# Adding an any element

You can use the `any` element in a similar way as a DTD's ANY content model, however, it must be done in conjunction with namespaces. This enables you to include any well-formed XML content, such as an HTML Web page that conforms to XHTML 1.0 syntax.

For example:

    <element name = "MyWebPage">
    <complexType>
    <any namespace="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
       minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="unbounded" processContents="skip"/>
    </complexType>
    </element>

The preceding schema fragment allows a `<MyWebPage>` element to contain any well-formed XHTML data that appears in the specified namespace.

The following instructions were written for the Resource perspective, but they will also work in many other perspectives.

To add an `any` element, complete the following steps:

1. In the Outline view, right-click the content model that you want to work with and click Add Any.
2. Select the new `any` element.
3. In the Properties view, for a Namespace value, you can select:
   - ##any: this allows any well-formed XML from any namespace.
   - ##local : this allows any well-formed XML that is not declared to be in a namespace.
   - ##other : this allows any well-formed XML that is not from the target namespace of the type being defined.
   - ##targetNamespace: this is shorthand for the target namespace of the type being defined.
4. For a Process Contents value, you can select:
   - skip: the XML processor will not validate the content at all.
   - lax: the XML processor will validate the content as much as it can.
   - strict: the XML processor will validate all the content.
5. The Minimum Occurrence value is the number of times the `any` element must appear in an instance document. You can select 0 if you want the element to be optional; otherwise, select 1.
6. The Maximum Occurrence value is the maximum number of times an `any` element can appear in an instance document. You can select 0, 1, or, to indicate there is no maximum number of occurrences, unbounded.
7. Click the Documentation tab if you want to provide any information about this element. The Documentation page is used for human readable material, such as a description.
8. Click the Extensions tab if you want to add application information elements to your annotations of schema components. The Extensions page allows you to specify the schema and add XML content to your annotations.