When elements are not nested, no implicit relations are created. You can, however, explicitly specify relations between elements that are not nested using the msdata:Relationship annotation.
The following example shows an XML Schema in which the msdata:Relationship annotation is specified between the Order and OrderDetail elements, which are not nested. The msdata:Relationship is specified as the child element of the Schema element.
<xs:schema id="MyDataSet"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata">
<xs:element name="MyDataSet" msdata:IsDataSet="true">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xs:element name="OrderDetail">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="OrderNo" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="ItemNo" type="xs:string" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="Order">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="OrderNumber" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="EmpNumber" type="xs:string" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:choice>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:annotation>
<xs:appinfo>
<msdata:Relationship name="OrdOrdDetailRelation"
msdata:parent="Order"
msdata:child="OrderDetail"
msdata:parentkey="OrderNumber"
msdata:childkey="OrderNo"/>
</xs:appinfo>
</xs:annotation>
</xs:schema>
The XML Schema definition language (XSD) schema mapping process creates a DataSet with Order and OrderDetail tables and a relationship specified between these two tables.
RelationName: OrdOrderDetailRelation
ParentTable: Order
ParentColumns: OrderNumber
ChildTable: OrderDetail
ChildColumns: OrderNo
Nested: False
See Also
Generating DataSet Relations from XML Schema (XSD) | Mapping XML Schema (XSD) Constraints to DataSet Constraints | Data Type Support between XML Schema (XSD) Types and .NET Framework Types