Module java.xml
Package javax.xml.validation

Class SchemaFactory

java.lang.Object
javax.xml.validation.SchemaFactory
public abstract class SchemaFactory extends Object
Factory that creates Schema objects. Entry-point to the validation API.

SchemaFactory is a schema compiler. It reads external representations of schemas and prepares them for validation.

The SchemaFactory class is not thread-safe. In other words, it is the application's responsibility to ensure that at most one thread is using a SchemaFactory object at any given moment. Implementations are encouraged to mark methods as synchronized to protect themselves from broken clients.

SchemaFactory is not re-entrant. While one of the newSchema methods is being invoked, applications may not attempt to recursively invoke the newSchema method, even from the same thread.

Schema Language

This spec uses a namespace URI to designate a schema language. The following table shows the values defined by this specification.

To be compliant with the spec, the implementation is only required to support W3C XML Schema 1.0. However, if it chooses to support other schema languages listed here, it must conform to the relevant behaviors described in this spec.

Schema languages not listed here are expected to introduce their own URIs to represent themselves. The SchemaFactory class is capable of locating other implementations for other schema languages at run-time.

Note that because the XML DTD is strongly tied to the parsing process and has a significant effect on the parsing process, it is impossible to define the DTD validation as a process independent from parsing. For this reason, this specification does not define the semantics for the XML DTD. This doesn't prohibit implementors from implementing it in a way they see fit, but users are warned that any DTD validation implemented on this interface necessarily deviate from the XML DTD semantics as defined in the XML 1.0.

URIs for Supported Schema languages
value language
XMLConstants.W3C_XML_SCHEMA_NS_URI ("http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema") W3C XML Schema 1.0
XMLConstants.RELAXNG_NS_URI ("http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0") RELAX NG 1.0
Since:
1.5

  • Constructor Details

  • Method Details

    • newDefaultInstance

      public static SchemaFactory newDefaultInstance()
      Creates a new instance of the SchemaFactory builtin system-default implementation.
      Implementation Requirements:
      The SchemaFactory builtin system-default implementation is only required to support the W3C XML Schema 1.0, but may support additional schema languages.
      Returns:
      A new instance of the SchemaFactory builtin system-default implementation.
      Since:
      9

    • newInstance

      public static SchemaFactory newInstance(String schemaLanguage)
      Obtains a new instance of a SchemaFactory that supports the specified schema language. This method uses the JAXP Lookup Mechanism to determine and load the SchemaFactory implementation that supports the specified schema language.

      Tip for Trouble-shooting:

      See Properties.load(java.io.InputStream) for exactly how a property file is parsed. In particular, colons ':' need to be escaped in a property file, so make sure schema language URIs are properly escaped in it. For example: 

       http\://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema=org.acme.foo.XSSchemaFactory
      Parameters:
      schemaLanguage - Specifies the schema language which the returned SchemaFactory will understand. See the list of available schema languages for the possible values.
      Returns:
      New instance of a SchemaFactory
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - If no implementation of the schema language is available.
      NullPointerException - If the schemaLanguage parameter is null.
      SchemaFactoryConfigurationError - If a configuration error is encountered.
      See Also:

    • newInstance

      public static SchemaFactory newInstance(String schemaLanguage, String factoryClassName, ClassLoader classLoader)
      Obtain a new instance of a SchemaFactory from class name. SchemaFactory is returned if specified factory class name supports the specified schema language. This function is useful when there are multiple providers in the classpath. It gives more control to the application as it can specify which provider should be loaded.

      Tip for Trouble-shooting

      Setting the jaxp.debug system property will cause this method to print a lot of debug messages to System.err about what it is doing and where it is looking at.

