XML Schema (W3C)

XML Schema (W3C)
Filename extension
.xsd
Internet media type
application/xml, text/xml
Developed byWorld Wide Web Consortium
Type of formatXML Schema language
Extended fromXML
Standard1.0, Part 1 Structures (Recommendation),

1.0, Part 2 Datatypes (Recommendation),
1.1, Part 1 Structures (Recommendation),

1.1, Part 2 Datatypes (Recommendation)

XSD (XML Schema Definition), a recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), specifies how to formally describe the elements in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. It can be used by programmers to verify each piece of item content in a document, to assure it adheres to the description of the element it is placed in.[1]

Like all XML schema languages, XSD can be used to express a set of rules to which an XML document must conform to be considered "valid" according to that schema. However, unlike most other schema languages, XSD was also designed with the intent that determination of a document's validity would produce a collection of information adhering to specific data types. Such a post-validation infoset can be useful in the development of XML document processing software.

  1. ^ "Definition XSD (XML Schema Definition)" TechTarget, retrieved 10 June 2014