Some programming languages, such as Perl, include a regular expression language, which defines a pattern against which a series of characters can be compared. Typically, this feature is used to search for fragments of a text document, but the XML Schema language has co-opted it for sophisticated validation of element content and attribute values. Neil Bradley explains.

Go beyond Visual Studio’s graphical tools to bring increased power and flexibility to your data layer. Learn how to modify your XML Schema and live in peace with your DBA.

Learn the difference between typed datasets and classes generated by the xsd.exe tool, as well as how to extend this code generation process by reusing the infrastructure classes supporting it, while remaining compatible with the XmlSerializer.

In the April 2002 issue I covered the basics of XML Schema, including how you define elements, attributes, complex types, and how to use the built-in data types. In this month's column I'll introduce the more powerful features of the language, which are related to defining custom types and type hierarchies.

Of all the XML technologies, XML Schema is most valuable to software developers because it finally makes it possible to add type information to XML documents. This column is the first in a two-part series that will cover the basics of XML Schema.

A counterpoint to Kohsuke Kawaguchi's article on guidelines for working with W3C XML Schema that revisits each of his original guidelines and offers agreement, disagreement, or clarification of each major point. Provides additional guidelines for what you should and should not do when working with W3C XML Schema.

Make no mistake, XML-RPC has its flaws, but this function invocation protocol is also well-suited to a variety of tasks. Here, columnist David Mertz examines XML-RPC as a way of modeling object data, and -- in response to reader feedback -- compares XML-RPC as a means of serializing objects with the xml_pickle module discussed in his earlier columns. Code samples illustrate this comparison in detail.

Dare Obasanjo discusses various aspects of W3C XML Schema and how they are affected by namespaces. Topics covered include proper usage of the targetNamespace, elementFormDefault and attributeFormDefault attributes, as well as the include, import, and redefine elements within a schema.

The XML developer who needs to validate documents as part of application flow may choose to begin by writing W3C XML Schema for those documents. This is natural enough, but W3C XML Schema is only one part of the validation story. In this article, we will discover a multiple-stage validation process that begins with schema validation, but also uses XPath and XSLT to assert constraints on document content that are too complex or otherwise inappropriate for W3C XML Schema.

Validate XML with XML schema.