Message model object identification

Objects in a message model (elements, attributes, types, groups) are identified by their name only.

This means that no two objects in the same scope can have the same name. Name clashes can be avoided more easily if global objects are used only when necessary. Local objects are not visible outside of the scope of their parent object, so their names can be reused without causing a name clash.

Namespaces

Each message model schema can specify a namespace. Namespaces are an XML Schema mechanism for organizing groups of related objects into a named 'module'.

Global objects in different namespaces can share the same name. Therefore, namespaces offer another means of avoiding name clashes among global objects.

Valid names

Since the message model is based on the XML Schema language, the name of every message model object must be a valid XML Schema identifier. For information about what constitutes a valid XML Schema identifier, see XML Schema Part 0: Primer.

For details about XML Schema, see XML Schema Part 0: Primer on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website.