This is a quick introduction to the mapping of the W3C XML Schema constructs to the C++ programming language. This mapping represents information stored in XML instance documents as a tree-like, in-memory data structure.

The following step-by-step guide is based on the hello example which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/hello` directory of the XSD distribution.

1. Write a Schema definition for instance documents

  Suppose you have the following instance document (`hello.xml`):

      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <hello xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
             xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="hello.xsd">

        <greeting>Hello</greeting>

        <name>sun</name>
        <name>earth</name>
        <name>world</name>

      </hello>

  Then, the Schema definition for the above instance could look like this (`hello.xsd`):

      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

        <xsd:complexType name="hello_type">
          <xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:element name="greeting" type="xsd:string"/>
            <xsd:element name="name" type="xsd:string" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
          </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>

        <xsd:element name="hello" type="hello_type"/>

      </xsd:schema>

2. Translate your Schema to C++

      $ xsd cxx-tree hello.xsd

  Now we have `hello.hxx` and `hello.cxx`. The following listing will give you an idea about the correspondence between W3C XML Schema and C++.

3. Implement application logic

  At this point we have all the tools we need to do something useful with the information stored in instance documents (`driver.cxx`):

      #include "hello.hxx"

      int
      main (int argc, char* argv[])
      {
        auto_ptr<hello_type> h (hello (argv[1]));

        for (hello_type::name::const_iterator i (h->name ().begin ());
             i != h->name ().end ();
             ++i)
        {
          cerr << h->greeting () << ", " << *i << "!" << endl;
        }
      }

4. Compile and run

      $ g++ -o driver driver.cxx hello.cxx -lxerces-c
      $ ./driver hello.xml
      Hello, sun!
      Hello, moon!
      Hello, world!

5. Learn more

  The library example, which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/library` directory of the XSD distribution, shows how to

  - handle more complicated data structures
  - use the `ID/IDREF` cross-referencing mechanism
  - use the `xsd:enumeration` to C++ `enum` mapping
  - modify an in-memory representation
  - serialize the modified in-memory representation back to XML

  The mixed example, which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/mixed` directory of the XSD distribution, shows how to access underlying DOM nodes in order to handle "type-less content" such as mixed content models, `xsd:anyType`, `xsd:anySimpleType`, `xsd:any`, and `xsd:anyAttribute`.

  The polymorphism example, which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/polymorphism` directory of the XSD distribution, shows how to use XML Schema polymorphism features such as the `xsi:type` attribute and substitution groups.

  The streaming example, which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/streaming` directory of the XSD distribution, shows how to create an XML document by performing multiple serializations of its smaller parts. This can be useful when the document is too large to fit into memory or when the other end needs to start processing without waiting for the whole document (streaming).

  The binary example, which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/binary` directory of the XSD distribution, shows how to save/load an in-memory representation to/from CDR (Common Data Representation) binary format using ACE CDR streams. Support for other data representation streams can be easily added.

  Examples in the `examples/cxx/tree/custom` directory show how to customize the C++/Tree mapping by using custom C++ classes instead of or in addition to the generated ones.

  The dbxml example, which can be found in the `examples/cxx/tree/dbxml` directory of the XSD distribution, shows how to use the C++/Tree mapping on top of the Berkeley DB XML embedded XML database. This example is also discussed in detail in the CodeSynthesis XSD and Berkeley DB XML Integration Guide.

  For a comprehensive description of the C++/Tree mapping, including parsing and serialization mechanisms, refer to the XML Schema C++/Tree Mapping User Manual.