1. A method of associating static data with one or more instances of XML elements of a desired data type, the method comprising: defining the desired data type with a static-specifying data type definition in an XML schema; and embedding an instance of an XML element of a pre-defined data type within the static-specifying data type definition, wherein the embedded XML instance represents the static data, and wherein said one or more instances of XML elements of the desired data type are inherently associated with the embedded XML instance by virtue of the static-specifying data type definition.