OpenAPI
XML

XML Object in OpenAPI

The XML Object allows us to add details about how the schema should be represented as XML.

This is useful because XML has different data types and structures compared to JSON.

For example, in JSON, an array is a list of values only, while in XML, array values are represented as elements with names.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
nameStringThe name of the element when the property is represented in XML. When used in items, the name applies to each element in the XML array.
namespaceStringThe absolute URL of the XML namespace.
prefixStringA prefix for the element’s name.
attributeBooleanWhether the property should be represented as an XML attribute (<drink id="3" />) instead of an XML element (<drink><id>3</id></drink>). Defaults to false, so each property is represented as an element by default.
wrappedBooleanWhether array elements should be wrapped in a container element. Defaults to false, so array elements are not wrapped by default. Only applies to arrays.
x-*ExtensionsAny number of extension fields can be added to the XML object that can be used by tooling and vendors.

The examples below illustrate how XML Objects can be used:

components:
schemas:
Drink:
type: object
properties:
name:
type: string
xml:
name: drinkName
namespace: http://speakeasy.bar/schemas
prefix: se
ingredients:
type: array
items:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Ingredient"
xml:
name: ingredients
wrapped: true
namespace: http://speakeasy.bar/schemas
prefix: se
Ingredient:
type: object
properties:
id:
type: number
xml:
name: ingredientId
namespace: http://speakeasy.bar/schemas
prefix: se
attribute: true
name:
type: string
xml:
name: ingredientName
namespace: http://speakeasy.bar/schemas
prefix: se

The example above translates to the following XML example:

<se:drink xmlns:se="http://speakeasy.bar/schemas">
<se:drinkName>Mojito</se:drinkName>
<se:ingredients>
<se:ingredient se:id="1">
<se:ingredientName>Sugar</se:ingredientName>
</se:ingredient>
<se:ingredient se:id="2">
<se:ingredientName>Lime</se:ingredientName>
</se:ingredient>
<se:ingredient se:id="3">
<se:ingredientName>Mint</se:ingredientName>
</se:ingredient>
</se:ingredients>
</se:drink>