RE: [xml-dev] XML Schema: "Best used with the ______ tool"

["Michael Kay" <mike@saxonica.com>]

> Until recently there was much disparity in browser support 
> for the standards (HTML, CSS). As a consequence you 
> oftentimes saw on Web pages: 
> 
>     "This Web page is best viewed in the _______ browser."
> 
> Alternatively, Web page designers would use only the portions 
> of the standards that all the browsers supported.
> 
> 
> XML SCHEMA - SIMILAR SITUATION?
> 
> Are we in a similar situation today with XML Schema tools? 
> When you create an XML Schema will you inform your clients:
> 

As far as schema tools used to perform validation are concerned, I think the
level of interoperability is quite high. There are a few edge cases where
you find variations, but they don't cause that many problems in practice.
What I think you are seeing is problems with data binding tools. These are
performing a mapping from constructs in XML Schema to constructs in some
other type system. These mappings are far less governed by standards, and
it's generally not surprising if there are some constructs in XML Schema
that don't cleanly map to some other chosen type system, and that therefore
can't be used with the tool in question.

The best answer is to do everything using XML-based processing languages
(XSLT and XQuery) rather than spending 75% of your programming effort
converting your data between one type system and another.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/