XML Schemas provide rigorous definitions of the permitted structure rules for any particular XML document type. Schemas (often known simply as XSD) can be published on the web for use by any authoring or processing applications that operate on the document types. They can facilitate and formalise the specification and implementation of data interchange.
Schemas can be used:
Our guidelines for all XML applications are very simple: locate or develop good schemas and employ them to:
The checking can be accomplished by passing the document through a validating parser (of which there are now many) which has access to the schema definition. It's that simple!
Schemas are a valuable aid for developers, who often work with test data prepared by hand using text editors, or received from sources that are themselves under development and possibly not fully conforming. They can also be used as sources for design of tests and preparation of test data.
As well as their use at runtime, schemas provide a framework for developers and other stakeholders to specify and agree functional performance for XML application developments. They are modular, so that if published schema exist for parts but not all of the document content, they can be used as subcomponents to define the rules for those aspects only.
Our advice is to adopt an agreed schema before or as the first stage of any XML authoring project. Schemas may already exist for your application - for example an industry group may have published schemas for the XML file formats to be used for data interchange within the industry community. If there are no existing definitions that can be used, we recommend to complete the process of data analysis, document design and schema development before proceeding further.
We do take our own advice: we make schema usage mandatory for our authoring projects. As well as facilitating the project by providing rigorous definitions that are available to all participants, schemas effectively set functional limits and expectations and can provide a framework for performance guarantees. We will warrant that our authoring solutions and other work will conform to the agreed schemas.
SMH Systems can provide the schemas for your XML projects:
Recognising that with the emergence of XML, industry standards for interchange document formats are continually being announced, developed and refined, our design and schema development work includes review of available existing practices and assessment of their relevance to the client's situation.
Additional capabilities: