Question

What is the difference between an xs:group and an xs:sequence in XML Schema? When would you use one or the other?

Answer 1

xs:sequence – together with xs:choice and xs:all – is used to define the valid sequences of XML element in the target XML. E.g. the schema for this XML:

<mainElement>
  <firstSubElement/>
  <subElementA/>
  <subElementB/>
</mainElement>

is something like:

<xs:element name='mainElement'>
  <xs:complexType>
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="firstSubElement"/>
      <xs:element name="subElementA"/>
      <xs:element name="subElementB"/>
    </xs:sequence>
  </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>

xs:group is used to define a named group of XML element following certain rules that can then be referenced in different parts of the schema. For example if the XML is:

<root>

  <mainElementA>
    <firstSubElement/>
    <subElementA/>
    <subElementB/>
  </mainElementA>

  <mainElementB>
    <otherSubElement/>
    <subElementA/>
    <subElementB/>
  </mainElementB>

</root>

you can define a group for the common sub-elements:

<xs:group name="subElements">
  <xs:sequence>
    <xs:element name="subElementA"/>
    <xs:element name="subElementB"/>
  </xs:sequence>
</xs:group>

and then use it:

  <xs:element name="mainElementA">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="firstSubElement"/>
        <xs:group ref="subElements"/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

  <xs:element name="mainElementB">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="otherSubElement"/>
        <xs:group ref="subElements"/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>