.net - Can we control type name in xsd.exe tool generated class

Question

xsd.exe tool generates classes for given xsd file. It follows a pattern for naming the type. For example,

<Students>
  <Student Name="A" RollNo="1" Address="Some Address">
    <Department Id="20" Name="CSE"/>
  </Student> 
</Students>

xsd.exe /c Students.xsd

Students.cs file is generated. If we see the type for elements

Element     Type Name
Students    Students
Student     StudentsStudent
Department  StudentsStudentDepartment

It generates type by prefixing the parent element name if the element is child. Can we control this name? I need the type name as same as element name. Student => Student, Department => Department

Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

In general, one cannot customize the names of the generated classes when using xsd.exe - unlike mechanisms available elsewhere, for e.g. a JAXB user through custom JAXB binding file.

However, for xsd.exe the generated class names depend on the authoring style. What you described, is generated when the authoring style is conformant to the "Russian Doll" i.e. as below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--XML Schema generated by QTAssistant/XML Schema Refactoring (XSR) Module (http://www.paschidev.com)-->
<xsd:schema attributeFormDefault="unqualified" elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <xsd:element name="Students">
    <xsd:complexType>
      <xsd:sequence>
        <xsd:element name="Student">
          <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:sequence>
              <xsd:element name="Department">
                <xsd:complexType>
                  <xsd:attribute name="Id" type="xsd:unsignedByte" use="required" />
                  <xsd:attribute name="Name" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
                </xsd:complexType>
              </xsd:element>
            </xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:attribute name="Name" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
            <xsd:attribute name="RollNo" type="xsd:unsignedByte" use="required" />
            <xsd:attribute name="Address" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
          </xsd:complexType>
        </xsd:element>
      </xsd:sequence>
    </xsd:complexType>
  </xsd:element>
</xsd:schema>

If you change its style to something different (this is called a Venetian Blind):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--XML Schema generated by QTAssistant/XML Schema Refactoring (XSR) Module (http://www.paschidev.com)-->
<xsd:schema attributeFormDefault="unqualified" elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <xsd:element name="Students" type="Students"/>
    <xsd:complexType name="Students">
        <xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:element name="Student" type="Student"/>
        </xsd:sequence>
    </xsd:complexType>
    <xsd:complexType name="Student">
        <xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:element name="Department" type="Department"/>
        </xsd:sequence>
        <xsd:attribute name="Name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
        <xsd:attribute name="RollNo" type="xsd:unsignedByte" use="required"/>
        <xsd:attribute name="Address" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
    </xsd:complexType>
    <xsd:complexType name="Department">
        <xsd:attribute name="Id" type="xsd:unsignedByte" use="required"/>
        <xsd:attribute name="Name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
    </xsd:complexType>
</xsd:schema>

You'll be getting these classes generated: