XSD String Data Type

The data type string is used for values that can contain strings.

String Data Type

The string data type can contain characters, line breaks, carriage returns, and tabs.

Here is an example of a string declaration in a schema:

<xs:element name="customer" type="xs:string"/>

The elements in the document should look something like this:

<customer>John Smith</customer>

Or something similar:

<customer>John Smith</customer>

Note:If you use the string data type, the XML processor will not change the value within it.

NormalizedString Data Type

The normalized string data type is also derived from the string data type.

The normalized string data type can also contain characters, but the XML processor will remove line breaks, carriage returns, and tabs.

Here is an example of a normalized string data type specification in a schema:

<xs:element name="customer" type="xs:normalizedString"/>

The elements in the document should look something like this:

<customer>John Smith</customer>

Or something similar:

<customer>John Smith</customer>

Note:In this example, the XML processor will replace all tabs with spaces.

Token Data Type

The token data type is also derived from the string data type.

The token data type can also contain characters, but the XML processor will remove line breaks, carriage returns, tabs, leading and trailing spaces, and (consecutive) spaces.

Here is an example of a token declaration in a schema:

<xs:element name="customer" type="xs:token"/>

The elements in the document should look something like this:

<customer>John Smith</customer>

Or something similar:

<customer>John Smith</customer>

Note:In this example, the XML parser will remove tabs.

String data type

Please note that all of the following data types are derived from the string data type (except for the string data type itself)!

Name Description
ENTITIES 　
ENTITY 　
ID The string submitted as the ID attribute in XML (used only with the schema attribute)
IDREF The string submitted as the IDREF attribute in XML (used only with the schema attribute)
IDREFS language A string containing a valid language id
Name A string containing a valid XML name
NCName 　
NMTOKEN The string submitted as the NMTOKEN attribute in XML (used only with the schema attribute)
NMTOKENS 　
normalizedString A string that does not contain newlines, carriage returns, or tabs
QName 　
string String
token A string that does not contain newlines, carriage returns, tabs, leading or trailing spaces, or multiple consecutive spaces

Restrictions on string data types

Constraints that can be used with string data types:

  • enumeration
  • length
  • maxLength
  • minLength
  • pattern (NMTOKENS, IDREFS, and ENTITIES cannot be used with this constraint)
  • whiteSpace