Introduction: The Value Element Problem

Adding attribute support to dfdl (as proposed here: Proposal: Extend DFDL with XML Attribute Support) will be a step in the right direction, but does not solve the general problem of starting from a logical XML schema that you like, and then matching it up against data with properties.

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which is still unnatural and inefficient.

Solution: Properties for Complex Representation for Simple Types - The dfdlx:repType Property

A mechanism where a simple type element (or attribute someday) can get its value from a hidden complex structure, is needed. 

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Note that there is already a dfdlx:repType property used to enable numeric simple type values to be converted to string values from an enum type. (See: (Obsolete) Proposal: (Superceded) Feature to support enumerations and typeValueCalc)

This usage would not conflict with that, because in this case the representation type is a complex type. 

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