: Re: How is an epub structured internally? I know from sources I do not remember anymore, that an epub file is a valid zip file containing (among other files) chapters as *.xhtml files, a manifest

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The files and directory structure of the EPUB files is specified in the OCF (OpenContainerFormat). There are two versions are most interesting: 2.0.1 and 3.0.1. Both specify only one required file in a specific subdirectory, and that is:

META-INF/container.xml

There are some optional files that can go in that directory as well (signatures.xml, encrytpion.xml, metadata.xml, rights.xml) and a file named manifest.xml is allowed there as well.

The container.xml refers to the full path of one or more files, which names are essentially free and the directory structure as well.

Of course some programs generate EPUB files always with the same structure. That is why it might seem that you need a content.opf in the root of the EPUB (zip) file structure, but that is only a valid name in any particular EPUB if and only if it is named in a <rootfile> element in the container.xml.

The contents file (with references to the individual) HTML files which together form the e-book could be:

TOC/TableOfContents.opf

and the HTML files could be

LOTR/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring.htm
LOTR/The_Two_Towers.htm
LOTR/The_Return_of_the_King.htm

as long as the paths of files, specified internally starting from container.xml are correct.

As Mark pointed out a mimetype file needs to be present. Actually according to the 2.0.1 spec (page 7, bottom) that file has to be the first file in the EPUB file's ZIP structure.

The only names in the root directory reserved by the 2.0.1 are mimetype and META-INF. The use of a specific folder (LOTR in the example) is recommended (to prevent collisions when there are multiple renditions), but not required.

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