ProductsXMLSpySchema ToolsSchema Flattener

Altova XMLSpy® 2012 provides numerous tools for editing XML Schemas, including the schema flattener and schema subset creator. These two features are useful in numerous applications, and in particular for creating NIEM-conformant information exchanges.

Schema flattener

The schema flattener in XMLSpy allows schema designers to write all the dependent files that are included in a schema into one file. In the process, the components of any included schemas are added as global components of the flattened schema. This way, you can use the flattened schema without having to rely on a network connection to access the required files. This could be especially important when shipping a schema within an application.

The ability to flatten a schema helps developers working on NIEM-conformant information exchanges make their schemas available in a variety of situations where network connections may not be available.

Schema subset creator

A large schema often includes many more elements than are required for a particular application. Since having extraneous elements can increase loading and validation times, it is useful to be able to create a subset schema using only the required elements and types. This is particularly important during the development of an IEPD for a NIEM-conformant information exchange, for instance, where only a subset of elements is utilized.

XMLSpy makes schema subset creation easy by helping you select the group of items you require you require step-by-step. After choosing Create Schema Subset from the Schema Design menu, you can simply check the components you wish to include in your new schema.

In the Schema Subset Generation dialog, you can specify the name(s) for the new schema file(s) in the schema subset package, as well as where to save the new files. A schema subset package could have multiple files if one or more of the components being created is an imported component in the original schema. A separate schema file is created for each namespace in the schema subset.

XMLSpy provides other specialized functionality for working with NIEM and other schemas, such as the grahpical XML Schema editor, validation of schema extensions for definining rules outside the normal scope of the XML Schema standard, user defined sample XML values for custom XML instance generation, and much more.

Experience the powerful schema design features for working with NIEM and other standards - Download a free 30-day trial of XMLSpy.