XML in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Built-in Types

The W3C XML Schema Language provides 44 built-in simple types for text strings. Each type has a value space and a lexical space. The value space is the set of unique meanings for the type, which may or may not be text. In some sense, the value space is composed of Platonic forms. The lexical space is the set of text strings that correspond to particular points in the value space. For example, the xs:boolean type has the value space true and false. However, its lexical space contains four strings: true, false, 0, and 1. true and 1 both map to the same value true, while false and 0 map to the single value false. In cases like this where multiple strings in the lexical space map to a single value, then one of those strings is selected as the canonical lexical representation. For instance, the canonical lexical representations of true and false are the strings true and false.

The primitive types are organized in a hierarchy. All simple types descend from an abstract ur-type called xs:anySimpleType , which is itself a descendant of an abstract ur-type called xs:anyType that includes both simple and complex types. Simple types are derived from other simple types by union, restriction, or listing. For example, the xs:nonNegativeInteger type is derived from the xs:integer type by setting its minInclusive facet to 0. The xs:integer type is derived from the xs:decimal type by setting its fractionDigits facet to 0. Figure 22-1 diagrams the complete hierarchy of built-in types. ...