      If you have problems try: 

       java -Djaxp.debug=1 YourProgram ....
      Parameters:
      schemaLanguage - Specifies the schema language which the returned SchemaFactory will understand. See the list of available schema languages for the possible values.
      factoryClassName - fully qualified factory class name that provides implementation of javax.xml.validation.SchemaFactory.
      classLoader - ClassLoader used to load the factory class. If null current Thread's context classLoader is used to load the factory class.
      Returns:
      New instance of a SchemaFactory
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if factoryClassName is null, or the factory class cannot be loaded, instantiated or doesn't support the schema language specified in schemLanguage parameter.
      NullPointerException - If the schemaLanguage parameter is null.
      Since:
      1.6
      See Also:

    • isSchemaLanguageSupported

      public abstract boolean isSchemaLanguageSupported(String schemaLanguage)
      Is specified schema supported by this SchemaFactory?
      Parameters:
      schemaLanguage - Specifies the schema language which the returned SchemaFactory will understand. schemaLanguage must specify a valid schema language.
      Returns:
      true if SchemaFactory supports schemaLanguage, else false.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - If schemaLanguage is null.
      IllegalArgumentException - If schemaLanguage.length() == 0 or schemaLanguage does not specify a valid schema language.

    • getFeature

      public boolean getFeature(String name) throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException
      Look up the value of a feature flag.

      The feature name is any fully-qualified URI. It is possible for a SchemaFactory to recognize a feature name but temporarily be unable to return its value.

      Implementors are free (and encouraged) to invent their own features, using names built on their own URIs.

      Parameters:
      name - The feature name, which is a non-null fully-qualified URI.
      Returns:
      The current value of the feature (true or false).
      Throws:
      SAXNotRecognizedException - If the feature value can't be assigned or retrieved.
      SAXNotSupportedException - When the SchemaFactory recognizes the feature name but cannot determine its value at this time.
      NullPointerException - If name is null.
      See Also:

    • setFeature

      public void setFeature(String name, boolean value) throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException
      Set a feature for this SchemaFactory, Schemas created by this factory, and by extension, Validators and ValidatorHandlers created by those Schemas.

      Implementors and developers should pay particular attention to how the special Schema object returned by newSchema() is processed. In some cases, for example, when the SchemaFactory and the class actually loading the schema come from different implementations, it may not be possible for SchemaFactory features to be inherited automatically. Developers should make sure that features, such as secure processing, are explicitly set in both places.

      The feature name is any fully-qualified URI. It is possible for a SchemaFactory to expose a feature value but to be unable to change the current value.

      All implementations are required to support the XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING feature. When the feature is:

      • true: the implementation will limit XML processing to conform to implementation limits. Examples include entity expansion limits and XML Schema constructs that would consume large amounts of resources. If XML processing is limited for security reasons, it will be reported via a call to the registered ErrorHandler.fatalError(SAXParseException exception). See setErrorHandler(ErrorHandler errorHandler).
      • false: the implementation will processing XML according to the XML specifications without regard to possible implementation limits.
      Parameters:
      name - The feature name, which is a non-null fully-qualified URI.
      value - The requested value of the feature (true or false).
      Throws:
      SAXNotRecognizedException - If the feature value can't be assigned or retrieved.
      SAXNotSupportedException - When the SchemaFactory recognizes the feature name but cannot set the requested value.
      NullPointerException - If name is null.
      See Also:

    • setProperty

      public void setProperty(String name, Object object) throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException
      Set the value of a property.

      The property name is any fully-qualified URI. It is possible for a SchemaFactory to recognize a property name but to be unable to change the current value.

      All implementations that implement JAXP 1.5 or newer are required to support the XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA properties.

      Parameters:
      name - The property name, which is a non-null fully-qualified URI.
      object - The requested value for the property.
      Throws:
      SAXNotRecognizedException - If the property value can't be assigned or retrieved.
      SAXNotSupportedException - When the SchemaFactory recognizes the property name but cannot set the requested value.
      NullPointerException - If name is null.

    • getProperty

      public Object getProperty(String name) throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException
      Look up the value of a property.

      The property name is any fully-qualified URI. It is possible for a SchemaFactory to recognize a property name but temporarily be unable to return its value.

      SchemaFactorys are not required to recognize any specific property names.

      Implementors are free (and encouraged) to invent their own properties, using names built on their own URIs.

