XML Schema

Name

xs:attribute(global definition) — Global attribute definition that can be referenced within the same schema by other schemas.

Synopsis

<xs:attribute
           default        = xs:string
           fixed          = xs:string
           id             = xs:ID
           name           = xs:NCName
           type           = xs:QName
           {any attributes with non-schema namespace}
           >
           Content: (xs:annotation?, xs:simpleType?)
</xs:attribute>

May be included in: xs:schema

Description

All the attributes defined at the top level of a schema (i.e., xs:attribute, which is included directly under the xs:schema document element) are considered globally defined.

Globally defined attributes have a global scope: they can be referenced through their qualified name everywhere in the schema in which they are defined as well as in any schema that imports or includes this schema.

Attributes are identified by their qualified name, but the local name is expected in the name attribute.

The definition is done by assigning a simple datatype to the element. This assignment can be done either by reference, using the type attribute to refer to a simple datatype by its qualified name, or “inline,” by embedding the definition of the simple type (xs:simpleType element) within the xs:attribute element.

Restrictions

When a target namespace is defined, global attributes must be defined as qualified, i.e., they must be prefixed in the instance documents. Since most of the XML vocabularies do not prefix attributes except when they are “foreign attributes” immersed in elements from other namespaces, this means that global ...