Validation Overview

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A schema defines the structure of XML documents. It provides details about the content model: which elements it contains and in what order, what its content can be, and which content these attributes can contain.

A schema verifies that the incoming XML documents are in the expected format.

An XML schema can be used to:

  • Validate the content of an XML document.

  • Determine whether the XML document is a valid instance of the vocabulary (grammar or rules) expressed by the XML schema.

  • Describe the vocabulary for use by others creating XML documents.

  • Define the elements that can appear within an XML document and the attributes that can be associated with an element.

  • Define whether an element is empty or can include text.

  • Define a default value for an attribute.

  • Define elements that can contain child elements.

  • Define the sequence for child elements that appear in an element.

  • Define the number of child elements.