XSD Complex Type - Elements Only

An "elements-only" complex type contains an element that contains only other elements.

Complex Types Containing Elements Only

An XML element, "person", that contains only other elements:

<person>
<firstname>John</firstname>
<lastname>Smith</lastname>
</person>

You can define the "person" element in a schema, like this:

<xs:element name="person">
  <xs:complexType>
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="firstname" type="xs:string"/>
      <xs:element name="lastname" type="xs:string"/>
    </xs:sequence>
  </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>

Notice the <xs:sequence> tag. It means that the elements defined ("firstname" and "lastname") must appear in that order inside a "person" element.

Or you can give the complexType element a name, and let the "person" element have a type attribute that refers to the name of the complexType (if you use this method, several elements can refer to the same complex type):

<xs:element name="person" type="persontype"/>

<xs:complexType name="persontype">
  <xs:sequence>
    <xs:element name="firstname" type="xs:string"/>
    <xs:element name="lastname" type="xs:string"/>
  </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>

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