific to ePub, aren't they?) I agree that it would be ideal for me to know ePub code, but I'll likely learn it the same way I learned HTML: by having things go wrong with my files, with the result that I dig into the code to try to figure out what the problem is. So thank you all for your ePub 101 lessons; I really appreciate it. Anyway, I and Smashwords put our heads together, and we identified the problem, with the help of some of your posts above. See, I didn't know that "toc.ncx" was ePub-talk for the table of contents that e-readers use for navigation (for example, in the sidebar of Adobe Digital Editions) - that was the information I was seeking above, in my garbled fashion. To me, "TOC" meant that list of links that the e-book designer puts at the top of the file. (Or that page in between the dedication page and the epigraph page, unless the epigraph page is replaced by a second bastard title page. Threads like this make me miss the old days, when I knew the lingo.) Hence my confusion when you guys kept saying, "There's a problem with your TOC." The exact problem - it turned out - was that recent changes to Smashwords's converter, Meatgrinder, accidentally eliminated its ability to automatically identify chapters and create a TOC for them (in the ePub sense), in cases where there isn't a linked table of contents (in the HTML sense) within the file (just as you guys guessed; man, you're good). Smashwords is working now on correcting the problem, but since it's no sweat for me to create a linked table of contents, I did so in my DOC file, and my converted e-book passed epubcheck. Thank you! It's been really nice knowing that there are folks here who've been willing to help me out.

06-01-2011, 10:09 PM	#15
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,887 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But, I would want to return any ePub that had an internal ToC (totally useless) and not an external ToC. I just wish publishers would stop putting in an internal ToC when they have a perfectly good external ToC.

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