Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for generating a view for a schema. A schema provides a definition of elements, wherein at least one of the elements comprises a recursive element of a recursive data type, wherein the recursive data type allows for instances of the recursive element to include instances of that same recursive data type at different levels in a hierarchy. Indication is received to transform the recursive types to non-recursive structures. A view for the schema is generated including information on the indication to transform the recursive types to non-recursive structure, wherein the processing of the data defined by the view causes a parser to generate a structured element for each instance of the recursive element in schema data being parsed, wherein the generated structured element includes a unique identifier of the instance of the recursive element.