Specifying an element attribute containing a colon not possible

Question

Hello everybody
Might be a stupid question... I'm trying to define a datatype in XI (3.0 SP16) integration repository. This datatype has one root element and some child elements. The root element requires some attributes, one named "xmlns:xsi". Unfortunately this is not accepted from XI! The colon is not accepted.
So how do I specify such attributes in XI datatype elements?!?
Thanks for some guidance / help!
Kind regards,
Renaud

Answer 1

Hi Renaud,
indeed, this is a sophisticated problem. Indeed, the xsi:schemaLocation-attribute, according to the xsd-specification may occur in every instance document. Therefore it is not necessary to describe it in the schema. Indeed, the xsd specification explicitly forbids to have this attribute specified in your schema.
Hence, there is no way to specify in a XSD file that a receiver <b>expects</b> the occurance of this attribute. As the graphical mapping tool of XI totally relies on XSD there is currently no easy way to tell the mapping-tool that it has to produce this attribute.
In a first glance I would view it as an inappropriate restriction from a receiver that it forces the sender to send this attribute. As XSD does not provide a possibility to specify this restriction it, in my opionion, contradicts the sence of XSD to require it.
Anyway, if there is no other way, you may manually extend the XSD such that it contains the reference to that attribute. Formally the result would be no correct XSD anymore, as the XSD specification prohibty to model this special attribute. However, this restriction is currently not checked by XI. Hence, you could upload this file as External Definition anyway. Then the mapping-tool could be forced to produce that attribute.
Note, that the mapping-tool might use another namespace prefix for the namespace "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" (not necessarily xsi). But, as I have indicated in this forum once and again, the string used as namespace prefix should not matter.
Anyway, this is a workaround, and it probably requires some knowledge on XSD to perform it. Thus, the preferable solution would be to convinve the receiver, not to require that attribute.