XSD any Element

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To extend the XML document with elements not specified by the schema, the <any> element is used.

The <any> Element:

To make EXTENSIBLE documents, i.e., to allow documents to contain additional elements that are not declared in the main XML schema, the <any> and <anyAttribute> elements are used.

Example:

<xs:element name="student">
  <xs:complextype>
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="firstname" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
      <xs:element name="lastname" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
      <xs:any minOccurs="0"></xs:any>
    </xs:sequence>
  </xs:complextype>
</xs:element>

Explanation:

In the above example, we are displaying a fragment from an XML schema called “friend.xsd”, declaring the “student” element. The content of “student” with any element can be extended after <lastname> by using the <any> element.

sibling.xsd:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="https://www.w3spoint.com"
xmlns="https://www.w3spoint.com"
elementFormDefault="qualified">
 
<xs:element name="sibling">
  <xs:complextype>
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="siblingname" type="xs:string"
     maxOccurs="unbounded"></xs:element>
    </xs:sequence>
  </xs:complextype>
</xs:element>
 
</xs:schema>

Explanation:

In the above example, we are extending the “student” element with a “sibling” element, even if the author of the schema above never declared any “sibling” element.

Myfriend.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 
<students xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.microsoft.com family.xsd
https://www.w3spoint.com sibling.xsd">
 
<student>
  <firstname>Tom</firstname>
  <lastname>Jonas</lastname>
  <sibling>
    <siblingname>Jack</siblingname>
  </sibling>
</student>
 
<student>
  <firstname>John</firstname>
  <lastname>Davis</lastname>
</student>
 
</students>

Explanation:

In the above example, we are creating the “Myfriend.xml” file to use the components from two different schemas; “friend.xsd” and “sibling.xsd”. Now, since the schema “friend.xsd” allows us to extend the “student” element with an optional element after the “lastname” element, the XML file Myfriend.xml is valid.

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