Generate Json schema from XML schema (XSD)

Question

Does anybody know how to generate a JSON schema from a existing XML schema (XSD file)? Are there any tools available for this?

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I am the author of Jsonix, a powerful open-source XML<->JSON JavaScript mapping library.

Today I've released the new version of the Jsonix Schema Compiler, with the new JSON Schema generation feature.

Let's take the Purchase Order schema for example. Here's a fragment:

  <xsd:element name="purchaseOrder" type="PurchaseOrderType"/>

  <xsd:complexType name="PurchaseOrderType">
    <xsd:sequence>
      <xsd:element name="shipTo" type="USAddress"/>
      <xsd:element name="billTo" type="USAddress"/>
      <xsd:element ref="comment" minOccurs="0"/>
      <xsd:element name="items"  type="Items"/>
    </xsd:sequence>
    <xsd:attribute name="orderDate" type="xsd:date"/>
  </xsd:complexType>

You can compile this schema using the provided command-line tool:

java -jar jsonix-schema-compiler-full.jar
    -generateJsonSchema
    -p PO
    schemas/purchaseorder.xsd

The compiler generates Jsonix mappings as well the matching JSON Schema.

Here's what the result looks like (edited for brevity):

{
    "id":"PurchaseOrder.jsonschema#",
    "definitions":{
        "PurchaseOrderType":{
            "type":"object",
            "title":"PurchaseOrderType",
            "properties":{
                "shipTo":{
                    "title":"shipTo",
                    "allOf":[
                        {
                            "$ref":"#/definitions/USAddress"
                        }
                    ]
                },
                "billTo":{
                    "title":"billTo",
                    "allOf":[
                        {
                            "$ref":"#/definitions/USAddress"
                        }
                    ]
                }, ...
            }
        },
        "USAddress":{ ... }, ...
    },
    "anyOf":[
        {
            "type":"object",
            "properties":{
                "name":{
                    "$ref":"http://www.jsonix.org/jsonschemas/w3c/2001/XMLSchema.jsonschema#/definitions/QName"
                },
                "value":{
                    "$ref":"#/definitions/PurchaseOrderType"
                }
            },
            "elementName":{
                "localPart":"purchaseOrder",
                "namespaceURI":""
            }
        }
    ]
}

Now this JSON Schema is derived from the original XML Schema. It is not exactly 1:1 transformation, but very very close.

The generated JSON Schema matches the generatd Jsonix mappings. So if you use Jsonix for XML<->JSON conversion, you should be able to validate JSON with the generated JSON Schema. It also contains all the required metadata from the originating XML Schema (like element, attribute and type names).

Disclaimer: At the moment this is a new and experimental feature. There are certain known limitations and missing functionality. But I'm expecting this to manifest and mature very fast.

Links:

• Demo Purchase Order Project for NPM - just check out and npm install
• Documentation
• Current release
• Jsonix Schema Compiler on npmjs.com