Daniel Walker wrote:
On 4/23/06, Thorsten Ottosen <thorsten.ottosen@dezide.com> wrote:
Schemas give you data types and type checking, which obviously is nice to have when you're dealing with data. I think XML schema validation is one of the most import features of XML for the same reason that I like C++ templates and type-safe compile time polymorphism: making sure your data types are correct before hand gives you one less thing to worry about.
Why is that better than a run-time exception when loading the file?
Why is what better? Maybe I wasn't clear. When an XML file includes a schema and fails validation when loaded, you do get a run-time exception. I was trying to say that's a good thing. An XML validating parser is similar to a compiler for a strongly typed language: it catches type errors (in addition to syntax errors) immediately before you actually try to use the file.
Ok, why is that exception better than the one I generate if I don't meet the tag I expect, of if the contents of a tag is not of the type I expect? -Thorsten