Are there any Code Generators that would take a well-formed XML document, and write out an XSD schema based on how the XML document is structured?
+7
A:
The XSD.exe utility (which is installed with Visual Studio) is capable of creating an XSD file from an XML file.
Here's the link on MSDN
I believe it may also part of the .NET SDK, meaning you would not need a full-blown Visual Studio installation.
Rich
2008-11-13 20:59:01
I'm trying to find the file on my harddrive. Where's the darned thing located?
George Stocker
2008-11-13 21:36:04
if you open a vs command prompt, just type xsd
Chris
2008-11-13 21:40:04
Ah. I was looking for the physical .exe file. Silly me. I finally found it in %Program Files%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\bin
George Stocker
2008-11-13 21:59:32
Weird, I didnt know xsd could do inference too :) Thanks!
leppie
2008-11-14 04:53:48
+6
A:
Visual Studio does it pretty well too... Open XML file.. Choose 'Generate Schema' Command from XML menu
Vyas Bharghava
2008-11-13 21:52:23
This command may be running the XSD tool behind the scenes... Unfortuantely, I had to move to a different machine and do not have VS.Net installed yet to verify this.
Vyas Bharghava
2008-11-13 21:54:25
I doubt it's the same tool, the ouput XSD inferred from the same XML file was quite different - and the Visual Studio version looked more correct !
joedotnot
2010-03-17 05:39:27
It definitely does run xsd.exe. You may get different results due to the various parameters you can provide to it.
boomhauer
2010-07-01 21:20:35
+1
A:
I am a little late to the part, but I find that http://www.bware.biz/DotNet/Tools/CodeXS/WebClient/GenerateInput.aspx">Businessware Architects CodeXS is very good. I have found that it handles complex schema's much better.
Bob
2008-12-09 20:20:23
+1
A:
I'm note sure it is useful. After all, it cannot infer everything: if an element is present in the XML document, how to know if it is mandatory or not?
Examplotron, to achieve a similar goal, relies, at least partly, on annotations.
bortzmeyer
2008-12-10 11:11:44
+5
A:
Best Answer, bar none:
I pulled my hair out for a full 8 hr work day, got nowhere with all the crappy solutions out there (XSD, CodeXS, XSDObjectGen, and others) and am not interested in paying $400 for the stupid commercial tools just to do this.
Then I came across this codeplex project... WOW! Where was this all my life?
And the best part... its actively being worked on, right NOW (2009), not an abaondoned crust pile from 2004 or some lame thing.
Enjoy!
The ongoing dev *is* nice. It has gone from unuseable (for me) a few bug reports and feature requests and now it's perfect for what I need.
boomhauer
2010-07-01 21:22:14