2.6. Defining elements

Elements in XML Schema represent an instance of an element in an XML document generated from the schema. The most basic element consists of a single element element. Like the element element used to define the members of a complex type, they have three attributes:

An element can also have an in-line type definition. In-line types are specified using either a complexType element or a simpleType element. Once you specify if the type of data is complex or simple, you can define any type of data needed using the tools available for each type of data. In-line type definitions are discouraged because they are not reusable.