I wonder if it's possible to use keyref element with optional fields.
e.g. Given the following schema:
<element name="myElement" type="myType">
<complexType>
<sequence>
<element name="subElem">
<complexType>
<attribute name="name" type="string"/>
<attribute name="type" type="string"/>
</complexType>
</element>
<element name="subElem2">
<complexType>
<sequence>
<element name="subSubElem" minOccurs="0">
<complexType>
<attribute name="type" type="string"/>
</complexType>
</element>
</sequence>
<attribute name="name" type="string" use="required"/>
</complexType>
</element>
</sequence>
</complexType>
<key name="uniqueSubElem">
<selector xpath="subElem"/>
<field xpath="@name"/>
<field xpath="@type"/>
</key>
<keyref name="uniqueSubElemRef" refer="uniqueSubElem">
<selector xpath="subElem2"/>
<field xpath="@name"/>
<field xpath="subSubElem/@type"/>
</keyref>
</element>
In this example if I don't specify a subSubElem in the XML the validator will complain:
Not enough values specified for <keyref name="uniqueSubElem"> identity constraint specified for element "myElement".
I need both the minOccurs="0"
and the keyref constraint, and if the field is not present simply don't want any check to be performed (as for NULL FOREIGN KEYs).
EDIT: Ignore namespaces for this example, I used default namespace for everything...
I hope I understood your problem correctly. In your schema, you need to enclose <sequence>
in <complexType>
, and you need to close the field pointing to "subSubElem/@type":
<xs:element name="myElement">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="subElem">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:attribute name="name" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"/>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="subElem2">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element minOccurs="0" name="subSubElem">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"/>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="name" type="xs:string" use="required"/>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:key name="uniqueSubElem">
<xs:selector xpath="subElem"/>
<xs:field xpath="@name"/>
<xs:field xpath="@type"/>
</xs:key>
<xs:keyref name="uniqueSubElemRef" refer="uniqueSubElem">
<xs:selector xpath="subElem2"/>
<xs:field xpath="@name"/>
<xs:field xpath="subSubElem/@type"/>
</xs:keyref>
</xs:element>
This XML should validate without specifying a subSubElem:
<myElement>
<subElem name="foo" type="bar"/>
<subElem2 name="foo2"/>
</myElement>