XSD and XML Schema Documentation
Document! X is a combination of an automated XSD documentation (XML Schema documentation) tool and a full documentation authoring environment which can be used to create accurate, professional quality database documentation for XML Schemas (either from already defined XSD files, or automatically inferred schemas directly from XML files).
Document! X is not just an automated XML schema documentation build tool - it is also includes a fully featured documentation authoring environment allowing you to author supplementary content (descriptions of elements, simple and complex types, hyperlinks to related pages or web sites etc.) where required.
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Why Choose Document! X for XSD Documentation?
- Fast, accurate, professional quality XML Schema documentation from XSD or XML files;
- Market leading authoring tools for creating supplementary content;
- Document elements, simple types, complex types, groups, attribute groups, attributes, particles and facets;
- Output includes colorized XSD/XML source code where available;
- Customizable HTML based template driven output can be adapted to your requirements;
- Generates documentation to HTML Help 1.x (CHM) or web ready pure HTML including a full Table of Contents, Index and Full Text Search.
Sample Outputs
These sample outputs illustrate how much can be generated by Document! X right out of the box. All of the Document! X Templates are fully customizable and can be easily adapted or extended to meet your specific requirements.
Lightbox .NET Documentation, Class Overview Page
Overview of a .NET class, including an automatically generated Object Relationship Diagram, Inheritance Hierarchy and Syntax in multiple .NET languages.
Lightbox .NET Documentation, Constructor Overload Page
Page for a specific .NET constructor overload, including a link to the method summary page listing other overloads.
Lightbox COM Documentation, Class Overview Page
Overview of the COM class, including an automatically generated Object Relationship Diagram.
Lightbox XSD Documentation, Complex Type Page
Page generated for an XSD Complex Type, including a type diagram, overview data tree and XSD Source Code.
Lightbox Javascript Documentation, Method Page
Page generated for a Javascript method, documenting the syntax and parameters.
Lightbox Database Documentation, Table Page
Page generated for a Table, including Properties, Columns, Indexes, Relationships and SQL Source (where available). Also includes dependencies if documenting a Sql Server database.
Lightbox Web Service Documentation, GET Operation Page
Page generated for a GET Operation in a REST Web Service. Details the parameters, request/response data types and any fault responses.
Lightbox Web Service Documentation, Method Page
Page generated for a SOAP Web Service method. Details the parameters, request/response data types and any fault responses.
Lightbox Web Service and XSD Schema Documentation, Diagrams
Schema diagrams are automatically generated for web service operations that use XSD Types and XSD documentation pages.
Live Samples
Author content in XSD Annotations and / or externally
Document! X can use XSD annotations (<annotation> and <documentation> elements) where they are defined in the source. This means that you can continue to define descriptions for your simple types, complex types and elements in the XSD source and Document! X will use them automatically.
Example Xsd Annotation:
<annotation>
<documentation xml:lang="en">
The documentation annotation type allows you to include basic
documentation within the XSD schema source.
</documentation>
</annotation>
Authoring additional content externally
You can also author content in Document! X Content Files if you would like to maintain some or all of the database documentation content outside of the XSD source code, or if you are generating documentation directly from an XML file.
The full featured HTML Editor, Dynamic and Project Spell Check, Find and Replace and Link Check tools make authoring activities as productive as possible.
Lightbox Content File Editor
In combination with, or as an alternative to authoring content in XSD Schema Annotation Descriptions, create and maintain documentation content using the Document! X Content File Editor.
Lightbox Show Source Descriptions
Whilst you are authoring in the Content File Editor, any descriptions automatically obtained from the XSD Schema are shown (the gray boxes above the editable areas in the screenshot). This makes it quick and easy to spot content that needs extending or overriding.
Lightbox XSD Schema Diagrams
The generated documentation will automatically include an XSD Schema Diagram. These diagrams are invaluable in making sense of complex data structures.
Lightbox Data Trees
Document! X will automatically generate a data tree to visually illustrate the hierarchy of your XSD data types.
Lightbox Colorized XSD Source Code
Colorized XSD Source Code can be included in the generated documentation pages.
Schema Diagrams
Document! X automatically generates comprehensive diagrams for the XML Schemas you are documenting. The XSD diagrams provide an easy to understand representation of your Schema structure.

Example Schema Diagram
Demonstration Movies
These short movies provide a great way to discover what can be achieved using Document! X.
Documenting an Xsd Schema
This movie will take you through the process of producing documentation from an XSD Schema file using Document! X. (10 mins)
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Documenting a Javascript Library
This movie will demonstrate how Document! X can be used to create documentation for Javascript, both simple javascript function libraries as well as javascript object models and jQuery plugins and widgets. (13 mins)
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Documenting a Web Service
This movie will take you through the process of producing documentation for a Web Service (SOAP or REST) using Document! X. (11 mins)
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Documenting .NET Assemblies
This introductory movie will take you through the process of creating a new Document! X Project for one or more Microsoft .NET Assemblies (13 minutes).
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Documenting a Database
This short introductory movie will take you through the process of creating a new Document! X Project for a Database (7 minutes).
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Documenting a COM Component
This short introductory movie will take you through the process of creating a new Document! X Project for a COM Component or Type Library (6 minutes).
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Publishing to a web site, ftp server or network location
This movie demonstrates the new Publishing functionality introduced in 2015.1. Publishing makes it easy to publish output generated by Document! X or HelpStudio to a web server or network location. A range of publishing methods are supported; you can publish to an Azure web site, a web site running on IIS, a web site that supports uploading via ftp, or directly to a local network path. (11 mins)
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Automatic optimization for Tablet and Mobile devices
This video demonstrates how the Responsive Output feature allows you to generate content that automatically adapts to the device type of the browser, providing an optimal experience for Mobile, Tablet and Desktop users from a single output. (5 mins)
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Using Build Profiles to create multiple outputs
This short video provides a demonstration of how you can configure a project to create multiple outputs from a single source, with each output driven by a separate options defined in the Build Profile. (3 minutes)
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Benefits of using Document! X
Using an automated documentation tool immediately delivers the following benefits:
- XSD documentation can be built by Document! X from your XML Schema or XML file in moments, reducing the amount of manual effort involved in creating a documentation set to virtually zero;
- The documentation generated by Document! X is accurate and always up to date. Creating the same documentation manually is error prone;
- Producing a documentation set for your XSD XML Schema makes it more maintainable as there is a structured reference to accompany the schema;
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