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Creating and Editing SOX Schemas in XML Authority


Developers creating SOX schemas with XML Authority can take advantage of SOX features within the XML Authority framework. XML Authority provides complete support for both basic tasks like defining element and attribute types and for more sophisticated things like inheritance, local tag names, and more precise information about how many times a given element may occur. While most SOX schema development uses the exact same tools as the rest of XML Authority's schema development, a few additional tools specific to SOX development are available.

SOX developers will find most of the additional SOX functionality they need in the elements type pane, shown in Figure A below.

NOTE:  The "Add Module" function of the Overview pane allows you to join externally defined SOX schemas to your current schema.  

Figure A - SOX Element Pane

Notice the addition of the Extends column. The Extends column is used to graphically represent child/parent relationships. Because the child element extends the parent element, it inherits the content model of parent. (Beta extends Alpha as indicated in the diagram above the list of element types.) The inherited content is indicated in gray (a-f); if the child element had additional appended content of its own, that content would appear in the same color as regular elements (g-i).

You can enter a namespace for your schema through the Info option on the File Menu. XML Authority also supports local tags and SOX occurs attributes, using the Qlickers shown below in Figure B.

SOX Qlickers

Figure B - Local Tag (=) Qlickers for use with SOX

SOX Qlickers

Figure C - Set Occurs ({ }) Qlickers for use with SOX

These Qlickers will appear when the cursor is in the content model field for an element or in the content model editor (Figure B and Figure C). The equals sign (=) allows you to set a local tag for the current element, while the curly braces ({}) allow you to set more precise occurrence indicators for elements and groups of elements.

SOX users also have the capability to create their own data types through the Data Type Tab of the Advanced Pane

In order to resolve URN's within sox files you may specify one or more schema root paths . You may enter these paths (separated by semi colons) in the Schema Path box located in the XML Authority preferences dialog box. Please refer to the SOX v2.0 XDK documentation for additional information on schema paths. See Figure D

SOX Qlickers

Figure D - Schema Path Preferences

You will also notice that the Notes Pane in SOX schemas have slightly different tags. See Figure E. The Explain and the Comment/Info more closely reflect the SOX tags in the source.

SOX Qlickers

Figure E - SOX Notes Pane

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