XML simpletype, simplecontent, complextype, complexcontent

Question

I'm having some confusion on the type simpletype, simplecontent, complextype and complexcontent.

I'm almost new to xsd. Can someone help to clear the confusion that giving concrete examples.

Answer 1

I know it's a bit late but I hope this article helps someone.

In short:

<complexType> and <simpleType> both define types. Complex types can have element descendants and attributes while simple types can't.

Complex types can have simple or complex content. Types with <complexContent> can contain child elements while those with <simpleContent> can only contain characters.

Answer 2

What is a Complex Element?

A complex element is an XML element that contains other elements and/or attributes. There are four kinds of complex elements:

1. empty elements
2. elements that contain only other elements
3. elements that contain only text
4. elements that contain both other elements and text

Note: Each of these elements may contain attributes as well!

Examples of Complex Elements

1. A complex XML element, "product", which is empty:

<product pid="1345"/> 

2. A complex XML element, "employee", which contains only other elements:

<employee>     <firstname>Deepam</firstname>     <lastname>Gupta</lastname> </employee> 

3. A complex XML element, "food", which contains only text:

<food type="dessert">Chapati</food> 

4. A complex XML element, "description", which contains both elements and text:

<description>     It happened on <date lang="hindi">18.03.99</date> .... </description>