This specification defines the Document Object Model Abstract Schemas and Load and Save Level 3, a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents.

1. Abstract Schemas Object Model

Editors:: Ben Chang, Oracle; Elena Litani, IBM; Joe Kesselman, IBM (until September 2001); Rezaur Rahman, Intel Corporation (until July 2001)

1.1. Overview
- 1.1.1. General Characteristics
- 1.1.2. Use Cases and Requirements
1.2. Issue List
- 1.2.1. Open Issues
- 1.2.2. Resolved Issues
1.3. Abstract Schema API
1.4. Validation and Other Interfaces
- ASException, ASExceptionCode, DocumentAS, DOMImplementationAS
1.5. Document-Editing Interfaces
- DocumentEditAS, NodeEditAS, ElementEditAS, CharacterDataEditAS
1.6. Editing and Generating an Abstract Schema
1.7. Abstract Schema-directed Document Manipulation
1.8. Validating a Document Against an Abstract Schema
1.9. Well-formedness Testing
1.10. Load and Save for Abstract Schemas
- ASDOMBuilder, ASDOMWriter

1.1. Overview

This chapter describes the optional DOM Level 3 Abstract Schemas (AS) feature. This module provides a representation for XML abstract schemas, e.g., DTDs [XML 1.0] and XML Schemas [XML Schema Part 0], together with operations on the abstract schemas, and how such information within the abstract schemas could be applied to XML documents used in both the document editing and abstract schema editing worlds.

A DOM application can use the hasFeature method of the DOMImplementation interface to determine whether a given DOM supports these capabilities or not. This module defines 3 feature strings: "AS-READ" for read only access to abstract schemas, "AS-EDIT" editing of abstract schemas, and "AS-DOC" for document-editing interfaces.

This chapter interacts strongly with Document Object Model Load and Save. Not only will that code serialize/deserialize abstract schemas, but it may also wind up defining its well-formedness and validity checks in terms of what is defined in this chapter. In addition, the AS and Load/Save functional areas uses the error-reporting mechanism allowing user-registered error callbacks introduced in [DOM Level 3 Core]. Note that this may not imply that the parser actually calls the DOM's validation code -- it may be able to achieve better performance via its own -- but the appearance to the user should probably be "as if" the DOM has been asked to validate the document, and parsers should probably be able to validate newly loaded documents in terms of a previously loaded DOM AS.

Finally, this chapter will have separate sections to address the needs of the document-editing and AS-editing worlds, along with a section that details overlapping areas such as validation. In this manner, the document-editing world's focuses on editing aspects and usage of information in the AS are made distinct from the AS-editing world's focuses on defining and manipulating the information in the AS.

1.1.1. General Characteristics

In the October 9, 1997 DOM requirements document, the following appeared: "There will be a way to determine the presence of a DTD. There will be a way to add, remove, and change declarations in the underlying DTD (if available). There will be a way to test conformance of all or part of the given document against a DTD (if available)." In later discussions, the following was added, "There will be a way to query element/attribute (and maybe other) declarations in the underlying DTD (if available)," supplementing the primitive support for these in Level 1.

That work was deferred past Level 2, in the hope that XML Schemas would be addressed as well. It is anticipated that lowest common denominator general APIs generated in this chapter can support both DTDs and XML Schemas, and other XML abstract schemas down the road.

The kinds of information that an Abstract Schema must make available are mostly self-evident from the definitions of Infoset, DTDs, and XML Schemas. Note that some kinds of information on which the DOM already relies, e.g., default values for attributes, will finally be given a visible representation here.

1.1.2. Use Cases and Requirements

The abstract schema referenced in these use cases/requirements is an abstraction and does not refer solely to DTDs or XML Schemas.

For the AS-editing and document-editing worlds, the following use cases and requirements are common to both and could be labeled as the "Validation and Other Common Functionality" section:

Use Cases:

CU1. Associating an abstract schema with a document, or changing the current association.
CU2. Using the same abstract schema with several documents, without having to reload it.

Requirements:

CR1. Validate against the abstract schema.
CR2. Retrieve information from abstract schema.
CR3. Load an existing abstract schema, perhaps independently from a document.
CR4. Being able to determine if a document has an abstract schema associated with it.
CR5. Associate an AS with a document and make it the active AS.

Specific to the AS-editing world, the following are use cases and requirements and could be labeled as the "AS-editing" section:

Use Cases:

ASU1. Clone/map all or parts of an existing abstract schema to a new or existing abstract schema.
ASU2. Save an abstract schema in a separate file. For example, if a DTD can be broken up into reusable pieces, which are then brought in via entity references, these can then be saved in a separate file. Note that a DTD, which may include both an internal and external subset, would be an example of an abstract schema.
ASU3. Modify an existing abstract schema.
ASU4. Create a new abstract schema.

Requirements:

ASR1. View and modify all parts of the abstract schema.
ASR2. Validate the abstract schema itself.
ASR3. Serialize the abstract schema.
ASR4. Clone all or parts of an existing abstract schema.
ASR5. Create a new abstract schema object.
ASR6. Validate portions of the XML document against the abstract schema.

