To validate XML files, the "xml:validate" goal is used. It is configured through a section like the following in your POM:
<build>
<plugins>
...
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>xml-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>validate</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
<configuration>
<validationSets>
<validationSet>
<dir>xml</dir>
</validationSet>
<validationSet>
<dir>xsd</dir>
<systemId>xmlschema.xml</systemId>
</validationSet>
</validationSets>
</configuration>
</plugin>
...
</plugins>
</build>
The example would check all files in the directory "xml" for well formedness. Additionally, it would validate all files in the directory "xsd" against the schema "xmlschema.xml".
The "xml:validate" goal offers the following configurable properties:
| Property Name | Description |
| basedir | The base directory, which is used for interpreting relative paths. Defaults to the project directory, in which the POM resides. |
| catalogs | A set of catalog files, which configure the entity resolver. For example, it allows to map public ID's or external URL's to local files. Multiple catalog files are supported. In other words, to configure a single catalog file, you would need a section like this: <catalogs> <catalog>mycatalog.xml</catalog> </catalogs> The interpretation of catalog files is done by the Apache XML resolver. See this article for details on catalog files and their formats. |
| validationSets | A validation set configures a set of XML files, which are validated against a common XML schema. If you want to validate against multiple schemata, use one validation set per schema. See the above example, which specifies two validation sets. The various child elements of a <validationSet> section are listed in the following section. |
A validation set is configured through several child elements:
| Element Name | Description |
| publicId | The schemas public ID. May be null, if the schema is loaded through its system ID or if the documents are being validated for wellformedness only. |
| systemId | The schemas system ID. May be null, if the schema is loaded through its public ID or if the documents are being validated for wellformedness only. |
| schemaLanguage | The schema language. Defaults to XML Schema. See this description for other possible values. |
| validating | If the documents are being validated for wellformedness only: Sets, whether the parser should be validating. (In other words: Whether documents must contain a document type or xml schema declaration.) The property is ignored otherwise. The default value is false. |
| dir | Sets the name of a directory, which is scanned for the files, which are being validated. |
| includes | Specifies a pattern of files, which are being included. By default, all files are included. The pattern is relative to the directory given by "dir". This element may be repeated as much as needed. |
| excludes | Specifies a pattern of files, which are being excluded. By default, no files are excluded. The pattern is relative to the directory given by "dir". This element may be repeated as much as needed. |
| skipDefaultExcludes | Specifies whether the maven's default exludes should NOT be added to the excludes list. |