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Schema Tutorial

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XML documents can have a reference to a DTD or to an XML Schema.

A Simple XML Document

Look at this simple XML document called "note.xml":

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>

A DTD File

The following example is a DTD file called "note.dtd" that defines the elements of the XML document above ("note.xml"):

<!ELEMENT note (to, from, heading, body)>
<!ELEMENT to (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT from (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT heading (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT body (#PCDATA)>

The first line defines the note element to have four child elements: "to, from, heading, body".

Line 2-5 defines the to, from, heading, body elements to be of type "#PCDATA".

An XML Schema

The following example is an XML Schema file called "note.xsd" that defines the elements of the XML document above ("note.xml"):

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://www.w3schools.com"
xmlns="http://www.w3schools.com"
elementFormDefault="qualified">

<xs:element name="note">
<xs:complexType>
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="to" type="xs:string"/>
      <xs:element name="from" type="xs:string"/>
      <xs:element name="heading" type="xs:string"/>
      <xs:element name="body" type="xs:string"/>
    </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>

</xs:schema>

The note element is a complex type because it contains other elements. The other elements (to, from, heading, body) are simple types because they do not contain other elements. You will learn more about simple and complex types in the following chapters.

A Reference to a DTD

This XML document has a reference to a DTD:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<!DOCTYPE note SYSTEM
"http://www.w3schools.com/dtd/note.dtd">

<note>
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>

A Reference to an XML Schema

This XML document has a reference to an XML Schema:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<note
xmlns="http://www.w3schools.com"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.w3schools.com note.xsd">
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>