Question

Let’s say I have an XML element like this, and I’m trying to write the XSD for this element:

<foo name="bar">
    ...
</foo>

The rules for this element are:

• Its name is “foo”
• It has an attribute with name “bar”
• Its “bar” attribute value is a string
• It must have one or more children

This XSD encapsulate all of the rules except the last:

How do I specify the last rule—that the element must have children?

Answer 1

Use the <xs:any> element to allow any elements as child content.

Example code to match your rules:

<xs:schema elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <xs:element name="foo">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:any minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
      </xs:sequence>
      <xs:attribute name="bar" type="xs:string" />
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

You can control the allowed elements and the validation of foo’s children by using namespace and processContents attributes with that <xs:any> element.