xmlns

flat-xmlns structure

flat-xml-version 0.1

• xml version: 1.0

• character encoding must be UTF-8

• Top level node: "flat"

• attributes:

  • flat-xml-version: specify version of flat-xmlns used in the document.
  • meta: indicate meta-data regarding document, such as an object type that was mapped.
  • created: ISO 8601 formatted time of document creation.
  • crc32: crc32 polynomial expressed as a base16 number of a hypothetical object represented by the document, similar in purpose to the ETAG HTTP header.
  • md5: md5 hash expressed as a base16 number of a hypothetical object represented by the document, similar in purpose to an ETAG HTTP header.

• Base64 Encoding may be described for an attribute value:

• the encoded attribute value should be prefixed with "data:application/octet-stream;base64,".

• example usage, considering the value "hello"

  • <mynode myattr="data:application/octet-stream;base64,aGVsbG8=" />

• Base64 Encoding may be described for an node value:

• example usage, considering the value "hello"

  • <mynode encoding="base64">aGVsbG8=</mynode>

• A subset of xsi methodology may optionally describe a node's data:

• required attributes for xsi data description:

  • xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  • xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"

• A subset of xsi types may be described with the attribute "xsi:type"

  • xsi:type="xs:DateTime"
  • xsi:type="xs:hexBinary"
  • xsi:type="xs:base64Binary"
  • xsi:type="xs:anyURI"
  • xsi:type="xs:string"
  • xsi:type="xs:integer"
  • xsi:type="xs:decimal"
  • xsi:type="xs:boolean"

• A 'nil' value may be described with the attribute "xsi:null"

  • xsi:nil="true"

• example xsi usage, considering a 'string' type with the value "My String":

  • <mynode xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xsi:type="xs:string">My String</mynode>

• example xsi usage, considering a 'nil' value:

  • <mynode xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xsi:nil="true" />

• Reserved node names:

• dump: nodes with name "dump" must include the attribute "encoding" to describe encoding type. Acceptable values are "base64" and "none".

  • <dump encoding="base64">aGVsbG8=</dump>
  • <dump encoding="none">hello</dump>

• data: nodes with the name "data" must use flat's xsi methodology to describe values.

  • <data xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xsi:type="xs:string">My String</data>

• Reserved attribute names:

• "index": numerical integer value indicating a node's subset member reference to it's parent node.

  • example usage, considering a parent node "mylist" with 2 subset members: <mylist> <item index="0">Item 1</item> <item index="1">Item 2</item> </mylist>

• "key": string value indicating a node's subset member reference.

  • example usage, considering a parent node "mything" with a member having key "my_first_thing" and another having key "my_second_thing" with corresponding values of "Thing 1" and "Thing 2": `

Thing 1 Thing 2 ` * example flat document ` hello `