Use two schemas in one xml

Question

Hi! I have the following xsd files:

SchemaA

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://schemaA"
           elementFormDefault="qualified"
           xmlns="http://schemaA"
           xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"&gt;
 <xs:element name="Configuration">
  <xs:complexType>
            <xs:all>
                <xs:element name="StationNumber" type="xs:int">
                </xs:element>
            </xs:all>
  </xs:complexType>
 </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

SchemaB

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://schemaB"
           elementFormDefault="qualified"
           xmlns="http://schemaB" 
           xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"&gt;
    <xs:attribute name="Name" type="xs:string" />
</xs:schema>

I'm trying to reference them and use them from the following XML:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Configuration xmlns="http://schemaA"
               xmlns:ba="http://schemaB"&gt;
    <StationNumber ba:Name="aaa">1</StationNumber>
</Configuration>

Visual Studio 2008 underlines ba:Name as error with the description: The 'http://schemaB%3AName' attribute is not declared.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

It needs to be able to find the XSD from the namespace and that's what it's complaining about. You can use the schemaLocation in your instance document to declare this.

Answer 2

If element StationNumber doesn't contain an attribute in the schemaA, then <StationNumber ba:Name="...">...</StationNumber> is not valid.

Solution 1: embedd schemaB in schemaA and correctly define the attribute

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://schemaA"
           elementFormDefault="qualified"
           xmlns="http://schemaA"
           xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"&gt;
 <xs:element name="Configuration">
  <xs:complexType>
            <xs:all>
                <xs:element name="StationNumber">
                    <xs:complexType>
                        <xs:simpleContent>
                            <xs:extension base="xs:int">
                                <xs:attribute name="Name" type="xs:string"/>
                            </xs:extension>
                        </xs:simpleContent>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>
            </xs:all>
  </xs:complexType>
 </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

Then the following XML would then be validated by NetBeans:

   <ns2:Configuration  xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'
       xmlns:ns2='http://schemaA'
       xsi:schemaLocation='http://schemaA file:/.../src/schemaA.xsd
       http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/schemaB file:/.../schemaB.xsd'>
              <ns2:StationNumber Name="aaa">1</ns2:StationNumber>
    </ns2:Configuration>

Solution 2: You can still have a separate schemaB to define the attribute, but you will need to import it into schemaA with ref:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://schemaA"
           elementFormDefault="qualified"
           xmlns="http://schemaA"
           xmlns:ba='http://schemaB'
           xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"&gt;

                <xs:import namespace="http://schemaB"
                 schemaLocation="schemaB.xsd"/>

 <xs:element name="Configuration">
  <xs:complexType>
            <xs:all>
                <xs:element name="StationNumber">
                    <xs:complexType>
                        <xs:simpleContent>
                            <xs:extension base="xs:int">
                                 <xs:attribute ref="ba:Name"/>
                            </xs:extension>
                        </xs:simpleContent>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>
            </xs:all>
  </xs:complexType>
 </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

Then the XML looks like this:

<ns1:Configuration  xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'
   xmlns:ns1='http://schemaA'
   xmlns:ba='http://schemaB'
   xsi:schemaLocation='http://schemaA file:/.../schemaA.xsd'>
    <ns1:StationNumber ba:Name="aaa"  >1</ns1:StationNumber>
</ns1:Configuration>

Answer 3

This is not a two schema problem, your schemas do not match your document content. The attribute Name is not listed as one of the possible attributes on Configuration.

Just because you declare a global attribute, it does not mean you can use it wherever you want. You will either have to import one schema into the other, and specify that the attribute can occur in Configuration, as in the first answer given by ewernli above.

Or you permit any attribute from the second namespace to occur in the first schema, e.g.:

<xs:element name="Configuration">
  <xs:complexType>
    <xs:all>
        <xs:element name="StationNumber" type="xs:int"/>
    </xs:all>
    <xs:anyAttribute namespace="http://schemaB"/&gt;
  </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>

CHANGED: following the comment from ewernli below, which correctly points out that this has the additional problem that StationNumber is of a simple type. If you want to prepare the type to take attributes, you need to force it to complex:

<xs:element name="Configuration">
  <xs:complexType>
    <xs:all>
      <xs:element name="StationNumber">
        <xs:complexType>
          <xs:simpleContent>
            <xs:extension base="xs:int"/>
          </xs:simpleContent>
        </xs:complexType>
      </xs:element>
    </xs:all>
    <xs:anyAttribute namespace="http://schemaB"/&gt;
  </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>

Now you can attach the attribute as described above.