Converting Annotated XDR Schemas to Equivalent XSD Schemas (SQLXML 4.0)

The XML Schema Definition (XSD) language is the successor to the XML-Data Reduced (XDR) schema definition language. With the introduction of XSD support in Microsoft SQLXML 4.0, it is assumed that new annotated schemas are created using XSD. SQLXML 4.0 includes an XDR to XSD converter tool that is designed to help you convert your existing annotated XDR schemas to equivalent XSD schemas.

Important

Use this tool only when you want to convert annotated XDR schemas to XSD for use with SQLXML 4.0. This is not a general purpose XDR to XSD converter tool. The converted XSD schemas may not behave the same as the original XDR schemas when used in other environments.

If the input XDR file specifies the encoding within the XML declaration, this becomes the encoding of the XSD output file that is generated.

The converter tool (Cvtschema.exe) is installed in the Program Files\SQLXML 4.0\bin folder and is executed at the command prompt.

This is the general syntax:

cvtschema XDRFileName, [-y], [-w] [-?]

Where:

  • XDRFileName
    Is the name of the XDR file that is to be converted to XSD. The tool reads the input XDR file and creates an XSD output file in the current working directory. If the input file has an .xdr or .xml extension, the output XSD file is created with the same name but with an .xsd extension. If the input file extension is other than .xml or .xdr (or if the extension is missing), the output file is created with the same name and the .xsd extension is appended to the input file name. For example, if the input XDR file name is SampleFile.abc, the resulting XSD is saved as SampleFile.abc.xsd.
  • -y
    (Optional) Overwrites the existing XSD file with the XSD file that is generated by the converter tool. If the flag is not specified, the tool prompts you to specify whether you want to overwrite the existing XSD file and gives you the option to change the output file name.
  • -w
    (Optional) Returns nonfatal warnings that are generated in the conversion process by the tool. By default, the tool displays messages only for fatal errors.
  • -?
    Returns a list of options that you can specify with cvtschema, along with an explanation.

See Also

Reference

Mapping XSD Data Types to XPath Data Types [SQLXML 4.0]
XSD Annotations [SQLXML 4.0]

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance