This was originally posted on http://geekswithblogs.net/bconlon/archive/2014/03/05/xsd-1.1-support-in-liquid-xml-2014.aspx.
I've just got round to looking at Liquid XML 2014. I have been tasked with investigating W3C XML Schema 1.1 standard (XSD 1.1) and as if by magic Liquid Technologies have provided 1.1 support in their excellent XML Schema Editor. Here is what they say...
XML Schema 1.1 Support
The Liquid XML Schema model now supports the XSD 1.1 standard. This adds many useful constructs including asserts, openContent and alternatives. These constructs can be modeled and edited graphically, and XML 1.1 compliant instance documents can then be validated against XSD 1.1 schemas.
Choice of XSD Engines
The XML and XSD validation processor has been completely re-written for 2014. It now supports a plugin architecture making it possible to select the validation engine to be used for XML schema and XML document validation. These validation engines also operate asynchronously providing background validation as you type. The 2014 edition supports the .NET 4.0 XSD Engine, and the Xerces XSD Engine.
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So they are now providing an option to use the Xerces engine for XSD 1.1 support. You can still choose the .NET engine for XSD 1.0 support, the .NET engine appears a little more strict, but as I discussed out in a previous post, it is unlikely Microsoft will support XSD 1.1 in .NET any time soon.
However, the major improvements are the new XSD 1.1 features within the graphical Design view where you can now graphically add XSD 1.1 specific options. I have only really scratched the surface so far, but the improved interface makes things a lot easier, which I guess is the point.
I also like the new inline XSD properties and annotations, this really simplifies things as you can see everything without having to look at the properties or documentation windows and is especially useful when you print your schema out.
One other thing I really like in the 2014 version is the improved support of type restrictions. You can now graphically see which items have been restricted in a derived type. This is really useful when you are looking at a complex schema and cannot figure out why you can't add a particular item into your XML document without an error.
In summary, I really like Liquid XML 2014. The new features are very useful rather than just a gimmick as in other software upgrades I have seen recently.
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