XML Schema Management

Import a Schema at the click of a button, add Standards-Compliant Extensions, provide Documentation and perform Schema Slicing All with Graphical Ease with the eiConsole’s Data Mapper Schema Management Capabilities.

The Schema Management component of the eiConsole is the first graphical tool that lets you overcome all of the following obstacles to successfully implement standards-based communications.

Users of XML Standards know that they are anything but standard and one schema doesn’t fit all. There are different releases and interpretations of the standard to contend with and nearly everyone has extended the base schemas to reflect the specific needs of their business. If you have extended the schema, migrating to a new release while preserving the extensions can be problematic, time-consuming and costly.

The eiConsole offers the best way to extend, slice, maintain and document schemas including:

• • Importing any release of any schema at the click of a button
  • Adding standards-compliant extensions, providing documentation, and saving the extensions separately from the base schema
  • Upgrading to a new release of the base schema without losing your extensions is a snap because the extensions are saved separately,
  • Using the schema slicing capability to limit large, unwieldy schemas to just what you need for your specific transaction

Among the features offered:

• Support any schema format, including ACORD, HR-XML, DTCC, MISMO, NIEM, OpenTravel and custom canonicals
• Easily document schema elements, both inline and for external publication
• Graphically add, edit, delete and move schema elements
• Navigate schema constructs through a simple tree
• Slice schemas with a single click
• Add, edit and delete type codes and code lists
• Manage extensions independently of a base schema
• Search schema documentation such as ACORD Descriptions and Definitions

The eiConsole’s Data Mapper component (shown below) provides a solution to these Schema Management problems. The same graphical user interface available for drag & drop generation of XSLT also provides a robust facility for creating, editing, slicing and maintaining XML schemas.

In the eiConsole, Schema management begins with the import of an existing XSD or sample XML file. This is done from a Select Format dialogue where you select the XSD or XML Format Builder.

Configure it appropriately pointing it at the XSD or XML Schema, and within seconds the schema is loaded into the Source or Target tree of the Data Mapper. Schemas can also be created from non-XML source formats, such as flat-file descriptions, EDI, web forms, etc.

Once read into the tool, the user is presented with two views of the XML schema. The first is the Format view. This first view provides a hierarchical navigation of the XSD. This allows us to expand any element to view the allowable children and corresponding types.

The Type view provides a flattened, alphabetical listing of types in the underlying XSD or XML schema.

Other features include right-clicking on a given type node which provides the ability to add XML elements or XML attributes to the model. The attribute, element, or field that you select will become a child of the currently selected type.

The schema management facility can also be used to document or annotate the schema. You can create various “note sets” corresponding with different types of documentation. Once we have created a note set you can add a note of that type to any node within your schema.

Learn more about how the eiConsole can help you with schema management functions:

• XML Schema Extensions in 5 Easy Steps
• XML Schema Slicing in 4 Easy Steps