Document Structure Description, or DSD, is an XML schema language, for describing valid XML documents. It's an alternative to DTD or XML Schema.

An example of DSD in its simplest form:

<dsd xmlns="http://www.brics.dk/DSD/2.0"
 xmlns:my="http://example.com">
  
 <if><element name="my:foo"/>
  <declare>
   <attribute name="first"/>
   <attribute name="second"/>
   <contents>
    <element name="my:bar"/>
   &lt/contents>
  </declare>
 </if>
  
 <if><element name="my:bar"/>
  <declare>
   <contents>
   &lt/contents>
  </declare>
 </if>
  
</dsd>

This says that element named "foo" in the XML namespace "http://example.com" may have two attributes, named "first" and "second". A "foo" element may not have any character data. It must contain one subelement, named "bar", also in the "http://example.com" namespace. A "bar" element is not allowed any attributes, character data or subelements.

One XML document that would be valid under the above DSD would be:

<foo xmlns="http://example.com" second="2">
 <bar/>
</foo>

External links

• DSD home page
• Full DSD specification
• Comparison of DTD, W3C XML Schema, and DSD