Table of contents

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1.1 Purpose

1.2 Dependencies on Other Specifications

1.3 Documentation Conventions and Terminology

2 Conceptual Framework

2.1 Overview of XML Schema

2.2 XML Schema Abstract Data Model

2.2.1 Type Definition Components

2.2.2 Declaration Components

2.2.3 Model Group Components

2.2.4 Identity-constraint Definition Components

2.2.5 Group Definition Components

2.2.6 Annotation Components

2.3 Constraints and Validation Rules

2.4 Conformance

2.5 Names and Symbol Spaces

2.6 Schema-Related Markup in Documents Being Validated

2.6.1 xsi:type

2.6.2 xsi:nil

2.6.3 xsi:schemaLocation, xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation

2.7 Representation of Schemas on the World Wide Web

3 Schema Component Details

3.1 Introduction

3.1.1 Components and Properties

3.1.2 XML Representations of Components

3.1.3 The Mapping between XML Representations and Components

3.1.4 White Space Normalization during Validation

3.2 Attribute Declarations

3.2.1 The Attribute Declaration Schema Component

3.2.2 XML Representation of Attribute Declaration Schema Components

3.2.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Attribute Declarations

3.2.4 Attribute Declaration Validation Rules

3.2.5 Attribute Declaration Information Set Contributions

3.2.6 Constraints on Attribute Declaration Schema Components

3.2.7 Built-in Attribute Declarations

3.3 Element Declarations

3.3.1 The Element Declaration Schema Component

3.3.2 XML Representation of Element Declaration Schema Components

3.3.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Element Declarations

3.3.4 Element Declaration Validation Rules

3.3.5 Element Declaration Information Set Contributions

3.3.6 Constraints on Element Declaration Schema Components

3.4 Complex Type Definitions

3.4.1 The Complex Type Definition Schema Component

3.4.2 XML Representation of Complex Type Definitions

3.4.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Complex Type Definitions

3.4.4 Complex Type Definition Validation Rules

3.4.5 Complex Type Definition Information Set Contributions

3.4.6 Constraints on Complex Type Definition Schema Components

3.4.7 Built-in Complex Type Definition

3.5 AttributeUses

3.5.1 The Attribute Use Schema Component

3.5.2 XML Representation of Attribute Use Components

3.5.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Attribute Uses

3.5.4 Attribute Use Validation Rules

3.5.5 Attribute Use Information Set Contributions

3.5.6 Constraints on Attribute Use Schema Components

3.6 Attribute Group Definitions

3.6.1 The Attribute Group Definition Schema Component

3.6.2 XML Representation of Attribute Group Definition Schema Components

3.6.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Attribute Group Definitions

3.6.4 Attribute Group Definition Validation Rules

3.6.5 Attribute Group Definition Information Set Contributions

3.6.6 Constraints on Attribute Group Definition Schema Components

3.7 Model Group Definitions

3.7.1 The Model Group Definition Schema Component

3.7.2 XML Representation of Model Group Definition Schema Components

3.7.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Model Group Definitions

3.7.4 Model Group Definition Validation Rules

3.7.5 Model Group Definition Information Set Contributions

3.7.6 Constraints on Model Group Definition Schema Components

3.8 Model Groups

3.8.1 The Model Group Schema Component

3.8.2 XML Representation of Model Group Schema Components

3.8.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Model Groups

3.8.4 Model Group Validation Rules

3.8.5 Model Group Information Set Contributions

3.8.6 Constraints on Model Group Schema Components

3.9 Particles

3.9.1 The Particle Schema Component

3.9.2 XML Representation of Particle Components

3.9.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Particles

3.9.4 Particle Validation Rules

3.9.5 Particle Information Set Contributions

3.9.6 Constraints on Particle Schema Components

3.10 Wildcards

3.10.1 The Wildcard Schema Component

3.10.2 XML Representation of Wildcard Schema Components

3.10.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Wildcards

3.10.4 Wildcard Validation Rules

3.10.5 Wildcard Information Set Contributions

3.10.6 Constraints on Wildcard Schema Components

3.11 Identity-constraint Definitions

3.11.1 The Identity-constraint Definition Schema Component

3.11.2 XML Representation of Identity-constraint Definition Schema Components

3.11.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Identity-constraint Definitions