      Parameters:
      name - The property name, which is a non-null fully-qualified URI.
      Returns:
      The current value of the property.
      Throws:
      SAXNotRecognizedException - If the property value can't be assigned or retrieved.
      SAXNotSupportedException - When the XMLReader recognizes the property name but cannot determine its value at this time.
      NullPointerException - If name is null.
      See Also:

    • setErrorHandler

      public abstract void setErrorHandler(ErrorHandler errorHandler)
      Sets the ErrorHandler to receive errors encountered during the newSchema method invocation.

      Error handler can be used to customize the error handling process during schema parsing. When an ErrorHandler is set, errors found during the parsing of schemas will be first sent to the ErrorHandler.

      The error handler can abort the parsing of a schema immediately by throwing SAXException from the handler. Or for example it can print an error to the screen and try to continue the processing by returning normally from the ErrorHandler

      If any Throwable (or instances of its derived classes) is thrown from an ErrorHandler, the caller of the newSchema method will be thrown the same Throwable object.

      SchemaFactory is not allowed to throw SAXException without first reporting it to ErrorHandler.

      Applications can call this method even during a Schema is being parsed.

      When the ErrorHandler is null, the implementation will behave as if the following ErrorHandler is set: 

       class DraconianErrorHandler implements ErrorHandler {
     public void fatalError( SAXParseException e ) throws SAXException {
         throw e;
     }
     public void error( SAXParseException e ) throws SAXException {
         throw e;
     }
     public void warning( SAXParseException e ) throws SAXException {
         // noop
     }
 }

      When a new SchemaFactory object is created, initially this field is set to null. This field will NOT be inherited to Schemas, Validators, or ValidatorHandlers that are created from this SchemaFactory.

      Parameters:
      errorHandler - A new error handler to be set. This parameter can be null.

    • getErrorHandler

      public abstract ErrorHandler getErrorHandler()
      Gets the current ErrorHandler set to this SchemaFactory.
      Returns:
      This method returns the object that was last set through the setErrorHandler(ErrorHandler) method, or null if that method has never been called since this SchemaFactory has created.
      See Also:

    • setResourceResolver

      public abstract void setResourceResolver(LSResourceResolver resourceResolver)
      Sets the LSResourceResolver to customize resource resolution when parsing schemas.

      SchemaFactory uses a LSResourceResolver when it needs to locate external resources while parsing schemas, although exactly what constitutes "locating external resources" is up to each schema language. For example, for W3C XML Schema, this includes files <include>d or <import>ed, and DTD referenced from schema files, etc.

      Applications can call this method even during a Schema is being parsed.

      When the LSResourceResolver is null, the implementation will behave as if the following LSResourceResolver is set: 

       class DumbDOMResourceResolver implements LSResourceResolver {
     public LSInput resolveResource(
         String publicId, String systemId, String baseURI) {

         return null; // always return null
     }
 }

      If a LSResourceResolver throws a RuntimeException (or instances of its derived classes), then the SchemaFactory will abort the parsing and the caller of the newSchema method will receive the same RuntimeException.

      When a new SchemaFactory object is created, initially this field is set to null. This field will NOT be inherited to Schemas, Validators, or ValidatorHandlers that are created from this SchemaFactory.

      Parameters:
      resourceResolver - A new resource resolver to be set. This parameter can be null.

    • getResourceResolver

      public abstract LSResourceResolver getResourceResolver()
      Gets the current LSResourceResolver set to this SchemaFactory.
      Returns:
      This method returns the object that was last set through the setResourceResolver(LSResourceResolver) method, or null if that method has never been called since this SchemaFactory has created.
      See Also:

    • newSchema

      public Schema newSchema(Source schema) throws SAXException
      Parses the specified source as a schema and returns it as a schema.

      This is a convenience method for newSchema(Source[] schemas).

      Parameters:
      schema - Source that represents a schema.
      Returns:
      New Schema from parsing schema.
      Throws:
      SAXException - If a SAX error occurs during parsing.
      NullPointerException - if schema is null.

    • newSchema

      public Schema newSchema(File schema) throws SAXException
      Parses the specified File as a schema and returns it as a Schema.

      This is a convenience method for newSchema(Source schema).

