.NET XML XSD, XDR Schemas

In the XML Schema Zone below you will learn about XML Schemas and how to make use of it in your applications.  A good place to get start is the tutorial: Getting Started with XML Schemas

For code examples and products to do with schemas, visit the schema section of our growing library.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Schemas and Namespaces
This manuscript is an abridged version of a chapter from the Wrox Press book Professional XML. It covers all you need to know about Namespaces and Schemas.

How to format dates, using a schema
This is a fully functional download, where Emilio demonstrates how to use the formatDate function in XSL.

XML Schema Definition Tool (XSD) in .NET
In real world applications, manually creating classes for each XML type your application handles can be a tedious job, especially when you are dealing with very large schemas. Luckily, we don't have to create the classes by hand when we have an XML schema describing the data format. The .NET Framework supplies a command line tool called XML Schema Definition Tool (xsd.exe) to produce C#, VB.NET or JScript classes for types defined in XSD schemas and vice versa. The tool will also perform a number of other XML related conversions that come handy during development work. Table C.1 lists the different options and their invocation syntax.

An exploration of XML in database management systems
There is a dichotomy in how XML is used in industry. On one hand there is the document-centric model the other primary usage of XML is in a data-centric model. In both models where XML is used, it is sometimes necessary to store the XML in some sort of repository or database that allows for more sophisticated storage and retrieval of the data especially if the XML is to be accessed by multiple users. This article provides a description of storage options based on what model of XML usage is required.

Getting Started with XML Schemas
In particular this chapter will cover: The aims behind the W3C XML Schema specification; How to create a simple XML Schema; How to declare elements and attributes; How to use some of the built-in simple datatypes: string, integer and date; How to validate an XML document against a schema. This chapter will serve simply as a starting point for you. There are lots of other topics that you need to understand in order to take full advantage of XML Schemas, and as we go through the chapters of this book, you will be building up your experience and writing increasingly complex schemas.

RDF Schemas
In the previous chapter we presented the idea of RDF as a model for meta data, alongside RDF/XML as a syntax which could be used to transport this model. This allowed us to represent name/value pairs of information and assign them to a resource or URI. We concluded that RDF/XML was an important standard for conveying this type of information. But we may want to check more than just the validity of the value - we may also want to restrict where certain properties can be applied. It is probably meaningless to allow a birthday property to be applied to a piece of music, for example. The key to achieving these things is the RDF Schema specification. While the RDF Model and Syntax specification sets down how XML documents can be constructed to convey RDF, the RDF Schema document defines how we can be sure that the structure of some RDF/XML document or other conveys the correct meaning.

Intentional Schema Based Programming
Intentional Programming is a programming system that brings the power of the computer to bear on the development of software. That is, Intentional Programming has the promise to bring Moore's Law to the software industry. This session illustrates Intentional Programming with an implementation of Schema Based Programming, something called Intentional XML

W3C XML Schemas: Rules for Documents and Data
XML provides a syntactical foundation for creating labeled document structures in all kinds of styles and flavors. XML 1.0 came with a set of tools for describing those structures, Document Type Definitions (DTDs), but that set of tools both used its own syntax and didn't address the needs of data-centric fields into which XML quickly advanced. A new proposal, for XML Schemas, promises to use XML syntax, more precise data typing, and a mostly-object-oriented approach to describing structured types.

What Is XML and Why Should I Care?
A lot has been written about XML, the Extensible Markup Language, but much of it contains misinformation and hype, and relatively few developers actually understand the core concepts of this family of standards. In this presentation I walk through the key components, explaining each one and showing how they are relevant to us as developers and information application designers. By the end of the session, participants will have a basic understanding of the key standards - XML, XSL, XML Schema, DOM, SAX, Namespaces, XLink - and their related technologies, and will know how these standards are used in the different categories of XML applications that are being developed t

Schema Tricks and Techniques
Schemas are significant not only in defining XML structures but also in providing data type capabilities to XML, adding a measure of object oriented programming support, and giving an infrastructure that can be used to support internationalization and personalization of presentation.

Version Forward
We all know about versioning our applications, but how do we version our data? That's one of the supposed benefits of Schemas - forward versioning!

XML and SQL Server 2000 Integration
Covering the new XML support added to SQL Server 2000. In particular, you will learn about XML recordsets, URL-based queries, XML views/schemas, and how the addition of XSLT transformations can greatly simplify the delivery of XML data to disparate targets.

Schema based programming (AKA XML for the Criminally Insane)
Schema based programming is a very new (and untested) approach to programming. This session explores the synergy of joining the old and the new through an application (SBPNews) built with the Model-View-Controller framework and implemented with schema based programming techniques.

BizTalk Concepts & Architecture
Find out the meaning of words like: Orchestration, Schema, BizTags, BizTalk message, Envelope and XLang.

Using XML Technologies to Build eBusiness Applications
XML technologies are changing the entire architecture of business application development. This session covers Microsoft's XML strategy and current and future products that can be used to address your development challenges. Presenters show a tangible business application that uses MSXML (DOM, Schema, XSLT), SOAP SDK, BizTalk and SQL Server XML features. The goal for this session is to provide you with a clear road map of where and how Microsoft XML technologies can help your development efforts.

Choose a schema

Mark investigates why someone should choose a schema vs a DTD