"Water Cooler v2" <wtr_clr@y...> wrote in message 
news:c1e90f7f-e3d2-4a6a-9dda-dd009b67db05@m......
> Sorry for asking this beginner question.
>
> I've written DTDs so far and read about XML Schemas. I understand that
> they are a replacement of the DTD fundamentally, and therefore allow
> for the validation of an XML document.
>
> My question really is:
>
> Why do we need XML Schemas other than for validation of an XML
> document? I am more interested in knowing if already available
> "common" XML tools such as the MSXML parser, or DOM Level 3
> implementations in today's browsers can do something like:
>
> a) read an XML Schema;
> b) then, read the XML document that is defined in the schema;
> c) ?? magic ?? read some translation rules (an XSLT file?) that says,
> for instance, that <xs:element name="foo" type="xs:string" /> 's value
> must go to the column "bar" of this SQL Server database, etc., etc.
>
> So, my question really is, can the available XML tools in the market
> from major vendors read an XML Schema, and then not simply validate an
> XML document but also read some translation rules from an XSLT file
> and do the transformation without a developer having to write any
> bespoke application on his part, if he just writes the XML, XSD and
> XSLT sheet?
In general tool support is the other big feature of schemas. Visual Studio, 
and other development environments, XMLSpy">XMLSpy etc, offer auto-completion if 
the document you are constructing, an XSLT for example, has a schema 
available. So when you type xsl:a.. you'll get a choice of xsl:apply-imports 
or xsl:apply-templates.

-- 

Joe Fawcett (MVP - XML)
http://joe.fawcett.name