The schema for XML Schema then uses them to define the 'schema' element.
The snippet of that declaration:
<xs:element name="schema" id="schema"> <xs:complexType> <xs:complexContent> <xs:extension base="xs:openAttrs"> <xs:sequence> <xs:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"> <xs:element ref="xs:include"/> <xs:element ref="xs:import"/> <xs:element ref="xs:redefine"/> <xs:element ref="xs:annotation"/> </xs:choice> <xs:sequence minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"> <xs:group ref="xs:schemaTop"/> <xs:element ref="xs:annotation" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/> </xs:sequence> </xs:sequence> ... </xs:extension> </xs:complexContent> </xs:complexType> </xs:element>