What is XML Schema

What is XML Schema: A brief introduction-
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An XML schema defines the structure of an XML document by setting constraints on the data types of elements and attributes in the document. XML documents can be validated against the XML schema to ensure they conform to the constraints defined in the schema. There are several schema languages that define the grammar for an XML document, for instance, Document-Type Definition (DTD) language, and XML Schema language. Of these languages, because of its extensive support for data types and namespaces, XML Schema is becoming the most widely used schema language;


XML documents are increasingly being used as a format of data exchange. But for an XML document to be acceptable to different developers/users, the XML document should conform to a standard structure. XML Schema is an XML-based representation of the structure of an XML document. Through its support for datatypes and namespaces, XML Schema has the potential to provide the standard structure for XML elements and attributes. However, to check if an XML document conforms to an XML Schema, the document must be validated against that XML Schema.

Three procedure for performing that validation using parsers for the

1.Simple API for XML (SAX)
2.Document Object Model (DOM)
3.An XML Schema Design (XSD) validator.