XSD and "elements" (was: Invalid XML (rant))

["DuCharme, Bob (LNG-CHO)" <bob.ducharme@lexisnexis.com>]

Henry Thompson wrote:

>Element information item' is taken from the XML Infoset REC, and is
>both well-defined and, I hope, clear in its intended use.  'Element
>declaration' is of course defined in the REC itself.  'Element' is never
>(should not be) used by itself, precisely for the reason you state,
>that it's not clear what is meant by it.

Section 2.2 of the Infoset Rec starts with "XML Definition: element" and
links to the XML 1.0 definition, which looks clear enough to me.  

If the XSD Rec uses the term "element information item" for what used to be
known as an element, what does it use to refer to a class of elements, or
what the XML 1.0 Rec calls an element type? In other words, what is an
element declaration declaring that gets instantiated by the element
information items? 

thanks,

Bob