Specific to the document-editing world, the following are use cases and requirements and could be labeled as the "Document-editing" section:

Use Cases:

DU1. For editing documents with an associated abstract schema, provide the guidance necessary so that valid documents can be modified and remain valid.
DU2. For editing documents with an associated abstract schema, provide the guidance necessary to transform an invalid document into a valid one.

Requirements:

DR1. Be able to determine if the document is well-formed, and if not, be given enough guidance to locate the error.
DR2. Be able to determine if the document is namespace well-formed, and if not, be given enough guidance to locate the error.
DR3. Be able to determine if the document is valid with respect to its associated abstract schema.
DR4. Be able to determine if specific modifications to a document would make it become invalid.
DR5. Retrieve information from all abstract schemas. One example might be getting a list of all the defined element names for document editing purposes.

1.2. Issue List

1.2.1. Open Issues

Issue AS-Issue-8:: For Abstract Schemas interfaces (AS-READ/AS-EDIT) there should be no dependency on DOM Core. How can we remove inheritance between DOMImplementationAS and DOMImplementation?
Issue AS-Issue-9:: ASDatatype. Can we remove OTHER_SIMPLE_DATATYPE, COMPLEX_DATATYPE?
Issue AS-Issue-10:: ASDatatype. Do we need to add ANY_TYPE, ANY_SIMPLETYPE?
Issue AS-Issue-11:: ASWObjectList is live. What does it mean for ASObjectList to be live?
Issue AS-Issue-12:: Should we rename ASAttributeDecl.defaultType attribute to constraintType?
Issue AS-Issue-13:: Should default value constraint be added to ASDataType? This would include defaultType constraint and defaultValue.
Issue AS-Issue-14:: Clarify what exactly ASWModel represents: does it represent "a schema" as defined in XML Schema or a schema document? If it represents a "document" we should consider removing inheritance between ASModel and ASWModel interfaces (the inheritance between components should be kept).
Issue AS-Issue-15:: Is there any need for ASWModel.insertASObject method? Can we remove this method?
Issue AS-Issue-16:: Since each object carries a namespace do we need setNamedItemNS and removeNamedItemNS methods on ASWObjectList?
Issue AS-Issue-17:: Is there need for separation between ASObject.rawname and ASObject.name? Can "name" be defined as one attribute? If we need to keep ASObject.rawname, can we come up with another name? Qualified name can not be used because it does not include multiple colons. Also, the factory method have parameter name, should those include rawname as well?
Issue AS-Issue-18:: ASDOMBuilder allows to parse a schema document. The return type is ASWModel. This means that implementation that want to implement Loading of schemas must implement AS-EDIT. The return type should be a read-only object.
Issue AS-Issue-19:: ASDOMBuilder.abstractSchema allows to set a schema on a parser instance. How can user set multiple schemas?
Issue AS-Issue-20:: Does ASDOMWriter write a DTD or an XML Schema (or something else)? Is it possible to use this method to convert a DTD to an XML Schema?
Issue AS-Issue-21:: The constants have a common suffix. Would not it easier to find the constants within same group alphabetically? In other words, should constants include common prefix instead?
Issue AS-Issue-22:: DOMImplementationAS.createASModel takes as a parameter schemaType. What happens if user specifies null for the schemaType?

1.2.2. Resolved Issues

Issue AS-Issue-1:: Should we add a constant for a datatype? Should ASDataType inherit from ASObject?
Resolution: ASObject does not need to model datatypes.
Issue AS-Issue-2:: INTERNAL_SUBSET, EXTERNAL_SUBSET, INTERNAL_ENTITY and EXTERNAL_ENTITY seem to carry the same meaning. Should _ENTITY constants be removed?
Resolution: No. The constants are used for different purposes and on different interfaces. It would be confusing for users to have same constant for 2 different purposes.
Issue AS-Issue-3:: Some components in Abstract Schema do not have name. ASObject serves as a base component for the model. Should it include names/namespace fields?
Resolution: Yes. It gives more flexibility to a user while manipulating/accessing objects in a list: no cast to type-specific interface is needed.
Issue AS-Issue-4:: We should remove ASElementDecl.isPCDataOnly and corresponding setPCDataOnly methods. Instead, lets introduce SIMPLE content type that will represent PCDataOnly for DTDs. In general, simple content means that conent consists only of character data (there are no elements in the content).
Resolution: Remove isPCDataOnly methods. Add SIMPLE_CONTENTTYPE constant.
Issue AS-Issue-5:: ASAttributeDecl.enumData is DTD only field. Can we remove this field?
Resolution: No.
Issue AS-Issue-6:: ASAttributeDecl.ownerElements became a readonly field. Implementation are expected to compute this field.
Resolution: Yes, this should be a readonly field.
Issue AS-Issue-7:: For the RW AS editing interfaces, exceptions need to be thrown for such operations if the AS-READ feature string is set.
Resolution: No. The implementation will always support AS-EDIT in this mode, no changing back and forth

