E-pub file fails to conversion failure in Kindel Previewer - Error while parsing file: element "ol"

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

ERROR(RSC-005): ./books/Bo/databases/eBookIt/temp_uploads/1692281057.epub/OEBPS/toc.xhtml(9,9): Error while parsing file: element "ol" incomplete; missing required element "li"

Please help me with this.  

I exported my indesign file to e-pub in both options.  Fixed and reflowable it didn't mater I still got the error either way.

I tried using the Kindel Previewer and a different 3rd party converter that would convert my PDF to epub and it returned an error saying there was a conversion failure.  I couldn't get any information on the error.  

My conversion log says this: 
"Type","Description"
"Status","Book conversion successful."

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

This is very odd. "ol" refers to the HTML bracket code for an Ordered List — that is, a numbered list. (An unordered or bullet list uses "ul".) What's odd is that InDesign pointedly does not export any definition for either ol or ul, so it must be a glitch in one of your text lists.

You can do two things here:

First, go through your ID document and make sure all ordered/numbered lists are completely 'clean' and use a fully defined style or styles. If there aren't many, it may be worth converting them to body text and re-applying the styles.

You can also "purge" the INDD file to clear up any corruption, which is common on files that are edited in many sessions. Save or export the file to IDML, then open that file and save it to INDD under a new name. That often purges corruption and fixes many structural faults.

And if neither of those fixes the problem, report back. 🙂

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

Thank you for your reply.  I tried the IDML to INDD trick but it didn't help.  Its also strange because my indesign file has no lists at all.  So right now my option is to remake the file unless there is something else that can be done.  

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It very much sounds like some kind of file corruption that the IDML trick won't touch. (Rare, but it happens.)

It may be that there's a broken fragment of a list somewhere... can't think of any simple way to find it, though.

If you are up to opening the exported reflowable EPUB (it's just a ZIP file), and opening the content XHTML file, you can search for '<ol>' to find where ID and the file thinks an ordered list should be. Fixing that text, in style and so forth, would probably fix the problem. (You don't have to do anything further with the exported EPUB... it's just to search to find the ID doc problem.)

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

I tried exporting the indesign file as a reflowable epub and got this error message "Non rectangular objects will not appear correctly when exported using CSS"

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Did the file export anyway? You can still look for that <ol> marker to solve that problem.

There are some limits on how well EPUB can handle ID graphics, but there's a workaround for that (individually set those graphics frames to rasterize).

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

I found the <ol> / <li> miss match in the TOC.XHTML file.  I changed all the <li> to <ol> but that didn't work.  I tried chaning all the <ol> to <li> and that fixed the problem but now I got a new one that is worse.  It says 

ERROR(RSC-005): ./books/Bo/databases/eBookIt/temp_uploads/1692291599.epub/OEBPS/toc.xhtml(14,49): Error while parsing file: element "a" not allowed here; expected the element end-tag or element "li", "script" or "template"

and

ERROR(RSC-005): ./books/Bo/databases/eBookIt/temp_uploads/1692291599.epub/OEBPS/toc.xhtml(79,67): Error while parsing file: Another landmark was found with the same epub:type and same reference to "funko_fashion_with_ai-1.xhtml"

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Re-generate the TOC. I recommend creating a named variant 'style' specifically tailored to EPUB (can be deeper in levels, omit page numbers). Then specify that name version in the export menu.

TOCs should never be edited or modified after export. Just regenerate it and re-export. And always be sure to regenerated it if you make any changes, lest you leave broken links and bits behind to cause errors.

(The ul, ol and li elements are not interchangeable; they have to be used in correct order and pairs to create HTML lists.)

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

Ok. I copied everything from the old file to a new file and changed the TOC markers to a new paragraph style and regnerated the TOC and it still doesn't work.  I exported the file with the name version for the TOC in the export menu.  I also tested the template I used to create the document and the downloaded template works fine.  Then I uploaded the file to a valadator and it successfully valadated.  But it still won't open in Kindel Previewer.  I could really appreciate some help.  Thank you

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

now i have the error:  "Found TOC hyperlinks which don't have target text anchor information. Please update TOC with "Make text anchor in source paragraph" option turned on."  I'm really not sure what I'm doing 

[defaulte6h4amke4phd]

ok. i fixed that but it still failed to open in kindel previewer

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Okay, two things jump out from your last posts. First, templates are often a huge PITA, with hidden elements or oddly-structured ones that worked fine for the originator, and work as long as you don't "knock over any of the china," but create cascades of technical and layout faults if you delete the wrong thing or put text in the wrong order. Especially for EPUB, I'd recommend strongly against ever using templates. (Sometimes, for complex print layouts, but so much is purged and rewritten in EPUB export that it's just not worth the downside to have a few styles predefined for you.)

If it's not an unthinkable amount of work, you might start over. Create a clean new document, set up the styles you need (recognize that nothing about page layout matters!) then place your raw text and format it. That will amost assuredly bypass all these problems. (Don't paste text from the faulty doc; it will likely drag in broken content and perpetuate the problems.)

If you want to keep plugging on this iteration, I suggest the problem — one problem — is that there are fragments of old TOC links scattered through the document, and they are confusing the various upload and validation steps. Really, nothing should matter except a "clean view" in a vanilla reader like Calibre, and an acceptable result in Kindle Previewer.

What is the exact error you're getting from KP?