Parsing errors

Gaia Neos · 08-07-2026, 11:06 AM

I used Calibre to convert my ebook to epub so that I could fix formatting changes with ease. After I fixed the formatting I uploaded it to Ingram sparks and got parsing errors, I managed to fix one or two parsing errors but there are a couple that don't seem to make sense:
'(RSC-005): /content.opf: Error while parsing file: element "guide" incomplete; missing required element "reference"
(RSC-005): /Permaculture_Principles.html: Error while parsing file: element "li" not allowed here; expected the element end-tag or element "address", "blockquote", "del", "div", "dl", "h1", "h2", "...
The only place I could find reference guide is in text, not in code, but not in content.opf.
When I removed the li element it said li expected. Now I have no li and it says li not allowed here
Please advise
Thanks

Karellen · 08-07-2026, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaia Neos

'(RSC-005): /content.opf: Error while parsing file: element "guide" incomplete; missing required element "reference"

The <guide> is in the content.opf and looks like this...

PHP Code:


			
  <guide>

    <reference type="copyright-page" title="Copyright page" href="copyright.xhtml#copyright"/>

    <reference type="cover" title="Cover" href="cover.xhtml"/>

    <reference type="dedication" title="Dedication" href="dedication.xhtml#dedication"/>

    <reference type="text" title="Text" href="p01c01.xhtml#start"/>

    <reference type="title-page" title="Title page" href="titlepage.xhtml#titlepage"/>

  </guide>

In the Calibre Editor, there is a tool called "Set Semantics". Use it to redo the guide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaia Neos

(RSC-005): /Permaculture_Principles.html: Error while parsing file: element "li" not allowed here; expected the element end-tag or element "address", "blockquote", "del", "div", "dl", "h1", "h2", "...
The only place I could find reference guide is in text, not in code, but not in content.opf.
When I removed the li element it said li expected. Now I have no li and it says li not allowed here
Please advise
Thanks

The <li> tag is a child of either the <ol> or <ul> tags.
Is the <li> tag proberly closed off. And is it surrounded by either the <ol> or <ul> parent tags?
If you can't figure it out, then we would need to see the code in the html file.

Gaia Neos · 08-07-2026, 04:17 PM

There aren't any li tags anymore, only p class. When there were, I did check they were closed. There aren't ol or ul tags either. I had tried replacing li with ol and ul but that didn't work.
I couldn't figure out how to fix the guide. I'd appreciate any more html whispering
Thanks

Karellen · 08-07-2026, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaia Neos

There aren't any li tags anymore, only p class. When there were, I did check they were closed. There aren't ol or ul tags either. I had tried replacing li with ol and ul but that didn't work.
I couldn't figure out how to fix the guide. I'd appreciate any more html whispering
Thanks

Probably not wise to remove the li tags without knowing what they were doing.
And just replacing li with ol is not how that works. As I said, they need to both be there, not one or the other. They are not interchangeable
Maybe you should post the code so we can get a better understanding of what is going on. So revert the change you made and copy and paste that section here.

As for the guide, run the Set Semantics tool to fix. It is in the Tools menu.

Gaia Neos · Yesterday, 06:02 AM

I reverted to the original numbered list and it solved the problem of the bulleted list.
I couldn't find anywhere to do that in set semantics in the free version of calibre. How can I do that?
It's showing an unwanted span issue. They all close, one is nested but I found out that should be ok. All are span lang except for one which I replaced but that didn't fix it.
Here's the code of the page with the span issue:
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<title>Unknown</title>

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css"/>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="page_styles.css"/>
</head>
<body class="calibre">
Green Transport
*
“Fossil fuel” transportation, such as cars, lorries and aeroplanes, create massive amounts of pollution. Electric cars are currently produced in a way that is harmful to the environment, and they give off radiation. 
 It is possible to power cars, lorries and aeroplanes with renewable energy, and to make them out of recyclable materials. Henry Ford made a car out of Hemp, and he powered it with Hemp. An aeroplane has now been made out of hemp. Electric cars were common a hundred years ago before the petroleum industry became so influential. Electric car batteries don’t need to use cobalt and lithium, they can use hemp batteries or even run on water.
Cycling is much better for the environment, and for health. Public transportation is also much more efficient and some countries are starting to power public transport with renewable energy. Walking is even better for the environment.
Ride sharing and carpooling is a greener way to get around. Instead of thousands of cars each carrying one person, we can take turns giving lifts to friends and colleagues.
*
* 

