Skip to main content
M
Madeline5E68
Participating Frequently
August 31, 2024
Question

How to Fix NavMap and TOC Errors in EPUB Export

  • August 31, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 3172 views

I'm trying to make a reflowable epub file for an ebook, and no matter what I do, when I check the epub file, I keep getting these two errors:

ERROR(RSC-005): /OEBPS/toc.ncx(16,11): Error while parsing file: element "navMap" incomplete; missing required element "navPoint"

ERROR(RSC-005): /OEBPS/toc.xhtml(9,9): Error while parsing file: element "ol" incomplete; missing required element "li"

 

It looks exactly how it's supposed to in my epub viewer, so I don't know why I'm getting these. Messing around with the file and searching for solutions online has just made me more frustrated, especially since I know I made an error-free epub last year for a different book - I just don't remember how I did it. I think the problem might be with the TOC, but I don't know what else I can try to get rid of these errors. Any suggestions? I don't have time to try starting over in a different program, since my publication deadline is coming up pretty soon. Could I just make a linked TOC manually instead of using the auto-TOC tool? I honestly wouldn't mind doing that.

 

<TItle renamed by MOD>

 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
August 31, 2024

First, what EPUB viewer are you using?

Second, what EPUB validator?

 

First', know that validator results are not nearly as important as they once were — when the approach was to hand-build EPUB files like some kind of programming project, there were many points at which mistakes could be made and validation was an essential tool to find these faults. In these days of exporting EPUB on a level with, say, PDF, checking for every technical jot and niddle is not necessarily useful, or necessary. Sometimes there are actual faults that might affect an end reader; other times the fault are akin to a beautiful new car that drives like a dream... but is 0.1 inch short of factory spec. The final "validation" is if the book reads, renders and navigates properly in a standard EPUB reader.

 

Second', Since those are ERRORs and not info/warnings, it's probably worth chasing them down.

 

So, Third —

  • Have you created a unique TOC 'style' for the dynamic (reader) table of contents? (That is, not "[default]"?)
  • Have you updated this TOC as a last step before export?
  • Do you specify this TOC 'style' in the export menu?
  • Are you using an in-text TOC as well as the reader/dynamic one?

 

M
Madeline5E68Author
Participating Frequently
August 31, 2024

1. The file is being checked by the publishing platform itself, Draft2Digital, so I cannot move forward with publication until their built-in checker says the file is okay. I'm not sure if they use their own original checker or have embedded some other one.

3. a. I have not made a TOC style. Not sure I've ever done that before and not sure how I'd do it, but I'll look into that.
b. I did the TOC last, but for some reason the "update" option was grayed out.
c. Since I don't have a TOC style, I have not specified anything in the export menu
d. The TOC appears in the text itself, with clickable links to take you to each chapter, like any other ebook, so not sure what you mean by in-text vs. reader/dynamic one.

M
Madeline5E68Author
Participating Frequently
August 31, 2024

It's hard to avoid in InDesign unless you use a CSS file to null it out, but you "spec" — specify fonts inherently with styles. (At the CSS level, it's easy to reduce these to generic types like serif, sans-serif, monospace, etc., and that eliminates ALL downstream font issues.)

 

InDesign embeds the fonts in the exported file by default unless you UNCHECK the "Include Embeddable Fonts" box in the HTML/CSS pane of the export menu —

 

Embedding is only inherent/required for fixed-page export (FXL), which shouldn't be used for text-based books anyway.


Yeah, I know my options are limited and the reader has a lot of design control, but I know it's possible to have an epub with a clickable TOC and chapter headers that are images instead of text - I've read many ebooks that are like that. I tried a few methods and haven't found a way to make it work, so I'm just going to have to deal with the chapter headers being changeable by the reader. I don't like that, since I've seen that it's possible to preserve the appearance (maybe just not in InDesign, I don't know), but I'm not going to keep working on this issue when I have a file that works and I'm on a deadline. I've preserved as much of the design as I can without causing issues with the file. Thanks for all your help with this.

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices