Normalized Schema Comparison for XML Structure Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current XML schema comparison tools face difficulties in comparing schemas from different languages or with different syntax, as they require line-by-line analysis and may not recognize identical constraints, leading to inefficiencies and inaccuracies.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for generating a normalized schema comparison file that processes XML schemas to resolve internal structures, standardize definitions, arrange them alphabetically, eliminate redundancies, and generate a file in a consistent syntax, allowing for comparison regardless of schema language or syntax used.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If automated difference tools perform line-by-line analysis of XML schemas, then they can detect syntax differences, but they fail to recognize identical constraints across different schema languages or syntax variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms XML schemas from their original syntax-specific form into a normalized parameter-based representation. Each schema element is converted into standardized parameters (element name, type, constraints, attributes) that are language-agnostic. This parameter transformation enables automated tools to compare schemas based on their semantic meaning rather than syntactic form, resolving the contradiction between detection precision and cross-language adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a normalized schema representation as an intermediary layer between different XML schema languages. This intermediary form acts as a universal translation layer that preserves the essential constraints and structure of the original schemas while eliminating syntax-specific variations. By comparing schemas in this intermediary normalized form rather than in their original languages, the system achieves both accurate constraint recognition and cross-language compatibility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If schemas are compared using different syntaxes and languages, then more schema formats can be supported, but the complexity of the comparison process increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the schema comparison process into distinct phases: parsing the original schema into its constituent elements, normalizing each element into a standard parameter format, and comparing the normalized representations. This segmentation breaks down the complex task of comparing schemas in different languages into manageable steps, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining broad language support.
Solution Approach 2:
By converting all schema elements into a unified parameter-based representation, the patent eliminates the need for multiple language-specific comparison algorithms. The parameter transformation approach allows a single, simplified comparison engine to handle schemas from any XML schema language, thereby reducing device complexity while preserving adaptability across multiple schema formats.
3Productivity
If normalized schema comparison is implemented, then comparison speed and accuracy improve, but the processing time for normalization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary normalization to schemas before comparison operations are performed. By transforming schemas into their normalized parameter-based form in advance, the system eliminates the need for repeated parsing and analysis during each comparison operation. This preliminary action, though requiring initial processing time, significantly improves the efficiency and speed of subsequent comparison operations, reducing the overall time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and media for generating a normalized schema comparison file are disclosed. A method includes receiving, by a processing device, an extensible markup language (XML) schema for an XML document. The XML schema includes a content model and one or more internal schema structures and the content model is a specification of one or more XML elements and XML attributes allowed within a conformant XML instance file. The method further includes processing the XML schema to resolve and remove the one or more internal schema structures, determining a standardized structure by identifying a definition for each of one or more XML elements and XML attributes to obtain a plurality of definitions, providing the standardized structure in a normalized schema comparison syntax each of the plurality of definitions in alphabetical order to obtain an arranged plurality of definitions, eliminating any redundant definitions present in the arranged plurality of definitions, and generating a normalized schema comparison file containing the arranged plurality of definitions.