EPUB 3 - Metadata Refines Chains (title-type, file-as, collection)
Two dc:title elements distinguished only by refines chains into title-type and display-seq, a creator with file-as and a MARC relator role, and a series declared with belongs-to-collection. The structure a catalogue actually needs, and the one flat metadata readers collapse into a single confused string.
- mimetype
- container.xml
- content.opf
- nav.xhtml
- style.css
- chapter1.xhtml
Specifications
- Seed
- 20260807
- Epub Version
- 3.0
- Dc Titles
- 2
- Title Types
- main + subtitle
- Has File As
- true
- Has Marc Role
- true
- Collection
- The Conformance Shelf
- Group Position
- 4
Testing contract
Expected to pass- Scenario
- Extract the display title, the sort name, and the series position for a library listing.
- Expected result
- The main title and subtitle are distinguished by their title-type refines rather than by order, the author sorts under Brandt-Nakamura, and the book reports as position 4 of The Conformance Shelf.
What is a .epub file?
EPUB is the open e-book standard, a ZIP archive containing XHTML content documents, CSS, images, and a package manifest describing reading order and metadata. It supports reflowable text that adapts to screen size and is supported by most e-readers except Kindle natively. It is the dominant format for distributable e-books.
How to use this file
Use an example EPUB to test e-book parsing, ZIP-package and manifest handling, reading-order and metadata extraction, and rendering in e-reader applications.
How to use this file for testing
“EPUB 3 - Metadata Refines Chains (title-type, file-as, collection)” is a deterministic Novus Examples fixture for Metadata testing, Conversion testing. Images, audio, video, and documents with documented metadata paired with deliberately stripped versions, for verifying extraction, preservation, redaction, and privacy-scrubbing behavior.
Documented properties for this file: seed 20260807. Compare results against paired or grouped companions on this page when present (clean↔damaged, searchable↔scanned, or format twins) so scores stay reproducible across runs.
Download the file once, keep the path stable in CI or local scripts, and treat the spec table as the contract: dimensions, seeds, field lists, and roles are intentional. Corrupt or invalid samples are labelled as such — expect parsers to fail loudly rather than silently accept them.
E-book fixtures are structured archives documented down to their spine and manifest. Test readers and converters, and where a valid↔intentionally-invalid pair exists, assert graceful handling of the malformed container.
Code examples
ebook-convert meta-refines-chain.epub out.pdf # Calibre
unzip -l meta-refines-chain.epub # EPUB is a ZIPRelated files
- azwConvert v2 DRM-Free AZW E-bookDRM-free AZW/MOBI7 e-book source copied byte-for-byte from the catalog's valid reader fixture for legacy import testing. Stable P8 artifact p8-convert-legacy-azw.

- cbrConvert v2 Two-Page CBR ComicValid CBR comic container with two deterministic PNG pages in lexical reading order for legacy comic conversion. Stable P8 artifact p8-convert-legacy-cbr.

- epubEPUB 2.0.1 - Cover by meta name="cover" Only (no guide, no cover page)The cover convention that predates every standard way of doing it: a bare meta name="cover" pointing at a manifest id, with no guide reference, no cover XHTML page and nothing in the spine. For testing cover extraction against the messiest of the three EPUB 2 conventions.

- fb2FB2 - Cover Embedded as a base64 binary ElementA FictionBook whose cover is a base64-encoded PNG in a binary element at the foot of the file, wired to a coverpage in the description by xlink id. For testing FB2 image extraction and the converters that have to turn that blob back into a real file.

- txtConvert v2 Archive SHA-256 ListGNU-style SHA-256 list for the two canonical TAR members, preserving relative paths and full lowercase digests. Stable P8 artifact p8-convert-archive-sha256.

- jsonCycloneDX Container Image SBOMA CycloneDX SBOM whose root component is an OCI container image rather than an application, mixing a fictional operating-system package with language packages — the shape an image scanner emits. Every package, version, hash and licence is fictional — the tree describes nothing real.

Generated by generation/ebooks_p7.py. Free for any use, no attribution required — license.