XML XSD Schema - Enforce Unique Attribute Values in Schema
@BatteryBackupUnit has the right idea, but the syntax is more like:
<xs:element name="Values">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element ref="Add" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:unique name="UniqueAddKey">
<xs:selector xpath="Add" />
<xs:field xpath="@Key" />
</xs:unique>
</xs:element>
More on Michael Kay's answer: If your schema (XSD) declares a namespace, you must include this in your selection.xpath. If you are using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, you may find a namespace automatically declared.
<xs:schema id="MyData"
targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/MyData.xsd"
elementFormDefault="qualified"
xmlns="http://tempuri.org/MyData.xsd"
xmlns:mstns="http://tempuri.org/MyData.xsd"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
>
...
<xs:unique name="UniqueAddKey">
<xs:selector xpath="mstns:Add" />
<xs:field xpath="@Key" />
</xs:unique>
</xs:schema>
you can achieve this by using xs:unique
<xs:element name="Instrument">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:all>
<xs:unique name="ModuleId">
<xs:selector xpath="./*" />
<xs:field xpath="@id" />
</xs:unique>
</xs:all>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
The above example will enforce a unique attribute "id" for all Instrument Elements. there's also xs:key, which can be used to establish a Primary Key - Foreign Key relationship: http://www.datypic.com/books/defxmlschema/chapter17.html