iLingo - The Language of Insurance e-Business

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3.2.2. Attributes vs. Elements

The decision of when to use attributes over elements is based on the following criteria.

When to use attributes:

When to use elements:

In addition, as an overall rule, if something has been made an attribute or element for a particular reason, anything with a strong relationship should be made to be similar. For example, in an Address, City and Zip are elements, so State is an element as well.