XML Schemas

Because XML documents adhere to a specific schema, or layout, it is often desirable to verify that a particular XML document remains true to the schema that it is supposed to follow. Having the capability to define a schema externally to an XML document allows XML as a technology and a language to continue further than other markup languages such as HTML.

What do we mean when we say that schemas can be defined externally? Well, one of the things that makes XML so well suited to data descriptions is this: The actual tags for XML are not defined in the XML specification. This means that XML can behave as a metalanguage. Metalanguages can be used to define other languages. This neatly side-steps the problem of being locked into a specific ...

Get Visual Basic® Programmer's Guide to the .NET Framework Class Library now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.