If you define two schemas - MySchema and MySubSchema - where MySchema references MySubschema, you will probably get in trouble if you try to generate .NET classes for those schemas using XSD.EXE.
Here's a quick example: MySchema.xsd is imports MySubschema.xsd and declares an element of type ns2:MySubSchemaRoot
MySchema.xsd
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:b="http://schemas.microsoft.com/BizTalk/2003" xmlns="http://Namespace1" xmlns:ns2="http://Namespace2" targetNamespace="http://Namespace1" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:import schemaLocation=".\MySubSchema.xsd" namespace="http://Namespace2" />
<xs:annotation>
<xs:appinfo>
<b:references>
<b:reference targetNamespace="http://Namespace2" />
</b:references>
</xs:appinfo>
</xs:annotation>
<xs:element name="MySchemaRoot">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="Element1" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element ref="ns2:MySubSchemaRoot" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
MySubSchema.xsd
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:b="http://schemas.microsoft.com/BizTalk/2003" xmlns="http://Namespace2" targetNamespace="http://Namespace2" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:element name="MySubSchemaRoot">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="Element1" type="xs:string" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
If you run XSD.EXE to generate the .NET class for MySchema…
xsd.exe /c MySchema.xsd
…you'll get this error:
The element 'http://Namespace2:MySubSchemaRoot' is missing.
To workaround this issue, you must also specify MySubSchema.xsd as a parameter for xsd.exe, like this:
xsd.exe /c MySubSchema.xsd MySchema.xsd
This will correctly generate MySchema.cs class
