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XML Schema any Element

< Complete XML Schema Reference

Definition and Usage

The any element enables the author to extend the XML document with elements not specified by the schema.

Element Information

  • Parent elements: choice, sequence

Syntax

<any
id=ID
maxOccurs=nonNegativeInteger|unbounded
minOccurs=nonNegativeInteger
namespace=namespace
processContents=lax|skip|strict
any attributes
>

(annotation?)

</any>

(The ? sign declares that the element can occur zero or one time inside the any element)

Attribute Description
id Optional. Specifies a unique ID for the element
maxOccurs Optional. Specifies the maximum number of times the any element can occur in the parent element. The value can be any number >= 0, or if you want to set no limit on the maximum number, use the value "unbounded". Default value is 1
minOccurs Optional. Specifies the minimum number of times the any element can occur in the parent element. The value can be any number >= 0. Default value is 1
namespace Optional. Specifies the namespaces containing the elements that can be used. Can be set to one of the following:
  • ##any - elements from any namespace is allowed (this is default)
  • ##other - elements from any namespace that is not the namespace of the parent element can be present
  • ##local - elements must come from no namespace
  • ##targetNamespace - elements from the namespace of the parent element can be present
  • List of {URI references of namespaces, ##targetNamespace, ##local} - elements from a space-delimited list of the namespaces can be present
processContents Optional. Specifies how the XML processor should handle validation against the elements specified by this any element. Can be set to one of the following:
  • strict - the XML processor must obtain the schema for the required namespaces and validate the elements (this is default)
  • lax - same as strict but; if the schema cannot be obtained, no errors will occur
  • skip - The XML processor does not attempt to validate any elements from the specified namespaces
any attributes Optional. Specifies any other attributes with non-schema namespace

Example 1

The following example shows a declaration for an element called "person". By using the <any> element the author can extend (after <lastname>) the content of "person" with any element:

<xs:element name="person">
  <xs:complexType>
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="firstname" type="xs:string"/>
      <xs:element name="lastname" type="xs:string"/>
      <xs:any minOccurs="0"/>
    </xs:sequence>
  </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
< Complete XML Schema Reference