Xml – Best XSD file generator

xmlxsd

I am analyzing tools that generate XSD file from XML files. I find lot of tools in internet.

XSD.exe utility that comes along with Visual Studio (xsd file.xml)
Stylus Studio's XSD file generator
XSD Interference tool from Microsoft
XMLFox Professional
Liquid XML Studio (XML Editor reverse engineering)

Which of the above is best if cost-price is not a criteria ?
If any other tool is better than the tools listed above, lemme know.

Are there any free tool for XSD file generation from XML file ?
I searched and got this link http://www.hitsw.com/xml_utilites/ , But this supports only DTD and not XML Schema. Which could be best freeware for XSD file generation from XML file ? Any ideas ?

Thx in advans,
Karthik Balaguru

Best Answer

I am currently using a licensed version of Liquid XML Studio, and I'm quite pleased with it. It works well, seems like "overwhelming" in features than others, and so far, I have no yet found anything that I cannot do in Liquid XML Studio. Liquid XML Studio is also available as a free community edition with slightly reduced feature set (not sure if those limitations would affect the XML schema stuff...)

Their support is very responsive and so far has been able to resolve any of my issues. I can definitely recommend Liquid XML Studio.

I also use the xsd.exe tool at times - works quite nicely for simple scenarios, and it's always at my fingertips (since I'm a command-line junkie and always have a few command windows open). xsd.exe is definitely "free" (as in: it comes with Visual Studio - no extra purchase).

Related Solutions

Java – What’s the best way to validate an XML file against an XSD file

The Java runtime library supports validation. Last time I checked this was the Apache Xerces parser under the covers. You should probably use a javax.xml.validation.Validator.

import javax.xml.XMLConstants;
import javax.xml.transform.Source;
import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
import javax.xml.validation.*;
import java.net.URL;
import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
//import java.io.File; // if you use File
import java.io.IOException;
...
URL schemaFile = new URL("http://host:port/filename.xsd");
// webapp example xsd: 
// URL schemaFile = new URL("http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd");
// local file example:
// File schemaFile = new File("/location/to/localfile.xsd"); // etc.
Source xmlFile = new StreamSource(new File("web.xml"));
SchemaFactory schemaFactory = SchemaFactory
    .newInstance(XMLConstants.W3C_XML_SCHEMA_NS_URI);
try {
  Schema schema = schemaFactory.newSchema(schemaFile);
  Validator validator = schema.newValidator();
  validator.validate(xmlFile);
  System.out.println(xmlFile.getSystemId() + " is valid");
} catch (SAXException e) {
  System.out.println(xmlFile.getSystemId() + " is NOT valid reason:" + e);
} catch (IOException e) {}

The schema factory constant is the string http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema which defines XSDs. The above code validates a WAR deployment descriptor against the URL http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd but you could just as easily validate against a local file.

You should not use the DOMParser to validate a document (unless your goal is to create a document object model anyway). This will start creating DOM objects as it parses the document - wasteful if you aren't going to use them.

Xml – How to generate sample XML documents from their DTD or XSD

In Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and later the XML Schema Explorer can create an XML document with some basic sample data:

Open your XSD document
Switch to XML Schema Explorer
Right click the root node and choose "Generate Sample Xml"

Screenshot of the XML Schema Explorer

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Java – What’s the best way to validate an XML file against an XSD file

Xml – How to generate sample XML documents from their DTD or XSD

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