Hi,
In http://rs.tdwg.org/tapir/1.0/schema/tapir.xsd, the definition of the <custom> element is such that any elements may be included, however the <xsd:any> element definition does not include a "processContents" attribute, in which case a validator will use the default of "strict" which requires that a definition of the contents are available and valid (
i.e. an appropriate schema is available to validate the element content). The relevant XML schema reference is: http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-xmlschema-1-20041028/structures.html#element-any
I'm curious if that was the intent of the TAPIR design? If not, then including an attribute in <xsd:any> of processContents="lax" (validate if possible but ignore problems) or processContents="skip" (don't validate) would enable quick evaluation of TAPIR response documents using xml schema validation tools without requiring that providers explicitly include a schema defining the content of the <custom> element (which seems overly restrictive). An appropriate change could be:
<xsd:element name="custom">
<xsd:annotation>
<xsd:documentation>Extension slot for additional information not defined in the schema.</xsd:documentation>
</xsd:annotation>
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:any minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" processContents="lax" >
<xsd:annotation>
<xsd:documentation>For any custom extension. E.g what security related
capabilities does the provider have? Encryption, access restriction,
etc.</xsd:documentation>
</xsd:annotation>
</xsd:any>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
I do not believe this will change any functionality of TAPIR providers, but it will enable validation of responses such as:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<response xmlns="http://rs.tdwg.org/tapir/1.0"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://rs.tdwg.org/tapir/1.0/schema/tapir.xsd">
<header>
<source accesspoint="
http://lsid.herbimi.info/TapirDotNET/tapir.aspx/herbIMI"
sendtime="2007-11-09T05:15:05">
<software name="TapirDotNET" version="0.1 (revision )"/>
</source>
<destination>
128.111.242.127</destination>
<custom><skin>default</skin></custom>
</header>
<pong/>
</response>
which does not validate according to the current TAPIR schema.
Other places in the schema that may be a problem (because processContents is not explicitly stated) are:
/xsd:schema/xsd:group[1]/xsd:sequence[1]/xsd:element[1]/xsd:complexType[1]/xsd:choice[1]/xsd:any[1]
/xsd:schema/xsd:complexType[34]/xsd:sequence[1]
regards,
Dave V.