XML Schema composite types – mixed content
XSD Mixed content
Mixed composite types can contain attributes, elements, and text.
Composite type with mixed content
The XML element, "letter", contains text and other elements:
<letter>
Dear Mr.<name>John Smith</name>.
Your order <orderid>1032</orderid>
will be shipped on <shipdate>2001-07-13</shipdate>.
</letter>
Dear Mr.<name>John Smith</name>.
Your order <orderid>1032</orderid>
will be shipped on <shipdate>2001-07-13</shipdate>.
</letter>
The following schema declares the "letter" element:
<xs:element name="letter">
<xs:complexType mixed="true">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="orderid" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
<xs:element name="shipdate" type="xs:date"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:complexType mixed="true">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="orderid" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
<xs:element name="shipdate" type="xs:date"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
Note: In order to allow character data to appear between the child elements of "letter", The mixed attribute must be set to "true". The <xs:sequence> tags (name, orderid, and shipdate) mean that the defined elements must appear sequentially inside the "letter" element.
We can also give the complexType element a name and let the type attribute of the "letter" element refer to the name of complexType (in this way, several elements can refer to the same composite type):
<xs:element name="letter" type="lettertype"/>
<xs:complexType name="lettertype" mixed="true">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="orderid" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
<xs:element name="shipdate" type="xs:date"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="lettertype" mixed="true">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="orderid" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
<xs:element name="shipdate" type="xs:date"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
