EpubCCEPUBCheck OPF-033: no linear spine items
Updated:
EPUBCheck OPF-033 is an error message: “The spine contains no linear resources.” Every item in the spine is marked linear="no", so there is nothing to read from start to end. The spine defines the reading order, and at least one document has to belong to it.
The official message
The spine contains no linear resources.
- Default severity
- Error. The EPUB breaks a rule of the specification and is invalid. Stores and Send to Kindle may reject it, and EPUBCheck exits with status 1.
- EPUBCheck version
- 5.4.0
Typical causes
- linear="no" applied to all items by mistake, for example with a find-and-replace.
- A tool setting that marks every document as auxiliary content.
- A spine that only lists notes or appendices after the main chapters were removed.
How to fix it
- Open the spine in the package document.
- Remove linear="no" from the itemrefs that make up the main text (linear="yes" is the default).
- Keep linear="no" only on auxiliary documents such as answer keys or pop-up notes.
When it's not this
If only some non-linear documents are unreachable, that is OPF-096.
Terms used here
Other OPF messages
OPF-032Guide references "…" which is not a valid "OPS Content Document".OPF-034The spine contains multiple references to the manifest item with id "…".OPF-031File listed in reference element in guide was not declared in OPF manifest: ….OPF-035Media type "text/html" is not appropriate for XHTML/OPS.OPF-030The unique-identifier "…" was not found.OPF-036Video type "…" might not be supported by reading systems
Sources
Message text and severity from EPUBCheck 5.4.0 (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation by EpubCC.