An element or attribute that does not specify a type defaults to type anyType. You can also explicitly specify that an attribute or element is of type anyType. By default, HydraExpress maps an anyType to a C++ string type. Because the element is a type with unknown contents and structure, HydraExpress cannot create a fixed binding for the element. Therefore, HydraExpress makes no attempt to parse the contents of an element of type anyType. Instead, HydraExpress returns the contents of this element verbatim as an instance of the type mapped to xsd:string, typically std::string or RWCString.

The type anySimpleType is comparable to anyType, except for the following:

Like for anyType, HydraExpress creates a member as an instance of the type mapped to xsd:string, typically std::string or RWCString, and makes no attempt to parse the contents of the element.