XML
Schema Posted as a Candidate Recommendation
On October 24, W3C announced the designation of
XML Schema as a Candidate Recommendation. Candidate Recommendation is W3C's public call for implementation, an
explicit invitation for W3C members and the developer community at large to
review and use the specification.
XML Schemas define markup vocabularies and allow
machines to carry out rules made by people who share these vocabularies.
XML
Schemas enable us to define the structure, content and semantics of XML documents.
By promoting XML Schema as a Candidate Recommendation, W3C is clearly declaring
that XML Schema is ready for implementors. All three parts of the XML
Schema specification were promoted:
According to the W3C, XML Schema introduces new levels of flexibility.
XML Schema enables author to easily build a schema that borrows from a previous schema, but overrides it
where new unique features are needed. This principle of inheritance is
lacking from the current XML DTD specification language. Instead XML
Schema is
similar to the behavior of Cascading Style Sheets, and allows the user to
develop XML Schemas that best suit their needs, without requiring them to
build an entirely
new vocabulary each time.
Other areas where XML Schema adds
flexibility include:
- Ability
to specify which part of the document you would like
to have validated
- Ability
to specify regions in a document where the schema may apply,
or subsections where this would
- Ability
to give someone the option to use either the schema pointer
provided in a document, or override it with your own
version, providing fidelity and assurance in eCommerce
transactions
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