1.2.2.1. General Issues

Issue I1:: Some concerns exist regarding whether a single abstract Abstract Schema structure can successfully represent both namespace-unaware, e.g., DTD, and namespace-aware, e.g., XML Schema, models of document's content. For example, when you ask what elements can be inserted in a specific place, the former will report the element's QName, e.g., foo:bar, whereas the latter will report its namespace and local name, e.g., {http://my.namespace}bar. We have added the NamespaceAware attribute to the generic AS object to help applications determine which of these fields are important, but we are still analyzing this challenge. Nonetheless, after much discussion, we have made the decision that only 1 active ASModel is allowed, even on ASDOMBuilder (the parser would set the 1 active schema).
Issue I2:: An XML document may be associated with multiple ASs. We have decided that only one of these is "active" (for validation and guidance) at a time. DOM applications may switch which AS is active, remove ASs that are no longer relevant, or add ASs to the list. If it becomes necessary to simultaneously consult more than one AS, it should be possible to write a "union" AS which provides that capability within this framework.
Issue I3:: Round-trippability for include/ignore statements and other constructs such as parameter entities, e.g., "macro-like" constructs, will not be supported since no data representation exists to support these constructs without having to re-parse them.
Resolution: Won't deal w/this
Issue I4:: Basic interface for a common error handler for both AS and Load/Save. Agreement has been to utilize user-registered callbacks but other details to be worked out. Moved to a separate chapter by Load/Save team.
Issue I5:: Add the ability to cache/edit an imported abstract schema instead of loading it every time, i.e., don't want to include the abstract schema every time. Implementations can do this without having this formalized though.
Issue I6:: Add a read-only feature string AS-QUERY, along with query methods on the abstract schema. In more detail, there are methods that let you *query* the schema as well as those that let you modify the schema and these should be a feature, i.e., AS-QUERY: Abstract Schema objects with query interfaces.
Resolution: Won't deal w/this for now.
Issue I7:: Have the NodeEditAS.can*(), CharacterDataEditAS.can*() , and ElementEditAS.can*() methods throw exceptions like the isNodeValid() method. Resolution: no exceptions should be thrown; it should be allowed if it's not forbidden. Better descriptions are in order for the true/false returns.
Issue I8:: Rename the document-editing interfaces so they should have uniform names such as NodeEditAS, DocumentEditAS, ElementEditAS, etc.
Issue I9:: Remove the ASDOMStringList interface; create a new interface for document editing, which is a slimmed down version of ElementEditAS; add a slimmed down method to get an ElementEditAS. Elena to examine.
Issue I10:: If another ASModel is activated, will there be cleanup done to remove the previous ASModel's default attributes and entity definitions, if any? AS ET members felt that whatever is done implementation-wise, correct behavior should result.
Issue I11:: List of ASExceptions in the AS spec thus far: INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR, DUPLICATE_NAME_ERR, VALIDATION_ERR.
Issue I12:: Should names/namespaces of the various declarations be mutable during AS editing? AS ET agreed they should and are awaiting action by the XML CORE team. Will be done in CORE.
Issue I13:: AS ET thinks the validate method and the error handler should be on Document, in CORE. If this doesn't happen, it needs to be on DocumentAS. It was decided that the validate method be on DocumentAS.
Issue I14:: If entities are changed in the ASWModel, the underlying model is unchanged until normalization.
Issue I15:: Add option to control whether DOM AS is built from this document - solution is that the model is loaded (if there is one) and can be retrieved through the DocumentAS interface.
Issue I16:: There is a way to add a new schema file to the existing active compound schema via addASWModel().
Issue I17:: Altering the document during error reporting, or mutation during validation terminates validation, and a warning will be produced if this happens.
Issue I18:: Proposal needed to rename the asHint, asLocation attributes and tie that into how to describe an ASWModel container of other ASWModels.
Issue I19:: Proposal to revise getElementDecl method and introduce other methods on the DocumentAS interface, such as getAttributeDecl, getNotationDecl, getEntityDecl. Some have mentioned that that these methods should better be added on ASWModel to distinguish between where these declarations came from, the internal or external subset. RESOLUTION: added get*Decl methods on DocumentAS.
Issue I20:: If implementation doesn't support AS-editing, need to have each set method throw an unsupported exception. DONE.
Issue I21:: Notion of read-only AS to be discussed. Currently, the activeASModel is read/write. Need to see where appropriate exceptions need to be thrown in a read-only AS. The methods affected are the following: addASWModel, removeAS, importASObject, insertASObject, removedNamedItem, setNamedItem, addASWAttributeDecl, removeASWAttributeDecl, removesubModel, insertBeforesubModel, appendsubModel, setInternalAS, addAS, removeAS. For a read-only AS, the NO_MODIFICATION exception would be thrown when the feature string AS-READ is set.
Resolution: The interfaces for Abstract Schema were split into read and read/write. New feature string introduced "AS-READ".
Issue I22:: For developers, need to keep ASWElementDecl in sync for both an ASWModel and ASWContentModel, if operations modify the ASWElementDecl. Documentation was added in the ASWElementDecl editing methods to reflect this.
Issue I23:: Need to clarify the descriptions on the ASWModel internal/external subset and "global" attributes. Need to also introduce the concept of a dummy element declaration and dummy constant for element types not yet declared but appearing in the content model of another element type.
Issue I24:: Is there a need for ElementEditAS.getASWElementDecl()? No longer in existence.
Issue I25:: What happens when a user adds DOCTYPE nodes, when do you create a DOCTYPE after a change in ASWModel or after the document has been created? The "can be resolved" is done via the "normalizeDocument" method since it will be able to update the DOCTYPE node according to the abstractschema.
Issue I26:: TO BE DONE: Need to add a table for ASObject that is analogous to the table in DOM CORE for Node.
Issue I27:: TO BE DONE: "Unknown" validity needs to be accounted for validity states.
Issue I28:: Why have both setNamedItemNS and setNamedItem; and removeNameItemNS and removeNamedItem? One set can be eliminated, but CORE has similar functionality.

