Question

I was wondering if mixing “referecened” and “inline” types is allowed in XSD, e.g.:

<schema>
  <element name="library" type="departments">
    <complexType>
      <sequence>
        <element name="department_name" type="string"/>
      </sequence>
    </complexType>
  </element>
  <complexType name="departements">
    <sequence>
      <element name="department_name" type="string"/>
    </sequence>
  </complexType>
</schema>

If yes, how do I we distinguish between departement_names? Do one of them take precedence over the other? TIA!

Answer 1

When you run this XSD file over XML with validation, you will get an error, as your declaration conflicts with 3.3.3 Constraints on XML Representations of Element Declarations, point 3.