A chapter can belong in the reading order without needing a line in the table of contents. This EPUB table of contents include exclude chapters guide treats those as independent publication decisions. The measured STUDIO-271 book contains six body chapters. Chapters two and five remain in the package and spine, but only chapters one, three, four, and six appear in both the EPUB 3 navigation document and the NCX compatibility table.
Draw a Six-Row Matrix Before Export
List chapters one through six. Give each row one column for body inclusion and another for navigation inclusion. All six body cells are yes. Navigation is yes for chapters one, three, four, and six, and no for chapters two and five. Add a reason for each no value so an intentional omission cannot be confused with an unchecked setting.
This matrix predicts two different totals: six readable chapters and four navigation entries. If the intended totals are not written before export, a reviewer may see four links and report two missing chapters, or see six spine items and assume every chapter was meant to appear in the contents. The matrix makes both expectations explicit.
Open the Package and Inspect the Spine First
The generated evidence EPUB has SHA-256 ff05c530fb3cd6a8c0d79b58007ba52f678663696680b28d314b12d6b31ccd21. Open it as a ZIP archive and read the OPF spine. The six expected body files, p001.xhtml through p006.xhtml, must be present in reading order. Open each XHTML file and compare its heading or unique opening phrase with the corresponding matrix row.
Only after body inclusion passes should you inspect nav.xhtml. Resolve every href and expect four destinations: chapters one, three, four, and six. Then inspect toc.ncx and expect the same four content sources. A matching count is not sufficient if one link is duplicated or points to the wrong heading, so record label, path, optional fragment, and resolved chapter together.
Diagnose Which Axis Lost a Chapter
If chapter two is absent from the manifest or spine, the body-selection axis failed. If its XHTML and spine item remain but no navigation link exists, compare that result with the planned no value. It may be correct. If chapter three is present in the body but absent from navigation, the navigation-inclusion setting failed.
Repair only the failed axis. Return to chapter selection when content is missing; return to the chapter's contents flag when only a link is wrong. Do not hand-edit the packaged OPF or navigation document, because a later export would discard that patch. Generate a new EPUB under a new digest, then repeat the entire six-row comparison so the repair cannot silently disturb another chapter.
Walk into Omitted Chapters from Their Neighbors
Package structure does not by itself prove reader interaction. In a named reading application, open chapter one and move forward to chapter two. Confirm the chapter heading and an opening sentinel. Repeat the check from chapter four to chapter five. Then open the contents and select each of the four listed chapters, recording the destination.
This particular evidence run inspected the local package but did not perform those clicks in a specific reader. The operational field therefore remains unmeasured. When it is tested, record application name and version, the exact EPUB digest, selected label, and destination heading. Do not convert a local valid=true result into a claim about every reading application.
Treat NAV and NCX as Two Receipts
Modern EPUB readers normally use the navigation document, while some compatibility paths may consult NCX. The release matrix should keep both receipts. A book where nav has four intended links but NCX has six may behave differently across readers even though all chapters are packaged correctly.
For STUDIO-271, both navigation forms describe the same four-chapter subset. That agreement is a package fact, not proof of legacy-device behavior. If a target requires an older reader, operate that named device separately and attach its result to the same digest.
Release Only When Six and Four Are Both Explained
The body column passes when all six XHTML chapters appear in spine order. The navigation column passes when nav and NCX each resolve exactly chapters one, three, four, and six. Chapters two and five pass by having a stated exclusion reason and remaining reachable through ordinary reading order in the later reader test.
This result is more precise than saying the contents “looks right.” It states what is included, what is intentionally omitted from navigation, where every reference leads, and what has not yet been operated. Retailer ingestion and rendering across other readers remain separate checks.
Carry Exclusion Reasons Through Editorial Approval
A navigation no should have an editorial reason, not merely an empty checkbox. In this specimen, chapter two can be described as a short interlude reached from chapter one, while chapter five can be treated as a supplement read with chapter four. The exact publishing rationale belongs in the release matrix. A later editor can then decide whether a revised chapter still deserves exclusion instead of copying an unexplained setting.
Excluded chapters remain inside proofreading scope. Give chapters two and five a body heading, opening sentinel, preceding-spine item, and following-spine item. Record “no navigation link” separately from “body inspected.” That separation prevents a clean table of contents from concealing an unreviewed XHTML file.
Rebuild Identifiers from Each New Export
Do not assume that an ID from the previous EPUB still names the same chapter. Open the new OPF and reconstruct the mapping from manifest ID to href, then resolve every nav href and NCX source against that version. Compare destinations by file path, heading, and opening sentinel rather than by a numeric-looking ID alone.
A useful failure specimen keeps four links but points the chapter-three label at chapter four. Count-only validation would pass. Recovery returns to the chapter-three navigation setting, exports a new file, and resolves all four links again. Acceptance requires the new EPUB digest, six ordered spine destinations, four correct nav destinations, four matching NCX destinations, and two written exclusion reasons on one receipt.