1.3. Abstract Schema API

This section defines APIs for accessing, manipulating and modifying an abstract schema (database schema, DTD, XML Schema).

1.3.1. Basic Abstract Schema Interfaces

The set of Abstract Schema interfaces that are common for AS-READ and AS-EDIT.

Interface ASConstants

This interface defines a set of constants used in AS model.

IDL Definition

interface ASConstants {

  // ASObject Types
  const unsigned short      ELEMENT_DECLARATION            = 1;
  const unsigned short      ATTRIBUTE_DECLARATION          = 2;
  const unsigned short      NOTATION_DECLARATION           = 3;
  const unsigned short      ENTITY_DECLARATION             = 4;
  const unsigned short      CONTENT_MODEL                  = 5;
  const unsigned short      SCHEMA_MODEL                   = 6;


  // Schema Model types
  const unsigned short      INTERNAL_SUBSET                = 30;
  const unsigned short      EXTERNAL_SUBSET                = 31;
  const unsigned short      NOT_USED                       = 32;


  // Entity Types
  const unsigned short      INTERNAL_ENTITY                = 33;
  const unsigned short      EXTERNAL_ENTITY                = 34;


  // Content Model Types
  const unsigned short      EMPTY_CONTENTTYPE              = 40;
  const unsigned short      SIMPLE_CONTENTTYPE             = 41;
  const unsigned short      ELEMENT_CONTENTTYPE            = 42;
  const unsigned short      MIXED_CONTENTTYPE              = 43;
  const unsigned short      ANY_CONTENTTYPE                = 44;


  // Content model compositors
  const unsigned short      SEQUENCE_CM                    = 50;
  const unsigned short      CHOICE_CM                      = 51;
  const unsigned short      ALL_CM                         = 52;
  const unsigned short      UNDEFINED_CM                   = 53;
  const unsigned short      ATOMIC_CM                      = 54;


  // Value Constraint
  const unsigned short      NONE_VC                        = 0;
  const unsigned short      DEFAULT_VC                     = 60;
  const unsigned short      FIXED_VC                       = 61;
  const unsigned short      REQUIRED_VC                    = 62;


  // Definition of unbounded
  const unsigned long       UNBOUNDED                      = MAX_VALUE;
};

Definition group ASObject Types

An integer indicating which type of ASConstants this is.

Defined Constants

ATTRIBUTE_DECLARATION: The object describes an attribute declaration.
CONTENT_MODEL: The object describes a content model definition.
ELEMENT_DECLARATION: The object describes an element declaration.
ENTITY_DECLARATION: The object describes an entity declaration.
NOTATION_DECLARATION: The object describes a notation declaration.
SCHEMA_MODEL: The object describes a schema model.

Definition group Schema Model types

A code representing how the ASModel is used.

Defined Constants

EXTERNAL_SUBSET: The ASModel is used as an external subset.
INTERNAL_SUBSET: The ASModel is used as an internal subset.
NOT_USED: The ASModel is neither used as an internal or external subset.

Definition group Entity Types

An integer indicating which type of entity this is.

Defined Constants

EXTERNAL_ENTITY: A constant defining an external entity.
INTERNAL_ENTITY: A constant defining an internal entity.

Definition group Content Model Types

A code representing the type of content model.

Defined Constants

ANY_CONTENTTYPE: Represents an ANY content type for an Element declaration.
ELEMENT_CONTENTTYPE: Represents an element-only content type. An element-only content type validates elements with children that conform to the supplied content model.
EMPTY_CONTENTTYPE: Represents an EMPTY content type for an Element declaration. A content type with the distinguished value empty validates elements with no character or element information item children.
MIXED_CONTENTTYPE: Represents a MIXED content type for an Element declaration.
SIMPLE_CONTENTTYPE: The content model type simple. A content type which is a simple validates elements with character-only children.

Definition group Content model compositors

List of content model compositors.

Defined Constants

ALL_CM: This content model represents a simplified version of the SGML &-Connector and is limited to the top-level of any content model. No element in the content model may appear more than once. Please refer to the definition element-all.
ATOMIC_CM: In this content model the subModel includes a single definition.
CHOICE_CM: This constant value signifies a choice operator. For example, in a DTD, this would be the '|' operator.
SEQUENCE_CM: This constant value signifies a sequence operator. For example, in a DTD, this would be the ',' operator.
UNDEFINED_CM: This content model is undefined, and is associated with incomplete element declarations in the ASModel, meaning elements implicitly declared through an attribute list but without any corresponding element declarations.

