36.3. Using Unbound Attributes
Overview
XML Schema has a mechanism that allows you to leave a place holder for an arbitrary attribute in a complex type definition. Using this mechanism, you can define a complex type that can have any attribute. For example, you can create a type that defines the elements <robot name="epsilon" />, <robot age="10000" />, or <robot type="weevil" /> without specifying the three attributes. This can be particularly useful when flexibility in your data is required.
Defining in XML Schema
Undeclared attributes are defined in XML Schema using the
anyAttribute element. It can be used wherever an attribute element can be used. The anyAttribute element has no attributes, as shown in Example 36.7, “Complex Type with an Undeclared Attribute”.
Example 36.7. Complex Type with an Undeclared Attribute
<complexType name="arbitter">
<sequence>
<element name="name" type="xsd:string" />
<element name="rate" type="xsd:float" />
</sequence>
<anyAttribute />
</complexType>
The defined type, arbitter, has two elements and can have one attribute of any type. The elements three elements shown in Example 36.8, “Examples of Elements Defined with a Wild Card Attribute” can all be generated from the complex type arbitter.
Example 36.8. Examples of Elements Defined with a Wild Card Attribute
<officer rank="12"><name>...</name><rate>...</rate></officer> <lawyer type="divorce"><name>...</name><rate>...</rate></lawyer> <judge><name>...</name><rate>...</rate></judge>
Mapping to Java
When a complex type containing an
anyAttribute element is mapped to Java, the code generator adds a member called otherAttributes to the generated class. otherAttributes is of type java.util.Map<QName, String> and it has a getter method that returns a live instance of the map. Because the map returned from the getter is live, any modifications to the map are automatically applied. Example 36.9, “Class for a Complex Type with an Undeclared Attribute” shows the class generated for the complex type defined in Example 36.7, “Complex Type with an Undeclared Attribute”.
Example 36.9. Class for a Complex Type with an Undeclared Attribute
public class Arbitter {
@XmlElement(required = true)
protected String name;
protected float rate;
@XmlAnyAttribute
private Map<QName, String> otherAttributes = new HashMap<QName, String>();
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String value) {
this.name = value;
}
public float getRate() {
return rate;
}
public void setRate(float value) {
this.rate = value;
}
public Map<QName, String> getOtherAttributes() {
return otherAttributes;
}
}Working with undeclared attributes
The
otherAttributes member of the generated class expects to be populated with a Map object. The map is keyed using QNames. Once you get the map , you can access any attributes set on the object and set new attributes on the object.
Example 36.10, “Working with Undeclared Attributes” shows sample code for working with undeclared attributes.
Example 36.10. Working with Undeclared Attributes
The code in Example 36.10, “Working with Undeclared Attributes” does the following:
