I think you've grasped it, but your terminology isn't quite right.

Firstly, it's all to do with whether or not the element is in a namespace,
which isn't quite the same as whether or not it has a prefix. An element
name with no prefix can still be in a namespace.

The rule is this. If the schema contains

 <xs:element name="x"/>

as a local element declaration (that is, not a child of <xs:schema>), then
the element must be in the target namesapce of the containing schema
document, if there is one. For example, if the target namespace is
http://target.com/, then the element might validly appear as

  <x xmlns="http://target.com/"/>

or

  <ppp:x xmlns:ppp="http://target.com/"/> 

Of course the namespace declaration does not have to be on the <x> element
itself, it can be on any ancestor.

If the schema document does not have a target namespace, then it doesn't
matter whether the element form is qualified or unqualified.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/


> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmlschema-dev-request@w... 
> [mailto:xmlschema-dev-request@w...] On Behalf Of Kresimir Karamazen
> Sent: 27 October 2008 10:24
> To: xmlschema-dev@w...
> Subject: elementFormDefault
> 
> 
> 
> To be able to understand clearly the meaning of 
> elementFormDefault I have written a short reminder.
> Could you please tell me if the following doesn't hold true?
> 
> When we have
> 
> elementFormDefault="qualified" 
> 
> in some scope then in the scope: a locally declared element 
> elm1 must appear with a prefix (i.e. pre:elm1) or otherwise 
> it must be implicitly in a namespace of the parent element.  
> This means that a locally declared element elm1 in such a 
> scope (and unless it is used as a root element, what is 
> anyway not the intention) will never violate the "qualified" 
> restriction because if it does not have a prefix than it has 
> an implicit namespace of the parent (which (namespace of the 
> parent) may be empty). However it can happen that the 
> instance does not validate if the elm1 has not been declared 
> in that namespace.
> 
> When we have
> 
> elementFormDefault="unqualified" 
> 
> in some scope then in the scope: a locally declared element 
> elm1 is not allowed to appear with a prefix (i.e. unallowed 
> is pre:elm1) .
> 
> 
>                                     
> ______________________________________________________________
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> K.Karamazen
> Trinité Automatisering B.V.
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> 
> 
>