XML Namespaces
Andrey Smirnov
CSCI 7818
September 21, 2000
Overview
• Why do we need Namespaces in XML?
• Definition of Namespace.
• How do we specify Namespaces?
• Questions.
Why Namespaces?
The purpose of XML Namespaces is to distinguish
between duplicate element and attribute names.
For example:
<vehicles>
<sedans><price>$</price></sedans>
<trucks><price>$</price></trucks>
</vehicles>
Both “sedans” and “trucks” have the same “price”
element, so the parser doesn’t know which one is which.
Definition
• Namespace is a mapping between an element prefix
and a URI
– cars is the prefix in this example,
<cars:part xmlns:cars=“URI”>
– URIs are not a pointer to information about the
Namespace. They are just unique identifiers. You
cannot resolve XML namespace URIs.
Ways to Specify Namespaces
• Inside the XML file.
• Inside the DTD file.
XML File
Specify a Namespace for every element.
<lower:aaa xmlns:lower = “http://website/lowercase”>
<lower:bbb xmlns:lower = “http://website/lowercase”>
<lower:ccc xmlns:lower = “http://website/lowercase” />
</lower:bbb>
<upper:BBB xmlns:upper = “http://website/uppercase” >
<upper:CCC xmlns:upper = “http://website/uppercase” />
</upper:BBB>
</lower:aaa>
XML File
Specify all Namespaces within the root element. The
specification given for the that element is also valid for
all elements occurring inside it.
<lower:aaa xmlns:lower = “http://website/lowercase”
xmlns:upper = “http://website/uppercase”>
<lower:bbb >
<lower:ccc />
</lower:bbb>
<upper:BBB >
<upper:CCC />
</upper:BBB>
</lower:aaa>
XML File
Namespaces do not have to be specified explicitly with
prefixes. The attribute xmlns defines the default
namespace which is used for the element.
<aaa >
<bbb xmlns = "http://website/lowercase“>
<ccc />
</bbb>
<BBB xmlns = "http://website/uppercase" >
<CCC />
</BBB>
</aaa>
XML File
Attributes can be explicitly assigned a value and be
associated with a Namespace by using prefixes.
<lower:aaa xmlns:lower = “http://website/lowercase”
xmlns:upper = “http://website/uppercase”>
<lower:bbb lower:zz = “11” >
<lower:ccc upper:VV = “22” />
</lower:bbb>
<upper:BBB lower:sss = “***” />
</lower:aaa>
XML File
Attributes without a prefix do not belong to any
Namespace.
<lower:aaa xmlns:lower = “http://website/lowercase”
xmlns:upper = “http://website/uppercase”>
<lower:bbb zz = “11” >
<lower:ccc WW = “22” />
</lower:bbb>
<upper:BBB sss = “***” />
</lower:aaa>
XML File
A Namespace specification can be overridden using the
prefixes.
<lower:aaa xmlns:lower="http://website/lowercase">
<lower:bbb>
<lower:ccc xmlns:lower="http://website/uppercase">
<lower:ddd>It’s uppercase now.</lower:ddd>
</lower:ccc>
</lower:bbb>
</lower:aaa>
DTD File
Here is a sample Namespace specification within a DTD.
<!ELEMENT cars>
<!ATTLIST cars
xmlns:part CDATA #FIXED “http://www.w3.org/1999/cars”>
Questions
• Any questions?
• Any comments?