3.11.4 Identity-constraint Definition Validation Rules

3.11.5 Identity-constraint Definition Information Set Contributions

3.11.6 Constraints on Identity-constraint Definition Schema Components

3.12 Notation Declarations

3.12.1 The Notation Declaration Schema Component

3.12.2 XML Representation of Notation Declaration Schema Components

3.12.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Notation Declarations

3.12.4 Notation Declaration Validation Rules

3.12.5 Notation Declaration Information Set Contributions

3.12.6 Constraints on Notation Declaration Schema Components

3.13 Annotations

3.13.1 The Annotation Schema Component

3.13.2 XML Representation of Annotation Schema Components

3.13.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Annotations

3.13.4 Annotation Validation Rules

3.13.5 Annotation Information Set Contributions

3.13.6 Constraints on Annotation Schema Components

3.14 Simple Type Definitions

3.14.1 (non-normative) The Simple Type Definition Schema Component

3.14.2 (non-normative) XML Representation of Simple Type Definition Schema Components

3.14.3 (non-normative) Constraints on XML Representations of Simple Type Definitions

3.14.4 Simple Type Definition Validation Rules

3.14.5 Simple Type Definition Information Set Contributions

3.14.6 Constraints on Simple Type Definition Schema Components

3.14.7 Built-in Simple Type Definition

3.15 Schemas as a Whole

3.15.1 The Schema Itself

3.15.2 XML Representations of Schemas

3.15.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Schemas

3.15.4 Validation Rules for Schemas as a Whole

3.15.5 Schema Information Set Contributions

3.15.6 Constraints on Schemas as a Whole

4 Schemas and Namespaces: Access and Composition

4.1 Layer 1: Summary of the Schema-validity Assessment Core

4.2 Layer 2: Schema Documents, Namespaces and Composition

4.2.1 Assembling a schema for a single target namespace from multiple schema definition documents

4.2.2 Including modified component definitions

4.2.3 References to schema components across namespaces

4.3 Layer 3: Schema Document Access and Web-interoperability

4.3.1 Standards for representation of schemas and retrieval of schema documents on the Web

4.3.2 How schema definitions are located on the Web

5 Schemas and Schema-validity Assessment

5.1 Errors in Schema Construction and Structure

5.2 Assessing Schema-Validity

5.3 Missing Sub-components

5.4 Responsibilities of Schema-aware Processors

Appendices

A Schema for Schemas (normative)

B References (normative)

C Outcome Tabulations (normative)

C.1 Validation Rules

C.2 Contributions to the post-schema-validation infoset

C.3 Schema Representation Constraints

C.4 Schema Component Constraints

D Required Information Set Items and Properties (normative)

E Schema Components Diagram (non-normative)

F Glossary (non-normative)

G DTD for Schemas (non-normative)

H Analysis of the Unique Particle Attribution Constraint (non-normative)

I References (non-normative)

J Acknowledgements (non-normative)

XML SCHEMA 1.0 PART 1: STRUCTURES

This version:

http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xmlschema-1-20010502/

Latest version:

http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-1/

Previous version:

http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/PR-xmlschema-1-20010330/

Authors

Henry S. Thompson (University of Edinburgh) [ht@cogsci.ed.ac.uk]

David Beech (Oracle Corporation) [David.Beech@oracle.com]

Murray Maloney (for Commerce One) [murray@muzmo.com]

Noah Mendelsohn (Lotus Development Corporation) [Noah_Mendelsohn@lotus.com]

Status of this document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The latest status of this document series is maintained at the W3C.

This document has been reviewed by W3C Members and other interested parties and has been endorsed by the Director as a W3C Recommendation. It is a stable document and may be used as reference material or cited as a normative reference from another document. W3C's role in making the Recommendation is to draw attention to the specification and to promote its widespread deployment. This enhances the functionality and interoperability of the Web.

This document has been produced by the W3C XML Schema Working Group as part of the W3C XML Activity. The goals of the XML Schema language are discussed in the XML Schema Requirements document. The authors of this document are the XML Schema WG members. Different parts of this specification have different editors.

This version of this document incorporates some editorial changes from earlier versions.

Please report errors in this document to www-xml-schema-comments@w3.org (archive). The list of known errors in this specification is available at http://www.w3.org/2001/05/xmlschema-errata.

The English version of this specification is the only normative version. Information about translations of this document is available at http://www.w3.org/2001/05/xmlschema-translations.

A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

Abstract

XML Schema: Structures specifies the XML Schema definition language, which offers facilities for describing the structure and constraining the contents of XML 1.0 documents, including those which exploit the XML Namespace facility. The schema language, which is itself represented in XML 1.0 and uses namespaces, substantially reconstructs and considerably extends the capabilities found in XML 1.0 document type definitions (DTDs). This specification depends on XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes.