Question

I have this XSD element defined:

<xsd:element name="CU_FIRST_NAME">
    <xsd:annotation>
        <xsd:documentation>
            The first name of the customer that is getting billed for the order
        </xsd:documentation>
    </xsd:annotation>
    <xsd:simpleType>
        <xsd:restriction base="xsd:string">
            <xsd:maxLength value="50"/>
        </xsd:restriction>
    </xsd:simpleType>
</xsd:element>

I know this could be replaced by a single element, but I have a more complex element (a sequence) that I need to make optional.

Is there a way to make a first-child (i.e. just below <xsd:schema> in the hierarchy) element optional?

To be clear, I’d like to make the entire CU_FIRST_NAME node, along with all of its children, optional.

Answer 1

I ended up realizing that the element I was using was actually a ref within a higher level object.

The way I solved this was thus:

Original code:

<xsd:element ref="CU_FIRST_NAME"/>

New code:

<xsd:element ref="CU_FIRST_NAME" minOccurs="0"/>

So, really I was asking the wrong question.