Sometimes a simpleType, sometimes a complexType

[Guest chapel21]

I am trying to write the schema for an xml format that has already been written (and i cannot change!).There are three possible forms/definitions of a single element. I have written my requirement such that 2 of the three possible cases are accounted for and work. However, one case eludes me.Here is some sample xml:case 1:<VALUE>stringtext</VALUE>case 2:<VALUE> <VALID_VALUES> <SELECTED>boolean</SELECTED> .. more elements </VALID_VALUES></VALUE>case 3:<VALUE> <FORMULA>stringtext</FORMULA></VALUE>I have handled for cases 2 and 3, and it works fine. But to do this I had to skip the first case.The problem is obvious, do you define the ValueType as a simpleType or complexType. My answer is it must be a complexType because it contains child elements. However, as in case 1, it can be a simpleType. You can't write a choice option for choosing between the types. So how does one tackle this? My solution, which skips case 1 was:<xsd:complexType name="ParameterType"> <!-- elements --> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="VALUE" type="ValueType" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" /> </xsd:sequence></xsd:complexType><xsd:complexType name="ValueType" mixed="true"> <xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"> <xsd:element name="FORMULA" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/> <xsd:element name="VALID_VALUES" type="ValidValuesType" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" /> </xsd:choice></xsd:complexType>The solution simply being the choice options constraint for minOccurs="0" meaning, it doesn't have to be present, but for the requirement, yes, the VALUE element has to be there, as in case 1 2 or 3.Any ideas? Any help would be greatly apprecaited.

[Zukero]

Hi,What about declaring a dummy type for your VALUE element, that dummy type being a choice between three types, each one corresponding to one of your cases ?

<complextype name="dummy">  <sequence>    <choice>      <element name="VALUE" type="string"/>      <element name="VALUE" type="tns:typeCase2"/>      <element name="VALUE" type="tns:typeCase3"/>    </choice>  </sequence></complextype>

Other point, I think a ComplexType can represent an element that can look like a SimpleType, that is for example :

<complextype name="toto">  <sequence>    <element name="VALUE" type="String"/>  </sequence></complexType>

Good luck with your work,Kevin.