Definition group Value Constraint

Defined Constants

DEFAULT_VC: Indicates that there is a default value constraint.
FIXED_VC: Indicates that there is a fixed value constraint for this attribute.
NONE_VC: Describes that the component does not have any value constraint.
REQUIRED_VC: Indicates that attribute is required.

Definition group Definition of unbounded

Defined Constants

UNBOUNDED: Signifies unbounded upper limit for a content model. The MAX_VALUE value is 0xFFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF.
(ED: This needs to be better defined in the generated bindings.)

Interface ASObject

The ASObject interface is analogous to a Node in [DOM Level 3 Core], e.g., an element declaration.

IDL Definition

interface ASObject {
  readonly attribute unsigned short  objectType;
  readonly attribute ASModel         ownerModel;
  readonly attribute DOMString       rawname;
  readonly attribute DOMString       name;
  readonly attribute DOMString       namespace;
  ASObject           cloneASObject(in boolean deep)
                                        raises(ASException);
};

Attributes

name of type DOMString, readonly: The name of type NCName of this declaration as defined in [XML Namespaces].
namespace of type DOMString, readonly: The namespace URI of this object, or null if it is unspecified. [XML Schema Part 1]defines how a namespace URI is attached to schema components.
objectType of type unsigned short, readonly: The type of this object, ei. ELEMENT_DECLARATION.
ownerModel of type ASModel, readonly: The ASModel object associated with this ASObject. For a object of type AS_MODEL, this is null.
rawname of type DOMString, readonly: The rawname of this declaration of type Name as defined in [XML 1.0]. This value will be available only for schemas that allow to declare name of type Name.

Methods

cloneASObject

Creates a copy of this ASObject. See text for cloneNode off of Node but substitute AS functionality.

Parameters

deep of type boolean: Setting the deep flag on, causes the whole subtree to be duplicated. Setting it to false only duplicates its immediate child nodes.

Return Value

ASObject

Cloned ASObject.

Exceptions

ASException

NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: Raised if implementation doesn't support AS-EDIT.

Interface ASDataType

The datatypes supported by DOM AS implementations. Further datatypes may be added in the Schema/PSVI spec.

IDL Definition

interface ASDataType {
  readonly attribute unsigned short  dataType;

  // DATA_TYPES
  const unsigned short      STRING_DATATYPE                = 1;
  const unsigned short      NOTATION_DATATYPE              = 10;
  const unsigned short      ID_DATATYPE                    = 11;
  const unsigned short      IDREF_DATATYPE                 = 12;
  const unsigned short      IDREFS_DATATYPE                = 13;
  const unsigned short      ENTITY_DATATYPE                = 14;
  const unsigned short      ENTITIES_DATATYPE              = 15;
  const unsigned short      NMTOKEN_DATATYPE               = 16;
  const unsigned short      NMTOKENS_DATATYPE              = 17;
  const unsigned short      BOOLEAN_DATATYPE               = 100;
  const unsigned short      FLOAT_DATATYPE                 = 101;
  const unsigned short      DOUBLE_DATATYPE                = 102;
  const unsigned short      DECIMAL_DATATYPE               = 103;
  const unsigned short      HEXBINARY_DATATYPE             = 104;
  const unsigned short      BASE64BINARY_DATATYPE          = 105;
  const unsigned short      ANYURI_DATATYPE                = 106;
  const unsigned short      QNAME_DATATYPE                 = 107;
  const unsigned short      DURATION_DATATYPE              = 108;
  const unsigned short      DATETIME_DATATYPE              = 109;
  const unsigned short      DATE_DATATYPE                  = 110;
  const unsigned short      TIME_DATATYPE                  = 111;
  const unsigned short      GYEARMONTH_DATATYPE            = 112;
  const unsigned short      GYEAR_DATATYPE                 = 113;
  const unsigned short      GMONTHDAY_DATATYPE             = 114;
  const unsigned short      GDAY_DATATYPE                  = 115;
  const unsigned short      GMONTH_DATATYPE                = 116;
  const unsigned short      INTEGER                        = 117;
  const unsigned short      NAME_DATATYPE                  = 200;
  const unsigned short      NCNAME_DATATYPE                = 201;
  const unsigned short      NORMALIZEDSTRING_DATATYPE      = 202;
  const unsigned short      TOKEN_DATATYPE                 = 203;
  const unsigned short      LANGUAGE_DATATYPE              = 204;
  const unsigned short      NONPOSITIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE    = 205;
  const unsigned short      NEGATIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE       = 206;
  const unsigned short      LONG_DATATYPE                  = 207;
  const unsigned short      INT_DATATYPE                   = 208;
  const unsigned short      SHORT_DATATYPE                 = 209;
  const unsigned short      BYTE_DATATYPE                  = 210;
  const unsigned short      NONNEGATIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE    = 211;
  const unsigned short      UNSIGNEDLONG_DATATYPE          = 212;
  const unsigned short      UNSIGNEDINT_DATATYPE           = 213;
  const unsigned short      UNSIGNEDSHORT_DATATYPE         = 214;
  const unsigned short      UNSIGNEDBYTE_DATATYPE          = 215;
  const unsigned short      POSITIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE       = 216;
  const unsigned short      ANYSIMPLETYPE_DATATYPE         = 216;
  const unsigned short      ANYTYPE_DATATYPE               = 216;
};

Definition group DATA_TYPES

An integer indicating which datatype this is.

