Docs for schema item definition in Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL®)

The definition element describes meta-data for an the analysis results of an individual OVAL definition. It also contains a criteria element that references the individual tests that make up the definition. The required id attribute is the OVAL-ID of the Definition. It has the form "OVAL" followed by a number of digits (e.g. OVAL96). Like all ids in OVAL, it must be unique. OVAL-IDs are assigned by MITRE. The optional instance identifier is a unique id that differentiates every unique instance of a definition in the oval results file. Languages that include OVAL might reference the same definition multiple times. Each time a different set of values is supplied for the variables, a new instance of the definition must be created. (definitions that do not use variables can only have one unique instance) The inclusion of a unique instance identifier will allow the OVAL results file to report the correct result of a definition for each combination of supplied values. The required class attribute indicates the specific class the definition belongs to. Possible classes are: compliance, deprecated, patch, vulnerability.

<xsd:element name="definition"> <xsd:annotation> <xsd:documentation>The definition element describes meta-data for an the analysis results of an individual OVAL definition. It also contains a criteria element that references the individual tests that make up the definition.</xsd:documentation> <xsd:documentation>The required id attribute is the OVAL-ID of the Definition. It has the form "OVAL" followed by a number of digits (e.g. OVAL96). Like all ids in OVAL, it must be unique. OVAL-IDs are assigned by MITRE. The optional instance identifier is a unique id that differentiates every unique instance of a definition in the oval results file. Languages that include OVAL might reference the same definition multiple times. Each time a different set of values is supplied for the variables, a new instance of the definition must be created. (definitions that do not use variables can only have one unique instance) The inclusion of a unique instance identifier will allow the OVAL results file to report the correct result of a definition for each combination of supplied values. The required class attribute indicates the specific class the definition belongs to. Possible classes are: compliance, deprecated, patch, vulnerability.</xsd:documentation> <xsd:appinfo> <cardinality>1-n</cardinality> <attributes>id, [instance], class</attributes> <content>none</content> <parent_elements>definitions</parent_elements> <child_elements>affected, description, reference, status, version, criteria</child_elements> </xsd:appinfo> </xsd:annotation> <xsd:complexType> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element ref="oval_results:affected" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" /> <xsd:element ref="oval_results:description" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" /> <xsd:element ref="oval_results:reference" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" /> <xsd:element ref="oval_results:status" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" /> <xsd:element ref="oval_results:version" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" /> <xsd:element ref="oval_results:criteria" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" /> </xsd:sequence> <xsd:attribute name="id" type="oval_results:definitionid" use="required" /> <xsd:attribute name="instance" type="oval_results:instanceType" use="optional" default="1" /> <xsd:attribute name="class" type="oval_results:definitionclass" use="required" /> </xsd:complexType> </xsd:element>

Definition Type:	Element
Name:	definition
Namespace:	http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval_results
Containing Schema:	oval-results-schema.xsd
Abstract
Documentation:	The definition element describes meta-data for an the analysis results of an individual OVAL definition. It also contains a criteria element that references the individual tests that make up the definition. The required id attribute is the OVAL-ID of the Definition. It has the form "OVAL" followed by a number of digits (e.g. OVAL96). Like all ids in OVAL, it must be unique. OVAL-IDs are assigned by MITRE. The optional instance identifier is a unique id that differentiates every unique instance of a definition in the oval results file. Languages that include OVAL might reference the same definition multiple times. Each time a different set of values is supplied for the variables, a new instance of the definition must be created. (definitions that do not use variables can only have one unique instance) The inclusion of a unique instance identifier will allow the OVAL results file to report the correct result of a definition for each combination of supplied values. The required class attribute indicates the specific class the definition belongs to. Possible classes are: compliance, deprecated, patch, vulnerability.