| Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML) 5.0 for Microsoft Office - XML Schemas |  |
XML Schemas
Similar to data modeling in a relational database, a schema provides a way to define the structure of XML documents. A schema specifies the elements that can be used in XML documents along with the structure that these elements must follow in order to be valid for that specific schema.
In other words, a schema describes the vocabulary (rules or grammar) that complying XML documents must follow in order to be considered schema-valid with that particular schema. Validation of XML documents ensures that the external data conforms to the rules (grammar) required by the schema.
The following sections provide information about two types of schemas: XML Schema definition language (XSD) schemas, and XML-Data Reduced (XDR) schemas.
- Getting Started with XML Schemas
- XSD Schema Developer's Guide
- XSD Schema Reference
- XDR Schema Developer's Guide
- XDR Schema Reference