Schematron 2025
A Language for Validating XML
Published on 1. June 2026
978-1-937434-94-6 (ISBN)
Description
Schematron 2025 is a validation language that checks XML documents against business rules. Based on the ISO Schematron specification from 2025, it extends the validation provided by XML schema languages such as Document Type Definitions (DTD), W3C XML Schema, and RELAX NG to check XML documents for compliance with rules that can be difficult, if not impossible, to check with the other validation languages.
Schematron 2025: A Language for Validating XML explains the language in detail and clearly outlines the differences between Schematron 2025 and the previous edition, covered in Erik Siegel's previous book: Schematron: A Language for Validating XML.
More details
Person
Erik Siegel is a content engineer and XML specialist who runs Xatapult consultancy in the Netherlands. He specializes in content design and conversions, XML Schemas and transformations, eXist and XProc applications, and XML-related training.He is the author of XProc 3.0 Programmer Reference, also from XML Press.
Content
- Introduction: introduces Schematron and provides background.
- Schematron in context: provides an overview of XML validation, the main languages currently used to validate XML, and introduces Schematron as an important part of the validation tool set.
- Applying Schematron: describes how to create and validate using Schematron and introduces the most commonly used processors for Schematron.
- Schematron basics: describes how to set up a Schematron schema, and introduces the most frequently used constructs in Schematron.
- Advanced Schematron: covers advanced Schematron features such as localization, abstract rules, pattern reuse, and more.
- Query language binding and using XSLT: describes how to use different query languages, as well as XSLT, as part of a Schematron schema.
- Additional features: covers lesser used features such as message text markup, flags, properties, structured comments, and more.
- Schematron examples and recipes: examples of how to use Schematron for common situations, such as validating schemas, checking for multiple id references, validating processing instructions and comments, and detecting incorrect nesting.
- XPath technology primer: introduces XPath, which is used extensively in Schematron, including features such as tree navigation, special operators, expressions, and more.
- An introduction to namespaces: describes XML namespaces and how Schematron treats namespaces.
- Schematron reference: a detailed reference to the Schematron 2025 language.
- SVRL reference: a detailed reference to the Schematron Validation Reporting Language (SVRL), which is an XML-based schema used by Schematron processors to produce output that can be post-processed by another program.
- Schematron QuickFix: a Schematron extension that embeds suggested fixes for errors. A QuickFix-aware IDE can use this information to offer a user the opportunity for the IDE to immediately apply a fix to document being validated.
- Additional resources: a bibliography of resources for further exploration.
- Changes in Schematron 2025: a comprehensive list of updates and new features introduced in Schematron 2025.
