Introduction to XML Schemas
A document structure can be defined, and then documents or messages checked against the defined format. Companies that share the same XML document formats can exchange documents and messages over the Internet.
HOPEX UMLenables users to reverse engineer, specify, and generate XML schemas.
HOPEX provides two methods for building XML schemas. The user can work:
• in the XML editor, where the standard XML concepts are found.
• in the diagram editor, where the user can model XML schemas using concepts from the UML standard. The advantage of using UML is that it offers concepts such as inheritance or associations, which are useful when modeling XML schemas.
Whatever the method, it is the user who specifies the XML schemas that can be generated in format XSD (eXtensible Schema Definition).
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XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. This is a language for describing and exchanging structured documents. The first version of XML was adopted by the W3C in January 1998. Users can add new tags to XML. This is why the language is said to be extensible. The ability to add extensions to the language is the key feature of XML.