Misleading error message: The URL 'xxx' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol

[nekennedy]

This error (RSC-023) is being generated for a variety of invalid URLS. They are all incorrect, but the problem has nothing to do with the number of slashes. I've provided some examples below and included the text of the epubcheck error and a snippet of HTML:

The URL 'http://Medscape.com,November' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
<a href="http://Medscape.com,November">Medscape.com,November</a>
The URL 'http://worldmarket.com)painted' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
(from <a href="http://worldmarket.com)painted">worldmarket.com</a>)painted in
The URL 'http://HGTV.com’s' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
<a href="http://HGTV.com&#8217;s">HGTV.com&#8217;s</a>
The URL 'http://cronometer.com),I' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
(using <a href="http://cronometer.com),I">cronometer.com),</a>
The URL 'http://www​.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/sfeature/sf_remember.html' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
<a class="hlink" href="http://www&#x200b;.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/sfeature/sf_remember.html">http://www&#x200b;.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/sfeature/sf_remember.html</a>
The URL 'http://Protectmarriage.com–Yes' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
<a href="http://Protectmarriage.com&#x2013;Yes">Protectmarriage.com&#x2013;Yes</a>
The URL 'http://​www.​youtube.​com​/watch​?v​=Wriy3ICfF9U​&​feature​=player_embedded​' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'
<a href="http://&#x200b;www.&#x200b;youtube.&#x200b;com&#x200b;/watch&#x200b;?v&#x200b;=Wriy3ICfF9U&#x200b;&amp;&#x200b;feature&#x200b;=player_embedded&#x200b;">http://&#x200b;www.&#x200b;youtube.&#x200b;com&#x200b;/watch&#x200b;?v&#x200b;=Wriy3ICfF9U&#x200b;&amp;&#x200b;feature&#x200b;=playe&#x200b;r_embe&#x200b;dded</a>

There are a lot of random URLs in our backlist files, let me know if you need more examples!

[nekennedy]

Reading through these again. "Nothing to do with the number of slashes" an exaggeration. I assumed that it was flagging the –, but seems like it's not. Feel free to close this as invalid.

[teytag]

Only https: // protocol in URL? If so, this will give rise to distress for writers and customers. N. Erhan Uzumcu Art Director and EPUB Designer

…

On Apr 4, 2019, at 8:28 PM, Naomi Kennedy ***@***.***> wrote: Reading through these again. "Nothing to do with the number of slashes" an exaggeration. I assumed that it was flagging the –, but seems like it's not. Feel free to close this as invalid. — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1034 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AGmy-nO_DN5ZLkx8tmY_eA8iQr1ugFOhks5vdjZCgaJpZM4cdQ90>.

[mattgarrish]

It's definitely a bug, though, as the URIs are invalid. It's just not a problem with the number of slashes, but that must be a result of not being able to parse the URI correctly.

[tofi86]

Issue #708 is why I introduced this check with PR #731 2 years ago. Sorry if I missed something here...

[rdeltour]

Yeah the URIs are invalid indeed, but the message is definitely confusing. Sorry I didn't catch that when reviewing #731.

In that PR, I had originally proposed URL 'XXX' has no host component, but it's too technical and not much clearer.

What about a more generic: Couldn't parse URL 'XXX'?

@tofi86 do you think it is too late a change for the translations?

[rdeltour]

What about a more generic: Couldn't parse URL 'XXX'?

or Couldn't parse host of URL 'XXX' if we want to be just a tad more specific…

[tofi86]

@tofi86 do you think it is too late a change for the translations?

no problem, we can find a better cmessage for sure.

However, I'm not sure why Java isn't correctly identifying the http:// as the getSchemeSpecificPart()?
https://github.com/w3c/epubcheck/pull/731/files#diff-384d5f886223b6b6b46d56f83cf3445dR238

[tofi86]

New report from a pagina EPUB-Checker user:

WARNING (RSC-023) at "Mediation ebook.epub/OEBPS/Text/Meditation_ackn.xhtml" (line 61, col 68):
The URL 'http://www.111now.com)' is missing 1 slash(es) '/' after the protocol 'http:'

It seems that URL's ending with a ) are invalid URL's but the parser reports it as another issue.

[nekennedy]

Thanks 😀