Using the Component Dependencies function for XML Schema
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 8:53 pm
I am trying to understand the Component Dependencies function in oXygen XML Editor 18.1. It seems like it might help me in my current project, which involves maintaining a set of XML schemas. The oXygen Help has just a very brief description of this function that does not fully explain its purpose nor its results. I've spent quite a while trying to figure it out, but I still do not understand it well enough to use it effectively.
Is there a complete description of this function someplace that I can access? If so, that might be all I need.
If not, why does the dependencies tree vary depending on the order in which I open the folds? I would have thought that if I opened all the folds, I would end up with the exact same tree, regardless of the order in which I opened them, assuming, of course, that I start with the same component, which I have been doing.
I thought that perhaps it was trying to minimize clutter by only showing a given branch of the tree once, even if more than one component references that branch. But that does not seem to be the case. There are entire branches shown on the tree when I open the folds in one sequence that are completely missing when I open the folds in another sequence.
Perhaps I just do not understand the purpose of this function. I am trying to use it to find every element that can contain a given element or attribute. This schema set is very modular, with several small schema files, with several <include>s and <import>s interlinking them, and multiple levels of data types and groups. So drilling down through all the references to figure out where any given element or attribute can show up in an instance XML document is quite tedious and error-prone. I'm hoping that this Component Dependencies function can do some of that analysis for me. But so far I don't see how I can trust its results.
Thanks!
Earl Morton
Is there a complete description of this function someplace that I can access? If so, that might be all I need.
If not, why does the dependencies tree vary depending on the order in which I open the folds? I would have thought that if I opened all the folds, I would end up with the exact same tree, regardless of the order in which I opened them, assuming, of course, that I start with the same component, which I have been doing.
I thought that perhaps it was trying to minimize clutter by only showing a given branch of the tree once, even if more than one component references that branch. But that does not seem to be the case. There are entire branches shown on the tree when I open the folds in one sequence that are completely missing when I open the folds in another sequence.
Perhaps I just do not understand the purpose of this function. I am trying to use it to find every element that can contain a given element or attribute. This schema set is very modular, with several small schema files, with several <include>s and <import>s interlinking them, and multiple levels of data types and groups. So drilling down through all the references to figure out where any given element or attribute can show up in an instance XML document is quite tedious and error-prone. I'm hoping that this Component Dependencies function can do some of that analysis for me. But so far I don't see how I can trust its results.
Thanks!
Earl Morton