xsd - How to make a schema for an unordered list where some occur once, some many times

Question

This is a similar question to How to create a schema for an unordered list of XML nodes, with occurrence constraints, but actually slightly simpler. However I am having great trouble understanding the logic behind sequences and choices (and especially when they are nested into sequences of choices or choices of sequences), and although I've studied it for a long time I can't understand how the example above works.

What I need is schema for a list of nodes, ChildA and ChildB, whereby ChildA can occur 0-n times, but ChildB only 0-1 times. (Actually I need several nodes of each type, but if I can do it for ChildA and ChildB, extending it to ChildX etc. and ChildY etc. should be simple). There should be no order constraint. I'd appreciate any help. Any links that explain schema indicators in depth would also be helpful.

Answer 1

This would be the simplest solution that quickly came to my mind. The key point here is to use another sequence inside the "main" sequence. The schema is kept deterministic by setting the inner sequence to start with <ChildB> and <ChildB> is kept optional by setting the cardinality of that sequence to 0-1.

This is an XMLSchema 1.0 solution.

<xs:schema elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

  <!-- Schema for elements ChildA and ChildB
      The requirements are as follows:
          * ChildA and ChildB may occur in any order.
          * ChildA is optional and may occur multiple times.
          * ChildB is optional and may occur once only.
  -->

  <xs:element name="root">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element maxOccurs="unbounded" name="AB-container" type="AB-type" />
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

  <xs:complexType name="AB-type">
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" name="ChildA" type="xs:string" />
      <xs:sequence minOccurs="0">
        <xs:element name="ChildB" type="xs:string" />
        <xs:element minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" name="ChildA" type="xs:string" />
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:sequence>
  </xs:complexType>

</xs:schema>