18

I'm trying to modify predefined xml (xsd to be more specific) in TSQL. I want to insert enumeration restriction to one of the xsd elements.

The task is to fill xsd restrictions based on a query example:

create table #list(value nvarchar(100))
insert into #list values('item 1')
insert into #list values('item 2')
insert into #list values('item 3')
insert into #list values('item 4')
insert into #list values('item 5')
insert into #list values('item 6')

declare @enumeration as xml
;with xmlnamespaces('http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema' as xs)
select @enumeration = (
    select value as '@value'
    from #list for xml path('xs:enumeration')
)

declare @schema xml
set @schema =
'<xs:schema xmlns="" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata" id="test">
    <xs:element name="test" msdata:IsDataSet="true" msdata:MainDataTable="Example" msdata:UseCurrentLocale="true">
        <xs:complexType>
            <xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
                <xs:element name="Example">
                    <xs:complexType>
                        <xs:sequence>
                            <xs:element name="myList" minOccurs="1" nillable="false">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:maxLength value="50" />
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                        </xs:sequence>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>
            </xs:choice>
        </xs:complexType>
    </xs:element>
</xs:schema>'

set @schema.modify
    ('insert sql:variable("@enumeration")
    into (//xs:element[@name=''myList'']/xs:simpleType/xs:restriction)[1]')

select @schema

The problem is that code outputs unnecessary xmlns attribute

<xs:enumeration xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" value="item 1" />

Can anyone help ?

8
  • 3
    Good luck. Remember: it's often faster to train yourself to live with unnecessary but harmless namespace declarations than to make a system stop emitting them. Commented Oct 19, 2012 at 23:56
  • 3
    Not exactly your case, but you can find the answer here. In other words: if you can't ignore it and xml->nvarchar(max)->replace->xml is not elegant enough, you can always write a CLR ;) Commented Oct 26, 2012 at 21:47
  • I agree with Ozren Tkalčec Krznarić about the CLR Commented Nov 12, 2012 at 17:06
  • 1
    @tr3 the real question is can you pronounce his name Commented Dec 10, 2012 at 23:30
  • @АртёмЦарионов perfectly? not but probably I can :) I spent most of my life near slavic populations, maybe i can pronunce his name correctly :P Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 13:32

3 Answers 3

2

It got a bit more ugly than I hoped. Mainly because I can't use sql:variable("@enumeration")/delete-me/node() inside a .modify().

I assume, that you can modify the generation of the @enumeration, as follows:

CREATE TABLE #list (value nvarchar(100));
INSERT  INTO #list
VALUES  ('item 1');
INSERT  INTO #list
VALUES  ('item 2');
INSERT  INTO #list
VALUES  ('item 3');
INSERT  INTO #list
VALUES  ('item 4');
INSERT  INTO #list
VALUES  ('item 5');
INSERT  INTO #list
VALUES  ('item 6');

DECLARE @enumeration AS xml;
WITH XMLNAMESPACES('http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema' AS xs)
SELECT @enumeration = (
    SELECT value AS '@value'
    FROM #list FOR XML PATH('xs:enumeration'), ROOT('delete-me'), TYPE
);

The idea is to use FOR XML with ROOT, so that the generated namespace is at the unnecessary root element (which can be skipped). Otherwise we would have to recreate the xs:enumeration-elements later.

Two solutions

Use .modify() three times

The idea:

  1. We insert everything from @enumeration (with the unnecessary root) somewhere into the other xml
  2. We copy the desired content to the right place
  3. We delete the no longer needed copy of @enumeration in @schema.
DECLARE @schema xml;
SET @schema = '<xs:schema xmlns="" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata" id="test">
    <xs:element name="test" msdata:IsDataSet="true" msdata:MainDataTable="Example" msdata:UseCurrentLocale="true">
        <xs:complexType>
            <xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
                <xs:element name="Example">
                    <xs:complexType>
                        <xs:sequence>
                            <xs:element name="myList" minOccurs="1" nillable="false">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:maxLength value="50" />
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                        </xs:sequence>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>
            </xs:choice>
        </xs:complexType>
    </xs:element>
</xs:schema>';

SET @schema.modify('insert sql:variable("@enumeration")
    into /');

SET @schema.modify('declare namespace xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema";
insert /delete-me/node()
    into (//xs:element[@name=''myList'']/xs:simpleType/xs:restriction)[1]');

SET @schema.modify('delete /delete-me');

SELECT  @schema;

DROP TABLE #list;

.query() to create @schema

If you can change the part where @schema is created, you can generate @schema directly as .query() from @enumeration:

DECLARE @enumeration AS xml;
WITH XMLNAMESPACES('http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema' AS xs)
SELECT @enumeration = (
    SELECT value AS '@value'
    FROM #list FOR XML PATH('xs:enumeration'), ROOT('delete-me'), TYPE
);

DECLARE @schema xml;
SET @schema = @enumeration.query('<xs:schema xmlns="" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata" id="test">
    <xs:element name="test" msdata:IsDataSet="true" msdata:MainDataTable="Example" msdata:UseCurrentLocale="true">
        <xs:complexType>
            <xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
                <xs:element name="Example">
                    <xs:complexType>
                        <xs:sequence>
                            <xs:element name="myList" minOccurs="1" nillable="false">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:maxLength value="50" />
                                        {/delete-me/node()}
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                        </xs:sequence>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>
            </xs:choice>
        </xs:complexType>
    </xs:element>
</xs:schema>');

SELECT  @schema;
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Comments

0

If your XML isn't too complicated, why not use FOR XML EXPLICIT instead?

Another workaround would be to get generate the XML without the namespace and then add it in afterwards.

Comments

-1

You can do a simple string replace if the xml isn't too big:

DECLARE @schemaVARCHAR (MAX)
SET @schemaVARCHAR = CAST(@schema AS VARCHAR(MAX))
SET @schemaVARCHAR = 
    REPLACE(
        @schemaVARCHAR, 
        '<xs:enumeration xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" value="item 1" />',
        ''
    )

SET @schema = CAST(@schemaVARCHAR AS XML)

4 Comments

Then put that in the REPLACE function. Mine was just an example. You can also do this repeatedly if you need to remove/change multiple things.
The point is that you shouldn't edit XML like it's text. The prefix doesn't matter.
@JohnSaunders I disagree - the answer has merit. If the completely harmless xml bloat created in this very specific instance is totally unacceptable to the OP then doing a string replace operation is warranted in the interests of sanity. I agree fully with you that treating xml as text is evil.
@hugh: you've just shown why it is without merit: treating XML as text is evil. To make it more clear: what if a different prefix is used for each element?

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