XML Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition

Name

rng:attribute — Matches an attribute

XML syntax example

<element name="date">
 <attribute name="year"/>
 <attribute name="month"/>
 <attribute name="day"/>
</element>

Compact syntax example

element date {
 attribute year { text },
 attribute month { text },
 attribute day { text }
}

Attributes

name

An attribute name. If this name has a prefix, the namespace of the attribute is the namespace bound to that schema; if not, the attribute is in no namespace.

Parents

attribute, choice (( ) and |), define (name of pattern followed by =), element, except (-), group (( ) and ,), interleave (&), list, mixed, oneOrMore (+), optional (?), start (start followed by =), zeroOrMore (*)

Description

The attribute pattern matches an attribute in an instance. If an attribute element is empty, it is assumed to contain a text pattern, so the following attribute patterns are equivalent:

<attribute name="greeting" />

<attribute name="greeting"><text/></attribute>

The name attribute is not required; you can specify a name with the name child element, or a name class with an anyName, an nsName, or a choice child element. In other words, instead of this:

<attribute name="date"/>

You could use this:

<attribute>
 <name>date</name>
</attribute>

However, you cannot use the name attribute and a name child element at the same time; they are mutually exclusive. There is no distinction between the name attribute and a name child element in the compact syntax.

See also

§3, element, name