I've got a schema file (four, actually - one includes the other three) and
am trying to create a 'sample' XML file from it.

I tried reading the .xsd files myself but the four of them combined add up
to more than 4000 lines - more than enough to put me to sleep.

I also tried some Java:

  SchemaFactory sf =
    SchemaFactory.newInstance(XMLConstants.W3C_XML_SCHEMA_NS_URI);
  Schema schema = sf.newSchema(new File("/path/to/main/schema/file.xsd"));
  DocumentBuilderFactory dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
  dbf.setSchema(schema);
  dbf.setNamespaceAware(true);
  dbf.setValidating(true);
  dbf.setXIncludeAware(true);
  DocumentBuilder db = dbf.newDocumentBuilder();
  Document d = db.newDocument();

which compiles & runs without incident when run from the directory with the
schema files, but produces an empty Document (zero child nodes).

I'm working on getting a sample XML document from the folks I got the schema
from, but that might take a while.

I've looked around in NetBeans and IntelliJ but haven't seen anything that
looks like it'll do what I want.  They can both _validate_ an existing XML
file, but that's what I'm trying to create.

Is there a way to do this?

I realize it might not be possible - some of the nodes might be 'choose
exactly one of A or B', or 'if you have X you must also have Y but if not
then you must have Z' and I'd then need some way of saying which option(s)
to go with.

I really don't care what values the text/numeric fields have; empty (or
zero) would be fine - I can stuff 'realistic' data in afterward, once I've
got the structure of the document spelled out.

thanks!

-- 
Al Dunstan, Software Engineer
OptiMetrics, Inc.
3115 Professional Drive
Ann Arbor, MI  48104-5131