      Parameters:
      schema - File that represents a schema.
      Returns:
      New Schema from parsing schema.
      Throws:
      SAXException - If a SAX error occurs during parsing.
      NullPointerException - if schema is null.

    • newSchema

      public Schema newSchema(URL schema) throws SAXException
      Parses the specified URL as a schema and returns it as a Schema.

      This is a convenience method for newSchema(Source schema).

      Parameters:
      schema - URL that represents a schema.
      Returns:
      New Schema from parsing schema.
      Throws:
      SAXException - If a SAX error occurs during parsing.
      NullPointerException - if schema is null.

    • newSchema

      public abstract Schema newSchema(Source[] schemas) throws SAXException
      Parses the specified source(s) as a schema and returns it as a schema.

      The callee will read all the Sources and combine them into a single schema. The exact semantics of the combination depends on the schema language that this SchemaFactory object is created for.

      When an ErrorHandler is set, the callee will report all the errors found in sources to the handler. If the handler throws an exception, it will abort the schema compilation and the same exception will be thrown from this method. Also, after an error is reported to a handler, the callee is allowed to abort the further processing by throwing it. If an error handler is not set, the callee will throw the first error it finds in the sources.

      W3C XML Schema 1.0

      The resulting schema contains components from the specified sources. The same result would be achieved if all these sources were imported, using appropriate values for schemaLocation and namespace, into a single schema document with a different targetNamespace and no components of its own, if the import elements were given in the same order as the sources. Section 4.2.3 of the XML Schema recommendation describes the options processors have in this regard. While a processor should be consistent in its treatment of JAXP schema sources and XML Schema imports, the behaviour between JAXP-compliant parsers may vary; in particular, parsers may choose to ignore all but the first <import> for a given namespace, regardless of information provided in schemaLocation.

      If the parsed set of schemas includes error(s) as specified in the section 5.1 of the XML Schema spec, then the error must be reported to the ErrorHandler.

      RELAX NG

      For RELAX NG, this method must throw UnsupportedOperationException if schemas.length!=1.

      Parameters:
      schemas - inputs to be parsed. SchemaFactory is required to recognize SAXSource, StreamSource, StAXSource, and DOMSource. Input schemas must be XML documents or XML elements and must not be null. For backwards compatibility, the results of passing anything other than a document or element are implementation-dependent. Implementations must either recognize and process the input or thrown an IllegalArgumentException.
      Returns:
      Always return a non-null valid Schema object. Note that when an error has been reported, there is no guarantee that the returned Schema object is meaningful.
      Throws:
      SAXException - If an error is found during processing the specified inputs. When an ErrorHandler is set, errors are reported to there first. See setErrorHandler(ErrorHandler).
      NullPointerException - If the schemas parameter itself is null or any item in the array is null.
      IllegalArgumentException - If any item in the array is not recognized by this method.
      UnsupportedOperationException - If the schema language doesn't support this operation.

    • newSchema

      public abstract Schema newSchema() throws SAXException
      Creates a special Schema object.

      The exact semantics of the returned Schema object depend on the schema language for which this SchemaFactory is created.

      Also, implementations are allowed to use implementation-specific property/feature to alter the semantics of this method.

      Implementors and developers should pay particular attention to how the features set on this SchemaFactory are processed by this special Schema. In some cases, for example, when the SchemaFactory and the class actually loading the schema come from different implementations, it may not be possible for SchemaFactory features to be inherited automatically. Developers should make sure that features, such as secure processing, are explicitly set in both places.

      W3C XML Schema 1.0

      For XML Schema, this method creates a Schema object that performs validation by using location hints specified in documents.

      The returned Schema object assumes that if documents refer to the same URL in the schema location hints, they will always resolve to the same schema document. This asusmption allows implementations to reuse parsed results of schema documents so that multiple validations against the same schema will run faster.

      Note that the use of schema location hints introduces a vulnerability to denial-of-service attacks.

      RELAX NG

      RELAX NG does not support this operation.

      Returns:
      Always return non-null valid Schema object.
      Throws:
      UnsupportedOperationException - If this operation is not supported by the callee.
      SAXException - If this operation is supported but failed for some reason.