XML Schema

Design Patterns

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Popular XML Schema Design
Patterns
 Russian Doll
 Salami Slice
 Venetian Blind
 Garden of Eden

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Popular XML Schema Design
Patterns
 The patterns vary according to the
number of their global elements or
types.
 You can conveniently classify the four
most common patterns according to
two criteria, namely:
 Ease of use for instance developers
 Ease of reuse for schema developers

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Russian Doll

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Russian Doll

 The Russian Doll design contains only

one single global element.
 All the other elements are local.
 You nest element declarations within a
single global declaration

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Example: Russian Doll
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://schemas.sun.com/point/russiandoll"
xmlns:tns="http://schemas.sun.com/point/russiandoll"
elementFormDefault="qualified">

<xsd:element name="Line"> Global element

<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="PointA">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:attribute name="x" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:attribute name="y" type="xsd:integer"/>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
<xsd:element name="PointB">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:attribute name="x" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:attribute name="y" type="xsd:integer"/>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:schema> 6
Advantages & Disadvantages

 Advantages
 Contains only one valid root element.
 Could reduce the complexity of
namespace
 Easy to use from instance developer's
point of view
 Disadvantages
 Reuse of elements is limited – not easy to
use from schema developer's point of
view
 Supports single-file schema only
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Usage

 Russian Doll is the simplest and

easiest pattern to use by instance
developers.
 However, if its elements or types are
intended for reuse, Russian Doll is not
suitable for schema developers.

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Salami Slide

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Salami Slice

 All the elements in the Salami Slice

design are global.
 No nesting of element declarations is
required and you can reuse the
declarations throughout the schema.
 You must define all the elements within
the global namespace.

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Example: Salami Slide
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://schemas.sun.com/point/salami"
xmlns:tns="http://schemas.sun.com/point/salami"
xmlns="http://schemas.sun.com/point/salami"
elementFormDefault="qualified">

<xsd:element name="PointA"> Global elements

<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:attribute name="x" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:attribute name="y" type="xsd:integer"/>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>

<xsd:element name="PointB">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:attribute name="x" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:attribute name="y" type="xsd:integer"/>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>

<xsd:element name="Line">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element ref="PointA"/>
<xsd:element ref="PointB"/>
</xsd:sequence> 11
Advantages & Disadvantages

 Advantages
 Contains all reusable elements.
 Supports reuse of elements from other
documents.
 Disadvantages
 Exposes the complexity in namespace.

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Venetian Blind

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Venetian Blind

 The Venetian Blind design contains only

one global element.
 All the other elements are local.
 You nest element declarations within a
single global declaration by means of
named complex types and element
groups.
 You can reuse those types and groups
throughout the schema and must define
only the root element within the global
namespace.
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Example: Venetian Blind
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://schemas.sun.com/point/venetianblind"
xmlns:tns="http://schemas.sun.com/point/venetianblind"
xmlns="http://schemas.sun.com/point/venetianblind"
elementFormDefault="qualified">

<xsd:complexType name="PointType">
<xsd:attribute name="x" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:attribute name="y" type="xsd:integer"/>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:element name="Line"> Global element

<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="PointA" type="PointType"/>
<xsd:element name="PointB" type="PointType"/>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:schema>

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Advantages & Disadvantages

 Advantages
 Contains only one single root element.
 Allows reuse for all the types and the
single global element.
 Allows multiple files

 Disadvantages
 Limits encapsulation by exposing types.

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Usage

 Because it has only one single root

element and all its types are reusable,
Venetian Blind is suitable for use by
both instance developers and schema
developers.
 Venetian Blind is considered as an
extension of Russian Doll, in which all the
types are defined globally.

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Garden of Eden

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Garden of Eden

 The Garden of Eden design is a

combination of Venetian Blind and
Salami Slice.
 You define all the elements and types
in the global namespace and refer to
the elements as required.

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Example: Garden of Eden
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://schemas.sun.com/point/gardenofeden"
xmlns="http://schemas.sun.com/point/gardenofeden"
elementFormDefault="qualified">

<xsd:complexType name="PointType">
<xsd:attribute name="x" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:attribute name="y" type="xsd:integer"/>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:complexType name="LineType">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element ref="PointA"/>
<xsd:element ref="PointB"/>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
Global elements
<xsd:element name="PointA" type="PointType"/>

<xsd:element name="PointB" type="PointType"/>

<xsd:element name="Line" type="LineType"/>

</xsd:schema>
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Advantages & Disadvantages

 Advantages
 Allows reuse of both elements and types.
 Allows multiple files.

 Disadvantages
 Contains many potential root elements.
 Limits encapsulation by exposing types.
 Is difficult to read and understand.

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NetBeans Support
on XML Schema
Design Patterns

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NetBeans XML Schema Design
Support
 Lets you choose a design pattern by
letting you choose
 Scheme of Creating global element
 Scheme of Creating type

 Creating global element

 Create a single global element
 Create Multiple global elements

 Creating type
 Create Type(s)
 Do not Create Type(s)
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NetBeans XML Schema Design
Support

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 XML Schema
Design Patterns

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