I don't know which validator XMLSpy">XMLSpy is using, but it doesn't appear to be 
behaving the same way you're describing.

BUT!  Doesn't matter now!

The multiple pattern element idea appears to work just great!!!!  Thanks!
I didn't realize that you were allowed to put more than one pattern element 
in.

Thank you very much!

"Priscilla Walmsley" <nospam@d...> wrote in message 
news:ek6ObfYhGHA.1276@T......
> Hi,
>
> The validators I'm using (Xerces and Saxon) treat a zero-length regular 
> expression (which is what you have after the "|") as only matching a 
> zero-length string, so it shouldn't negate the validation of requiring 
> digits.
>
> You could also try
> <xs:simpleType name="DfltAddrPhone_Type">
>   <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
>       <xs:pattern value="\d{10,15}"/>
>       <xs:pattern value=""/>
>   </xs:restriction>
> </xs:simpleType>
>
> which also should match either pattern.  Maybe your processor handles this 
> one correctly.
>
> If that doesn't work, you can use a union type, as in:
>
> <xs:simpleType name="SizeType">
>   <xs:union>
>      <xs:simpleType>
>         <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
>            <xs:pattern value="\d{10,15}"/>
>         </xs:restriction>
>      </xs:simpleType>
>      <xs:simpleType>
>         <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
>            <xs:enumeration value=""/>
>         </xs:restriction>
>      </xs:simpleType>
>   </xs:union>
> </xs:simpleType>
>
> Hope that helps,
> Priscilla
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Priscilla Walmsley http://www.datypic.com
> Author, Definitive XML Schema / XML in Office 2003
>            XQuery (coming in 2006 from O'Reilly)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Thomas Malia" <tommalia@w...> wrote in message 
> news:eG2KwMYhGHA.1792@T......
>> Thanks,
>>
>> I tried leaving everything after the | blank... the problem is this seems 
>> to negate the validation of reqiring digits.  With what you descibed 
>> here, I did not get a validation error if the field had a value of say 
>> "THOMAS"... it took that as a valid value.
>>
>> The rule I wanted was, either you give me 10 to 15 digits OR you leave 
>> the thing blank... nothing else is allowed.
>>
>> So far, the only solution I've come up with is to set the nillable 
>> attribute to true and make the pattern: ="\d{10,15}".  This doesn't 
>> result in exactly what I want because the XML document has to explicitly 
>> set the elements nil attribute for it to pass, but that's not the worst 
>> thing in the world.
>>
>>
>> "Priscilla Walmsley" <nospam@d...> wrote in message 
>> news:euenGdZgGHA.4976@T......
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> The "^" character as an anchor is not supported by XML Schema. You can 
>>> just leave off everything after the | character, though, as in:
>>>
>>> <xs:simpleType name="DfltAddrPhone_Type">
>>>    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
>>>        <xs:pattern value="\d{10,15}|"/>
>>>    </xs:restriction>
>>> </xs:simpleType>
>>>
>>> (I also slightly simplified the 10-15 digit part and took out the length 
>>> constraints because they were redundant.)
>>>
>>> Hope that helps,
>>> Priscilla
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Priscilla Walmsley http://www.datypic.com
>>> Author, Definitive XML Schema / XML in Office 2003
>>>             XQuery (coming in 2006 from O'Reilly)
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> "Thomas Malia" <tommalia@w...> wrote in message 
>>> news:%237nimVpfGHA.5100@T......
>>>>I want to create an XML Schema Type definition that will either allow 
>>>>the XML document to level the element blank or if they supply any data 
>>>>it must match a pattern.
>>>>
>>>> The one example I'm currently working on is a Phone number field.
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to have something like:
>>>> <xs:simpleType name="DfltAddrPhone_Type">
>>>>
>>>>    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
>>>>
>>>>        <xs:maxLength value="15"/>
>>>>
>>>>        <xs:minLength value="0"/>
>>>>
>>>>        <xs:pattern value="(\d{10})(\d)*|^*"/>
>>>>
>>>>    </xs:restriction>
>>>>
>>>> </xs:simpleType>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> When I use the above definition in XMLSpy">XMLSpy it works fine.  The regular 
>>>> expression in the patter allows the creation of an element that has at 
>>>> least 10 digit (\d{10}) with up to 5 more digits allowed for the 
>>>> extention (\d)* OR (|) NOT anything at all (^*).
>>>>
>>>> However, when use this schema to validate a XML file with MSXML it 
>>>> flags an empty phone number as violating the retstriction.  Also, if I 
>>>> try to generate java classes from the schema using XMLBeans it says my 
>>>> regular expression is invalid.  They both seem to not like the (^*) 
>>>> aspect.
>>>>
>>>> Is there some other way I can achieve what I'm after besides putting it 
>>>> in the regular expression for the pattern?  Or is there a better way to 
>>>> build the regular expression? (I'm DEFINATELY no RegExp expert)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>>
>>>> Tom Malia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>