</body></html>

Ingram is also showing this issue:
(RSC-005): /Uses_for_a_bucket.html: Error while parsing file: element "brclass__calibre8_" not allowed anywhere; expected the element end-tag, text or element "a", "abbr", "acronym", "applet", "b",...

Thanks

08-07-2026, 11:06 AM	#1
Gaia Neos Neophyte Mugwump Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2026 Location: Ireland Device: none	Parsing errors I used Calibre to convert my ebook to epub so that I could fix formatting changes with ease. After I fixed the formatting I uploaded it to Ingram sparks and got parsing errors, I managed to fix one or two parsing errors but there are a couple that don't seem to make sense: '(RSC-005): /content.opf: Error while parsing file: element "guide" incomplete; missing required element "reference" (RSC-005): /Permaculture_Principles.html: Error while parsing file: element "li" not allowed here; expected the element end-tag or element "address", "blockquote", "del", "div", "dl", "h1", "h2", "... The only place I could find reference guide is in text, not in code, but not in content.opf. When I removed the li element it said li expected. Now I have no li and it says li not allowed here Please advise Thanks

Yesterday, 06:02 AM	#5
Gaia Neos Neophyte Mugwump Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2026 Location: Ireland Device: none	I reverted to the original numbered list and it solved the problem of the bulleted list. I couldn't find anywhere to do that in set semantics in the free version of calibre. How can I do that? It's showing an unwanted span issue. They all close, one is nested but I found out that should be ok. All are span lang except for one which I replaced but that didn't fix it. Here's the code of the page with the span issue: <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> <title>Unknown</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="page_styles.css"/> </head> <body class="calibre"> <p class="block_25" lang="en">Green Transport</p> <p class="block_19"></p> <p class="block_15" lang="en">“Fossil fuel” transportation, such as cars, lorries and aeroplanes, create massive amounts of pollution. Electric cars are currently produced in a way that is harmful to the environment, and they give off radiation. </p> <p class="block_15"><span lang="en"></span></p><span class="calibre4"> It is possible to power cars, lorries and aeroplanes with renewable energy, and to make them out of recyclable materials. Henry Ford made a car out of Hemp, and he powered it with Hemp.<span lang="en"> An aeroplane has now been made out of hemp. Electric cars were common a hundred years ago before the petroleum industry became so influential. Electric car batteries don’t need to use cobalt and lithium, they can use hemp batteries or even run on water.</span><p></p> <p class="block_29" lang="en">Cycling is much better for the environment, and for health. Public transportation is also much more efficient and some countries are starting to power public transport with renewable energy. Walking is even better for the environment.</p> <p class="block_29" lang="en">Ride sharing and carpooling is a greener way to get around. Instead of thousands of cars each carrying one person, we can take turns giving lifts to friends and colleagues.</p> <p class="block_19"></p> <p class="block_2">*</p><span lang="en"><br class="calibre7" id="calibre_pb_45"/> </span><p></p> </span></body></html> Ingram is also showing this issue: (RSC-005): /Uses_for_a_bucket.html: Error while parsing file: element "brclass__calibre8_" not allowed anywhere; expected the element end-tag, text or element "a", "abbr", "acronym", "applet", "b",... Thanks

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08-07-2026, 04:17 PM	#3
Gaia Neos Neophyte Mugwump Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2026 Location: Ireland Device: none	There aren't any li tags anymore, only p class. When there were, I did check they were closed. There aren't ol or ul tags either. I had tried replacing li with ol and ul but that didn't work. I couldn't figure out how to fix the guide. I'd appreciate any more html whispering Thanks

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