Mapping Implicit Relations between Nested Schema Elements

Article
10/17/2014

An XML Schema definition language (XSD) schema can have complex types nested inside one another. In this case, the mapping process applies default mapping and creates the following in the DataSet:

One table for each of the complex types (parent and child).
If no unique constraint exists on the parent, each table definition includes one additional primary key column named as TableName_Id where TableName is the name of the parent table.
A primary key constraint on the parent table identifying the additional column as the primary key (by setting the IsPrimaryKey property to True). The constraint is named as Constraint*#* where # is 1, 2, 3, and so on. For example, the default name for the first constraint is Constraint1.
A foreign key constraint on the child table identifying the additional column as the foreign key referring to the primary key of the parent table. The constraint is named as ParentTable_ChildTable where ParentTable is the name of the parent table and ChildTable is the name of the child table.
A data relation between the parent and child tables.

The following example shows a schema where OrderDetail is a child element of Order.

<xs:schema id="MyDataSet"  
            xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" 
            xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata">

 <xs:element name="MyDataSet" msdata:IsDataSet="true">
   <xs:complexType>
     <xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
       <xs:element name="Order">
         <xs:complexType>
          <xs:sequence>
            <xs:element name="OrderNumber" type="xs:string" />
            <xs:element name="EmpNumber" type="xs:string" />
            <xs:element name="OrderDetail">
              <xs:complexType>
                <xs:sequence>
                  <xs:element name="OrderNo" type="xs:string" />
                  <xs:element name="ItemNo" type="xs:string" />
                </xs:sequence>
              </xs:complexType>
            </xs:element>
          </xs:sequence>
         </xs:complexType>
       </xs:element>
     </xs:choice>
   </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

The XML Schema mapping process creates the following in the DataSet:

An Order and an OrderDetail table.

Order(OrderNumber, EmpNumber, Order_Id)
OrderDetail(OrderNo, ItemNo, Order_Id)

A unique constraint on the Order table. Note that the IsPrimaryKey property is set to True.

ConstraintName: Constraint1
Type: UniqueConstraint
Table: Order
Columns: Order_Id 
IsPrimaryKey: True

A foreign key constraint on the OrderDetail table.

ConstraintName: Order_OrderDetail
Type: ForeignKeyConstraint
Table: OrderDetail
Columns: Order_Id 
RelatedTable: Order
RelatedColumns: Order_Id

A relationship between the Order and OrderDetail tables. The Nested property for this relationship is set to True because the Order and OrderDetail elements are nested in the schema.

ParentTable: Order
ParentColumns: Order_Id 
ChildTable: OrderDetail
ChildColumns: Order_Id 
ParentKeyConstraint: Constraint1
ChildKeyConstraint: Order_OrderDetail
RelationName: Order_OrderDetail
Nested: True

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Mapping Implicit Relations between Nested Schema Elements

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