Skip to content

Schematron Quick Fixes (SQF)

Version: 2.0.1

FreeXmlToolkit understands Schematron Quick Fix (SQF) definitions — the sqf:* vocabulary (namespace http://www.schematron-quickfix.com/validator/process) that lets Schematron authors attach automatic corrections to their rules. When a document is validated against a Schematron whose asserts/reports reference fixes via sqf:fix="…", the editor offers those fixes right where the problems are reported — and applies them with a single click while preserving the document's formatting.

Try it: the bundled examples include two ready-made demo pairs in examples/schematron/ — quickfix-demo.xml + quickfix-demo.sch (a fully commented Schematron covering every fix type) and funds-quickfix-demo.xml + funds-quickfix-rules.sch (realistic FundsXML business rules, including a fix whose value is computed from elsewhere in the document). Open an XML file, bind the matching .sch file in the Validation panel, and validate: every finding offers a quick fix.

Using quick fixes

Bind a Schematron to your XML document as usual (Validation panel → SCHEMATRON source row, or the Explorer's one-click validation bar). After validation, problems that carry fixes can be corrected from three places:

  • Problems lists — right-click a problem row in the Validation panel or the PROBLEMS strip below the editor and pick an entry from the Quick Fix submenu.
  • Editor lightbulb — lines with fixable problems show a yellow lightbulb in the editor gutter. Click it (or press Alt+Enter / Ctrl+. on the line) to open the fix chooser at the caret.
  • Schematron report — the report table has a Fix column with a lightbulb button on fixable findings.

Applying a fix

  • changes only the affected text region — indentation and formatting of the rest of the document stay byte-for-byte untouched,
  • is a single native undo step (Ctrl+Z restores the document),
  • triggers an immediate re-validation, so resolved problems disappear from all lists.

If the document was edited after the last validation, the fix refuses to run and asks for a re-validation instead of guessing.

Authoring fixes

The Schematron editor's IntelliSense completes the SQF vocabulary (sqf:fixes, sqf:fix, the four activities, sqf:user-entry, sqf:call-fix, …) including the sqf:fix / sqf:default-fix attributes on sch:assert and sch:report. A minimal example:

<sch:schema xmlns:sch="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron" queryBinding="xslt2"
            xmlns:sqf="http://www.schematron-quickfix.com/validator/process">
  <sch:pattern>
    <sch:rule context="person">
      <sch:assert test="@id" sqf:fix="addId">Person must have an id.</sch:assert>
      <sqf:fix id="addId">
        <sqf:description>
          <sqf:title>Add generated id attribute</sqf:title>
        </sqf:description>
        <sqf:add node-type="attribute" target="id">p-1</sqf:add>
      </sqf:fix>
    </sch:rule>
  </sch:pattern>
</sch:schema>

Supported SQF features

  • The four activities sqf:add, sqf:delete, sqf:replace, sqf:stringReplace — including @match, @node-type (element/attribute/processing-instruction/comment/keep), @target (as attribute value template), @position (first-child/last-child/before/after), @select, @regex/@flags and @use-when conditions.
  • Dynamic content: XSLT instructions inside fix content (xsl:value-of, xsl:choose, attribute value templates, …) are executed natively (Saxon), with the rule's sch:let variables and sch:ns namespaces in scope. sqf:copy-of and sqf:keep are supported in content.
  • sqf:user-entry — the fix prompts for the value(s) in a dialog; the @default XPath is evaluated against the failing node and pre-filled.
  • sqf:call-fix / generic fixes — fixes can call other fixes with sqf:with-param-bound sqf:param parameters (cycles are detected). A fix declaring a parameter without a default is only reachable via sqf:call-fix, never offered directly.
  • Fixes may be defined rule-locally or globally under a schema-level sqf:fixes container (rule-local ids shadow global ones); sqf:group wrappers and sqf:default-fix ordering are honored, as are fixes pulled in via sch:include and same-document abstract rules (sch:extends rule="…").

Known limitations

  • sch:extends with an external href and abstract patterns (is-a) are not resolved for fix discovery — findings from such rules simply show no fixes.
  • $sqf:match inside sqf:stringReplace content is not supported; use regex-group() instead (the replacement content runs inside a native xsl:analyze-string matching-substring context).
  • @use-for-each (generic iteration with $sqf:current) is not supported yet.
  • Text nodes in heavily mixed content (text interleaved with comments/CDATA) may not be addressable for sqf:stringReplace; the fix then reports a clear error instead of guessing.
Previous Home Next
Schematron Home Schema Support