Excel supports importing and exporting XML data through a number of XML schema constructs. However, there are some XML schema constructs that Excel does not support. The following list details the XML schema constructs that cannot be imported into Excel:

  • <any>    These elements allow you to include elements that are not declared by the schema.

  • <anyAttribute>    These elements allow you to include attributes that are not declared by the schema.

  • Recursive structures    These structures are used to create a hierarchy of data, such as the management structure in an organization, in which the same XML elements are nested several levels. Recursive structures cannot be nested more than one level deep.

  • Abstract elements    These elements are meant to be declared in the schema, but never used as elements. Abstract elements depend on other elements being substituted for the abstract element.

  • Substitution groups     These groups allow an element to be swapped wherever another element is referenced. An element indicates that it is a member of another element's substitution group through the <substitutionGroup> attribute.

  • Mixed content This content occurs when an element contains a child element and simple text outside of a child element. One common case is where formatting tags (such as the bold tags) are being used to mark up data within an element.

For more information, see Connect to an XML file.

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