CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xmlxsdxml-validation
diZzyCoDeR
diZzyCoDeR

Reputation: 13

XSD: random order of same-named <elements> with different types = IMPOSSIBLE

Searched and experimented, researched and racked my brain about this (dreamt about it last night).

Trying to build an XSD schema to validate the following example XML based on constraints of the tag depending on the value of the tag.

<data>
  <dataSet>
    <title>mediaType</title>
    <value>FullLength</value>
  </dataSet>
  <dataSet>
    <title>available</title>
    <value>true</value>
  </dataSet>
  <dataSet>
    <title>country</title>
    <value>Canada</value>
  </dataSet>
</data>

the schema regarding constraints on the individual dataSet 's

<xs:complexType name="typeAvailable">
    <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="title">
            <xs:simpleType>
                <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                    <xs:pattern value="available" />
                </xs:restriction>
            </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
        <xs:element name="value">
            <xs:simpleType>
                <xs:restriction base="xs:boolean" />
            </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
    </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>

<xs:complexType name="typeMediaType">
    <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="title">
            <xs:simpleType>
                <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                    <xs:pattern value="mediaType" />
                </xs:restriction>
            </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
        <xs:element name="value">
            <xs:simpleType>
                <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                    <xs:pattern value="FullLength|Clip" />
                </xs:restriction>
            </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
    </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>

<xs:complexType name="typeCountry">
    <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="title">
            <xs:simpleType>
                <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                    <xs:pattern value="typeCountry" />
                </xs:restriction>
            </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
        <xs:element name="value">
            <xs:simpleType>
                <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                    <xs:pattern value="Canada|US" />
                </xs:restriction>
            </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
    </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>

The best I could come up with doesn't validate when the dataSet 's are out of order (which they will be)

<xs:complexType name="typeData">
    <xs:all>
        <xs:element name="dataSet" type="typeMediaType" />
        <xs:element name="dataSet" type="typeAvailable" />
        <xs:element name="dataSet" type="typeCountry" />
    </xs:all>
</xs:complexType>

Of course, I'm stuck with the data that I get, but nothing says I can't transform it with XSLT -- into what, I don't know. I was hoping for an elegant XSD solution, alas, I fear this is impossible.

Anyone can prove me wrong? This is my first schema project in quite a long time.

UPDATE

You know what, I think I'm going to validate the structure of it, read the <data> portion w/ LINQ and transform it via XSLT to

<data>
    <mediaType>FullLength</mediaType>
    <available>true</available>
    <country>Canada</country>
</data>

It probably behooves me to do this anyway, as working w/ the data after validation was going to be janky with it in <title><value> pairs any how.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 391

Answers (2)

xan
xan

Reputation: 7731

Same-named elements with different types is disallowed by the Element Declarations Consistent constraint.

Upvotes: 0

lexicore
lexicore

Reputation: 43709

"Conditional" constraints are not possible with XML Schema. There are few tricks with keys, but they are very limited. Consider using Schematron, it has much richer validation capablities.

Generally, XML Schema is more about structure and typing, its constraining capabilities are very limited.

Upvotes: 1

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