Defined Constants

ANYSIMPLETYPE_DATATYPE: A code representing a anySimpleType data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
ANYTYPE_DATATYPE: A code representing a anyType data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
ANYURI_DATATYPE: A code representing an uri reference data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
BASE64BINARY_DATATYPE: A code representing a base64binary data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
BOOLEAN_DATATYPE: A code representing the boolean data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
BYTE_DATATYPE: A code representing a byte data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
DATETIME_DATATYPE: A code representing a datetime data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
DATE_DATATYPE: A code representing a date data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
DECIMAL_DATATYPE: A code representing a decimal data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
DOUBLE_DATATYPE: A code representing the double data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
DURATION_DATATYPE: A code representing a duration data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
ENTITIES_DATATYPE: A code representing a ENTITIES data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
ENTITY_DATATYPE: A code representing a ENTITY data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
FLOAT_DATATYPE: A code representing the float data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
GDAY_DATATYPE: A code representing a day data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
GMONTHDAY_DATATYPE: A code representing a monthday data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
GMONTH_DATATYPE: A code representing a month data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
GYEARMONTH_DATATYPE: A code representing a yearmonth data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
GYEAR_DATATYPE: A code representing a year data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
HEXBINARY_DATATYPE: A code representing a hexbinary data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
IDREFS_DATATYPE: A code representing a IDREFS data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
IDREF_DATATYPE: A code representing a IDREF data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
ID_DATATYPE: A code representing a ID data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
INTEGER: A code representing a integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
INT_DATATYPE: A code representing a integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
LANGUAGE_DATATYPE: A code representing a Language data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
LONG_DATATYPE: A code representing an long data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NAME_DATATYPE: A code representing the Name data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NCNAME_DATATYPE: A code representing the NCName data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NEGATIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE: A code representing an negative integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NMTOKENS_DATATYPE: A code representing a NMTOKENS data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NMTOKEN_DATATYPE: A code representing a NMTOKEN data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NONNEGATIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE: A code representing a non-negative integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NONPOSITIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE: A code representing a Non-positive integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NORMALIZEDSTRING_DATATYPE: A code representing the Normalized string data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
NOTATION_DATATYPE: A code representing a NOTATION data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
POSITIVEINTEGER_DATATYPE: A code representing a positive integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
QNAME_DATATYPE: A code representing an XML qualified name data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
SHORT_DATATYPE: A code representing a short data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
STRING_DATATYPE: A code representing the string data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
TIME_DATATYPE: A code representing a time data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
TOKEN_DATATYPE: A code representing a token data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
UNSIGNEDBYTE_DATATYPE: A code representing a unsigned byte data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
UNSIGNEDINT_DATATYPE: A code representing a unsigned integer data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
UNSIGNEDLONG_DATATYPE: A code representing a unsigned long data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].
UNSIGNEDSHORT_DATATYPE: A code representing a unsigned short data type as defined in [XML Schema Part 2].

Attributes

dataType of type unsigned short, readonly: One of the enumerated codes representing the data type.

Interface ASObjectList

The ASObjectList interface provides the abstraction of an ordered collection of AS objects, without defining or constraining how this collection is implemented. ASObjectList objects in the DOM AS are live.

IDL Definition

interface ASObjectList {
  readonly attribute unsigned long   length;
  ASObject           item(in unsigned long index);
};

Attributes

length of type unsigned long, readonly: The number of ASObjects in the list. The range of valid child object indices is 0 to length-1 inclusive.

Methods

item

Returns the indexth item in the collection. The index starts at 0. If index is greater than or equal to the number of objects in the list, this returns null.

Parameters

index of type unsigned long: index into the collection.

Return Value

ASObject

The ASObjectat the indexth position in the ASObjectList, or null if that is not a valid index.

No Exceptions

Interface ASNamedObjectMap

Objects implementing the ASNamedObjectMap interface are used to represent collections of abstract schema objects that can be accessed by name. Note that ASNamedObjectMap does not inherit from ASObjectList; ASNamedObjectMaps are not maintained in any particular order.

IDL Definition

interface ASNamedObjectMap {
  readonly attribute unsigned long   length;
  ASObject           item(in unsigned long index);
  ASObject           getNamedItem(in DOMString name);
  ASObject           getNamedItemNS(in DOMString namespaceURI, 
                                    in DOMString localName);
};

Attributes

length of type unsigned long, readonly: The number of ASObjects in the ASObjectList. The range of valid child object indices is 0 to length-1 inclusive.

Methods

getNamedItem

Retrieves an ASObject specified by name.

