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Locating an XML Expansion Pack [Office 2003 SDK Documentation]

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When a document includes custom XML markup, Microsoft Office 2003 checks the Schema Library registry subkey to determine which XML schema namespace is associated with the markup. Based on this information, if an XML expansion pack is not already explicitly attached to the document, the host application checks several locations to determine whether an appropriate XML expansion pack exists. For more information, see Attaching an XML Expansion Pack.

Deploying an XML expansion pack manifest collection

An XML expansion pack manifest collection is an XML file that contains references to all known namespaces for which there are corresponding XML expansion packs. For more information about how to set up and use XML expansion pack manifest collections, see Introduction to XML Expansion Pack Manifest Collections.

You can deploy a single registry entry that connects Office 2003 to a central manifest collection file. You can then use this collection file to maintain all the XML expansion pack and schema namespace relationships for all the smart documents within an organization. If you keep this file up to date, whenever an Office 2003 application encounters a known XML namespace, all computers in your organization will recognize any new XML expansion pack and namespace relationships.

Deploying Schema Library information

The Schema Library is a registry subkey that contains all known XML namespaces. It provides host applications with information about the location of components (for example, XML expansion packs, schemas, smart documents, and other files included with a smart document) that are associated with that particular namespace.

You can deploy a standard Schema Library registry subkey setup to users' desktops, thus automatically associating any known XML namespaces with the appropriate components.

How Office 2003 determines whether an XML expansion pack is available

The following diagram illustrates the process that Office 2003 follows to determine whether an XML schema has any available XML expansion packs. You can take advantage of this architecture to ensure that users attach an existing XML expansion pack to XML documents that adhere to a particular XML schema.