RE: [xml-dev] Need to import the XML schema namespace

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

> 
Liam> xs:import does not "import a namespace" - it imports a schema 
> that defines a vocabulary of elements and/or attributes 
> associated with that namespace URI. 

No, I don't think that reflects the current consensus of the WG, which is
expressed in the Note in XSD 1.1, section 4.2.6:

<quote>
Some users of version 1.0 of this specification have mistakenly assumed that
the primary purpose of the <import> is to cause retrieval of a resource
identified by the schemaLocation attribute. Although the function of
<import> is unchanged in this version, the presentation below has been
reorganized to clarify the two separate purposes served by <import>, namely
(1) to license references, within a schema document, to components in the
imported namespace, and (2) to provide information about the location of
schema documents for imported namespaces.
</quote>

So "importing a namespace" (or licensing references to components in a given
namespace) is now seen as a primary role of xs:import.

Regards,

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