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XSD Mixed Elements

A mixed complex type element can contain attributes, elements, and text.

Complex Types with Mixed Elements​

Consider this example:

<mail>  
    Dear Mr. <name>John Smith</name>.  
    Your order <orderid>1234</orderid>  
    will be delivered on <deliverydate>2001-07-13</deliverydate>.  
</mail>

We can declare such Complex Text using the following ways:

Use mixed=true​

Define complexType with attribute mixed set to true. mixed attribute allow to have character data between elements.

<xs:element name="student">
    <xs:complexType mixed="true">
        <xs:sequence>
            <xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
            <xs:element name="orderid" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
            <xs:element name="deliverydate"  type="xs:date"/>
        </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
note

Note that the child elements, are surrounded by the <sequence> indicator. This means that the child elements must appear in the same order as they are declared.

You will discover more about indicators in XSD Indicators chapter.

Use ComplexType alone​

Define an element of complexType: in this way we can reuse it with more elements.

<xs:element name="student" type="studenttype"/>

<xs:complexType name="studenttype" mixed="true">
    <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
        <xs:element name="orderid" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
        <xs:element name="deliverydate"  type="xs:date"/>
    </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>

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