Re: Tool that visualizes an XSD complexType hierarchy as aninv

Hi Folks,

 

I have a schema with a large complexType hierarchy. I want a tool that visually displays the hierarchy. All of the tools that I’ve seen display the hierarchy in a sideways fashion. But I don’t think sideways, I think top to bottom.

 

Please allow me to explain …

 

Here is a simple complexType hierarchy:

 

<xsd:complexType name="Publication">
    <xsd:sequence>
        <xsd:element name="Title" type="xsd:string" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
        <xsd:element name="Author" type="xsd:string" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
        <xsd:element name="Date" type="xsd:gYear"/>
    </xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:complexType name="BookPublication">
    <xsd:complexContent>
        <xsd:extension base="Publication">
            <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:element name="ISBN" type="xsd:string"/>
                <xsd:element name="Publisher" type="xsd:string"/>
            </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:extension>
    </xsd:complexContent>
</xsd:complexType>

 

Here is how Oxygen XML visualizes the hierarchy:

 

 

While that is truly an excellent visualization, it is not how my mind works. The complexTypes are a “hierarchy” so my mind wants to see the base complexType at the top and subtypes underneath, like this:

 

 

For the project that I am working, I used Powerpoint to create the hierarchy. Below I show the structure of the hierarchy (A, B, C, etc. are not the actual complexType names). I seek something other than manually creating the hierarchy using Powerpoint. Is there a tool that visualizes a schema’s complexType hierarchy in a top-to-bottom fashion?  /Roger