XSLT, 2nd Edition

Creating an Element with Text and Attributes

Now we’ll create an element that has both text and attributes. Remember, in order to create attributes, we have to create an <xs:complexType>, so we have to create a new type based on xs:string. Here’s how we do that:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- content2.xsd -->
<xs:schema 
  xmlns="http://www.oreilly.com/xslt"
  targetNamespace="http://www.oreilly.com/xslt"
  xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

  <xs:element name="content2">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:simpleContent>
        <xs:extension base="xs:string">
          <xs:attribute name="color” type="xs:string"/>
        </xs:extension>
      </xs:simpleContent>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

</xs:schema>

Our new element is a complex type, but it uses what XML Schema refers to as simple content. In other words, this element is an extension of a simple type, xs:string. The extension to the simple type is that we’re adding an attribute. Here’s how our document looks now:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- content2.xml -->
<content2
  xmlns="http://www.oreilly.com/xslt"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.oreilly.com/xslt content2.xsd"
  color="blue">
Our element now contains some text!  It's getting more useful 
all the time.
</content2>