XmlSchemaInference Class
Assembly: System.Xml (in system.xml.dll)
The XmlSchemaInference class in the System.Xml.Schema namespace allows you to infer an XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) schema from the structure of an XML document. The XmlSchemaInference class outputs an XML schema that can validate the XML document.
The XmlSchemaInference class supports the W3C XML and XML Schemas standards. It can be used to infer a new schema or to refine an existing schema.
This example takes an XML file as input, and generates a schema that can validate the example XML.
Dim reader As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create("contosoBooks.xml") Dim schemaSet As XmlSchemaSet = New XmlSchemaSet() Dim schema As XmlSchemaInference = New XmlSchemaInference() schemaSet = schema.InferSchema(reader) For Each s As XmlSchema In schemaSet.Schemas() s.Write(Console.Out) Next
The following is the input XML file.
<bookstore xmlns="http://www.contoso.com/books">
<book genre="autobiography" publicationdate="1981-03-22" ISBN="1-861003-11-0">
<title>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</title>
<author>
<first-name>Benjamin</first-name>
<last-name>Franklin</last-name>
</author>
<price>8.99</price>
</book>
<book genre="novel" publicationdate="1967-11-17" ISBN="0-201-63361-2">
<title>The Confidence Man</title>
<author>
<first-name>Herman</first-name>
<last-name>Melville</last-name>
</author>
<price>11.99</price>
</book>
<book genre="philosophy" publicationdate="1991-02-15" ISBN="1-861001-57-6">
<title>The Gorgias</title>
<author>
<name>Plato</name>
</author>
<price>9.99</price>
</book>
</bookstore>
The following is the schema inferred from the XML document.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema attributeFormDefault="unqualified" elementFormDefault="qualified" targetNamespace="http://www.contoso.com/books" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:element name="bookstore">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element maxOccurs="unbounded" name="book">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="title" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="author">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element minOccurs="0" name="name" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element minOccurs="0" name="first-name" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element minOccurs="0" name="last-name" type="xs:string" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="price" type="xs:decimal" />
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="genre" type="xs:string" use="required" />
<xs:attribute name="publicationdate" type="xs:date" use="required" />
<xs:attribute name="ISBN" type="xs:string" use="required" />
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.