XML Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition

Name

rng:define — Defines a named pattern

XML syntax example

<grammar xmlns="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0">

<start>
 <ref name="greeting"/>
</start>

<define name="greeting">
 <choice>
  <element name="hello"><text/></element>
  <element name="hi"><text/></element>
  <element name="wazzup"><text/></element>
 </choice>
</define>

</grammar>

Compact syntax example

start = greeting
greeting = element hello { text }
 | element hi { text }
 | element wazzup { text }

Attributes

combine (|= for choice, &= for interleave)

Valid values are choice or interleave. choice means multiple define elements are combined as a choice; interleave means multiple define elements are combined by interleaving.

name

Specifies the name assigned to the pattern; must not have a prefix.

Parents

div, grammar, include

Description

The define element defines a named pattern that can be referenced by ref elsewhere in the schema or by parentRef to reference a named pattern in a parent schema. If define is in an include, it redefines any named pattern of the same name in the included schema unless the combine attribute is used (if you want to combine, you need to locate your new definitions outside of the include pattern). If multiple child patterns are present, they are treated as if wrapped by a group pattern. In the compact syntax, definitions can constitute the whole of a schema, as if a grammar pattern were present. Also in the compact syntax, choice and interleave combined definitions are expressed using |= and &= rather than simply ...