[xsd-users] inline namespaces

[Ray Lischner]

In the past, we used to encode schema version numbers in the namespace. On the one hand, it ensured binary compatibility when a schema changed, but on the other hand, it required large-scale source code changes when a schema's version number incremented.

With inline namespaces, we can gain the advantage of versioned names, but without the associated source-code changes when the version changes.

The trick is to convince Code Synthesis to map an XML schema to a set of C++ namespaces that includes an inline namespace. For example, we might want, XML namespace x:y:v1 to map to:

namespace x {
namespace y {
inline namespace v1 {

In one strange instance, we also had XML schema namespace x:v1:y, which would need to be mapped to:

namespace x {
inline namespace v1 {
namespace y {

Any ideas on how we might do this?

Perhaps the --namespace-regex option can use a magic character in the C++ namespace to mean "make this inline", e.g., --namespace regex '@^.* ([^:]+):([^:]+):(v\d+)@$1::$2::*$3@', where the '*' means 'inline'.

Ray Lischner,
Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
133 National Business Pkwy, Ste 150     t. 443.539.3448
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701            c. 410.854.9787
rlischner at proteuseng.com                f. 443.539.3370