Parameters

name of type DOMString: The objectName of an ASObject to retrieve.

Return Value

ASObject

An ASObject with specified object name and null if the map does not contain an element with the given name.

No Exceptions

getNamedItemNS

Retrieves a node specified by local name and namespace URI.
Per [XML Namespaces], applications must use the value null as the namespaceURI parameter for methods if they wish to have no namespace.

Parameters

namespaceURI of type DOMString: The namespace URI of the node to retrieve.
localName of type DOMString: The local name of the node to retrieve.

Return Value

ASObject

A ASObject (of any type) with the specified local name and namespace URI, or null if they do not identify any node in this map.

No Exceptions

item

Returns the indexth item in the collection. The index starts at 0. If index is greater than or equal to the number of objects in the list, this returns null.

Parameters

index of type unsigned long: index into the collection.

Return Value

ASObject

The ASObject at the indexth position in the ASObjectList, or null if that is not a valid index.

No Exceptions

1.3.2. Read Only Abstract Schemas interfaces

The interfaces in this section provide a read-only access to abstract schemas.

A DOM application may use the hasFeature(feature, version) method of the DOMImplementation interface with parameter values "AS-READ" and "3.0" (respectively) to determine whether or not this module is supported by the implementation.

Interface ASModel

A read-only interface that represents an abstract schema.

IDL Definition

interface ASModel : ASObject {
  readonly attribute boolean         namespaceAware;
  readonly attribute unsigned short  usage;
  readonly attribute DOMString       location;
  readonly attribute DOMString       hint;
  readonly attribute boolean         container;
  ASNamedObjectMap   getComponents(in unsigned short objectType);

  // Convenience method to retrive named top-level declarations

  ASElementDecl      getElementDecl(in DOMString name, 
                                    in DOMString targetNamespace);
  ASAttributeDecl    getAttributeDecl(in DOMString name, 
                                      in DOMString targetNamespace);
  ASEntityDecl       getEntityDecl(in DOMString name);
  ASNotationDecl     getNotationDecl(in DOMString name, 
                                     in DOMString targetNamespace);
};

Definition group Convenience method to retrive named top-level declarations

Attributes

container of type boolean, readonly: If usage is EXTERNAL_SUBSET or NOT_USED, then the ASModel is simply a container of other ASModels.
hint of type DOMString, readonly: The hint to locating an ASModel. For example, if an ASModel modeled a DTD, this could represent the public identifier; if an ASModel modeled a XML schema, this could represent a target namespace of a schema document. This attribute can also be NULL.
location of type DOMString, readonly: The URI reference. For example, if an ASModel modeled a DTD, this could represent the system identifier; if an ASModel modeled a XML schema, this could act as a hint to the location of a schema document. In addition, if a system identifier doesn't exist for an internet subset, then this attribute can be NULL.
namespaceAware of type boolean, readonly: true if this ASModel defines the document structure is namespace-aware [XML Namespaces]; false if the document structure is non-namespace-aware.
usage of type unsigned short, readonly: Uses INTERNAL_SUBSET, EXTERNAL_SUBSET, or NOT_USED. An exception will be raised if it is incompatibly shared or in use as an internal subset.

Methods

getAttributeDecl

Returns a top-level attribute declaration.

Parameters

name of type DOMString: The name of the declaration.
targetNamespace of type DOMString: The namespace of the declaration, otherwise null.

Return Value

ASAttributeDecl

A top-level attribute declaration or null if such declaration does not exist.

No Exceptions

getComponents

Returns a list of top-level component declarations: ei. element declarations, attribute declarations, etc.

Parameters

objectType of type unsigned short: The type of the declaration: ELEMENT_DECLARATION, ATTRIBUTE_DECLARATION, etc.
The parameter value SCHEMA_MODEL will retrieve a list of nested or imported ASModels if such list is available.

Return Value

ASNamedObjectMap

A list of top-level definition of the specified type in objectType or null.

No Exceptions

getElementDecl

Returns a top-level element declaration.

Parameters

name of type DOMString: The name of the declaration.
targetNamespace of type DOMString: The namespace of the declaration, otherwise null.

Return Value

ASElementDecl

A top-level element declaration or null if such declaration does not exist.

No Exceptions

getEntityDecl

Returns an entity declaration.

Parameters

name of type DOMString: The name of the declaration.

Return Value

ASEntityDecl

An entity declaration or null if such declaration does not exist.

No Exceptions

getNotationDecl

Returns a top-level notation declaration.

Parameters

name of type DOMString: The name of the declaration.
targetNamespace of type DOMString: The namespace of the declaration, otherwise null.

Return Value

ASNotationDecl

A top-level notation declaration or null if such declaration does not exist.

No Exceptions

Interface ASContentModel

The content model of a declared element.

