What is XSD? XSD, short name for XML Schema Definition, is used as the file extension for XML Schema files. .XSD files are text files that can be opened by Notepad or any text editors. See the sample .XSD file included below.

File Extension: .XSD

MIME Type: application/xml, text/xml

File Content: XML Schema

.XSD files are XML Schema files, which contains definitions of rules that apply to XML files for a specific purpose. Here is a sample .XSD XML Schema file containing some simple XML schema definitions:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema elementFormDefault="qualified"
  xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <xs:element name="Address">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="Recipient" type="xs:string" />
        <xs:element name="House" type="xs:string" />
        <xs:element name="Street" type="xs:string" />
        <xs:element name="Town" type="xs:string" />
        <xs:element name="County" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" />
        <xs:element name="PostCode" type="xs:string" />
        <xs:element name="Country">
          <xs:simpleType>
            <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
              <xs:enumeration value="IN" />
              <xs:enumeration value="DE" />
              <xs:enumeration value="ES" />
              <xs:enumeration value="UK" />
              <xs:enumeration value="US" />
            </xs:restriction>
          </xs:simpleType>
        </xs:element>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

.XSD XML Schema file sample: Click sample.xsd to download.

Since .XSD text files are in text format, you can use Notepad or any text editor to create or modify them. No special software is needed.

For for information on how to use .XSD XML Schema files, see links below:

• XML Schema, by W3C.