Is schemaLocation just a hint in schema import?

["Antoli, Leo" <Leo.Antoli@Misys.com>]

Hi all,

In the W3C Schema 1.0 spec you can find this note about imports:

"NOTE: The above is carefully worded so that multiple <import>ing of the
same schema document will not constitute a violation of clause 2 of Schema
Properties Correct (§3.15.6), but applications are allowed, indeed
encouraged, to avoid <import>ing the same schema document more than once to
forestall the necessity of establishing identity component by component.
Given that the schemaLocation [attribute] is only a hint, it is open to
applications to ignore all but the first <import> for a given namespace,
regardless of the ·actual value· of schemaLocation, but such a strategy
risks missing useful information when new schemaLocations are offered."



Does it mean that you can't have 2 schemas defining different elements for
the same namespace and then import both from another schema? 
Should everything for a given schema be defined in just one schema file? If
you have a big schema definition for different functional areas, it might be
useful to split the schema in several files so you don't need to import
elements that you won't be using. 

It looks like Schema 1.1 is keeping this note.

Can anybody tell me the motivation for this note in the schema spec?

Thanks.