Its the tx-connection-factories-ds.xml that is being parsed, not the ra.xml so there is no schema associated with the file. I was able to resolve the issue by using the existing javax.xml.bind.annotation.adapters.CollapsedStringAdapter type adapter: | /** The connectionDefinition */ | @XmlElement(name="connection-definition") | @XmlJavaTypeAdapter(CollapsedStringAdapter.class) | protected String connectionDefinition; | View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4063559#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...