# EPUBCheck RSC-005: Error while parsing file: …

Source: https://epublab.com/epubcheck/rsc-005/ (updated 2026-11-03)

EPUBCheck RSC-005 is an error message: “Error while parsing file: ….” A file does not follow the schema EPUB requires for it: an element, attribute or value is not allowed where it is, or something required is missing. It is the most common EPUBCheck error.

- Official message (EPUBCheck 5.4.0): Error while parsing file: %1$s
- Default severity: Error

## Typical causes

- Elements nested where the schema forbids them, or attributes that HTML or EPUB do not define ("element … not allowed here", "attribute … not allowed here").
- Duplicate id values in one document, often from copied footnotes or headings.
- Missing required metadata, such as the dcterms:modified date of an EPUB 3 package document.

## How to fix it

- Read the text after the colon: EPUBCheck reports the file, the line and column, and the parser's own description of the problem.
- Fix the element or attribute it names; in package documents, add the missing metadata, for example <meta property="dcterms:modified">2026-11-03T00:00:00Z</meta>.
- Fix the first errors first: one structural error can cause several later ones.

Message text and severity: EPUBCheck (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation: EPUBLab.