Will XML Schema 1.1 get traction?

["Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>]

Hi Folks,

XML Schema 1.1 became a full recommendation on April 5, 2012.

Are organizations using it? Are you using it?

In my small world there hasn't been an overwhelming uptake of it. Perhaps that will change, however.

XML Schema 1.0 became a full recommendation on October 28, 2004.

So there has been eight years for organizations to spend a lot of time and money developing 1.0 schemas. In the process, those organizations discovered that 1.0 was lacking in certain capabilities (such as co-constraint checking) so they supplemented XSD 1.0 with Schematron.

Now, in 2012, organizations are well entrenched in their 1.0 XSDs plus their Schematron schemas. They have invested heavily in these technologies. And they have expertise in these technologies. And there is good support for these technologies.

What incentive do organizations have for moving to XML Schema 1.1? 

There are some things provided by 1.1 that can't be accomplished using the combination of 1.0 plus Schematron.  And 1.1 makes some things more convenient. Are they sufficient to justify switching?

Perhaps it would have been better for 1.1 to have provided radical new capabilities -- capabilities that totally cannot be obtained with the existing combination of 1.0 plus Schematron.

What do you think? Will XML Schema 1.1 be embraced by the XML community? 

Or, will it be turned aside and organizations continue with the investments they have already made in 1.0 and Schematron?

Was the duration between 1.0 and 1.1 too long? In the eight year duration the world has changed. Have those changes impacted the usefulness of 1.1?

Would it be useful to create an XML Schema 1.2 that provides radical new capabilities? If yes, what radical new capabilities do you desire?

/Roger