IDL Definition

interface ASContentModel : ASObject {
  readonly attribute unsigned short  contentModelType;
  readonly attribute unsigned long   minOccurs;
  readonly attribute unsigned long   maxOccurs;
  readonly attribute ASObjectList    subModels;
};

Attributes

contentModelType of type unsigned short, readonly: One of CHOICE_CM, SEQUENCE_CM, ALL_CM or ATOMIC_CM. The operator is applied to all the components(ASObjects) in the the subModels. For example, if the list operator is CHOICE_CM and the components in subModels are a, b and c then the abstract schema for the element being declared is (a|b|c)
maxOccurs of type unsigned long, readonly: maximum occurrence for this content particle. Its value may be 0, a positive integer, or AS_UNBOUNDED to indicate that no upper limit has been set.
minOccurs of type unsigned long, readonly: min occurrence for this content particle. Its value may be 0 or a positive integer.
subModels of type ASObjectList, readonly: Pointers to ASObjects of the following types: ELEMENT_DECLARATION and CONTENT_MODEL.

Interface ASElementDecl

This interface represents an element declararation.

IDL Definition

interface ASElementDecl : ASObject {
  readonly attribute ASDataType      type;
  readonly attribute unsigned short  contentType;
  readonly attribute boolean         strictMixedContent;
  readonly attribute ASContentModel  contentModel;
  readonly attribute boolean         isPCDataOnly;
  readonly attribute ASNamedObjectMap attributeDecls;
  ASAttributeDecl    getAttributeDecl(in DOMString name, 
                                      in DOMString targetNamespace);
};

Attributes

attributeDecls of type ASNamedObjectMap, readonly: TheASNamedObjectMap containing ASAttributeDecls for all the attributes that can appear on this type of element.
contentModel of type ASContentModel, readonly: The content model of element.
contentType of type unsigned short, readonly: The content type of the element. One of EMPTY_CONTENTTYPE, SIMPLE_CONTENTTYPE, ELEMENT_CONTENTTYPE, MIXED_CONTENTTYPE,ANY_CONTENTTYPE.
isPCDataOnly of type boolean, readonly: Boolean defining whether the element type contains child elements and PCDATA or PCDATA only for mixed element types. true if the element is of type PCDATA only. Relevant only for mixed content type elements.
strictMixedContent of type boolean, readonly: A boolean defining whether the element order and number of the child elements for mixed content type has to be respected or not. For example XML Schema defined mixed content types the order is important and needs to be respected whether for DTD based AS the order and number of child elements are not important.
type of type ASDataType, readonly: Datatype of the element.

Methods

getAttributeDecl

A convenience method to get an attribute declaration by name.

Parameters

name of type DOMString: The name of the declaration.
targetNamespace of type DOMString: The namespace of the declaration, otherwise null.

Return Value

ASAttributeDecl

A top-level attribute declaration or null if such declaration does not exist.

No Exceptions

Interface ASAttributeDecl

An attribute declaration in the context of a ASObject.

IDL Definition

interface ASAttributeDecl : ASObject {
  readonly attribute ASDataType      type;
  readonly attribute DOMString       enumAttr;
  readonly attribute ASObjectList    ownerElementDeclarations;
  readonly attribute unsigned short  defaultType;
  readonly attribute DOMString       value;
};

Attributes

defaultType of type unsigned short, readonly: Constraint type if any for this attribute.
enumAttr of type DOMString, readonly: Valid attribute values, separated by commas, in a string.
ownerElementDeclarations of type ASObjectList, readonly: An ASObjectList of element declarations that use this ASAttributeDeclaration.
type of type ASDataType, readonly: Datatype of the attribute.
value of type DOMString, readonly: Default or fixed value or null if there is none.

Interface ASEntityDecl

Models a general entity declaration in an abstract schema.

(ED: The abstract schema does not handle any parameter entity. It is assumed that the parameter entities are expanded by the implementation as the abstract schema in built.)

IDL Definition

interface ASEntityDecl : ASObject {
  readonly attribute unsigned short  entityType;
  readonly attribute DOMString       entityValue;
  readonly attribute DOMString       systemId;
  readonly attribute DOMString       publicId;
};

Attributes

entityType of type unsigned short, readonly: One of the INTERNAL_ENTITY or EXTERNAL_ENTITY.
entityValue of type DOMString, readonly: The replacement text for the internal entity. The entity references within the replacement text are kept intact. For an entity of type EXTERNAL_ENTITY this is null.
publicId of type DOMString, readonly: The string representing the public identifier for this entity declaration, if present; null otherwise.
systemId of type DOMString, readonly: The URI reference representing the system identifier for the entity declaration, if present, null otherwise.

Interface ASNotationDecl

This interface represents a notation declaration.

IDL Definition

interf

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Abstract Schemas and Load and Save Specification

Version 1.0

W3C Working Draft 09 April 2002

Abstract

Status of this document

Table of contents

Expanded Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

W3C Document Copyright Notice and License

W3C Software Copyright Notice and License

1. Abstract Schemas Object Model

Table of contents

1.1. Overview

1.1.1. General Characteristics

1.1.2. Use Cases and Requirements

1.2. Issue List

1.2.1. Open Issues

1.2.2. Resolved Issues

1.2.2.1. General Issues

1.3. Abstract Schema API

1.3.1. Basic Abstract Schema Interfaces

1.3.2. Read Only Abstract Schemas interfaces