Restricted types and empty sequences

After reading and [(re)*]reading the spec I'm still struggling with
derivation-by-restriction.
Here is the example I'm trying to interpret:

<schema>
 <element name="e1"/>
 <element name="e2"/>
 <element name="e3"/>
 <element name="e4"/>

 <complexType name="withMandatorySequence">
  <annotation>
   <documentation>
    This complex type defines
    the sequence of subsequences.
   </documentation>
  </annotation>
  <restriction base="withOptionalSequence"
   <sequence>
    <!-- Is it OK to merge the following two subsequences?  -->
    <!-- And if it's OK, can I get rid of the internal sequence? -->
    <sequence>
     <element ref="e1" minOccurs="0"/>
     <element ref="e2" minOccurs="0"/>
    </sequence>
    <sequence>
     <element ref="e3" minOccurs="0"/>
     <element ref="e4" minOccurs="0"/>
    </sequence>
   </sequence>
  </restriction>
 </complexType>

 <complexType name="withOptionalSequence">
  <annotation>
   <documentation>
    This complex type defines
    the sequence of subsequences: the first
    subsequence is optional while the
    second one is mandatory.
    Note that subelements of both subsequences
    are optional.
   </documentation>
  </annotation>
  <sequence>
   <sequence minOccurs="0">
    <element ref="e1" minOccurs="0"/>
    <element ref="e2" minOccurs="0"/>
   </sequence>
   <sequence>
    <element ref="e3" minOccurs="0"/>
    <element ref="e4" minOccurs="0"/>
   </sequence>
  </sequence>
 </complexType>

 <element name="testForRestrictedOptionalSequence">
  <complexType>
   <restriction base="withOptionalSequence"/>
    <sequence>
     <element ref="e3"/>
    </sequence>
   </restriction>
  </complexType>
 </element>

 <element name="testForMandatoryOptionalSequence">
  <complexType>
   <restriction base="withOptionalSequence">
    <sequence>
     <sequence>
      <!-- Note that there are no elements here -->
      <!-- Is it possible to omit this sequence all together? -->
     </sequence>
     <sequence>
      <element ref="e4"/>
     </sequence>
    </sequence>
   </restriction>
  </complexType>
 </element>

</schema>

Questions:
1. Should I omit the empty sequence in the restricted type?
2. Should I omit the inner sequence?

Thanks for any help,
Michael Shapiro

Received on Thursday, 17 May 2001 15:25:19 UTC