Oracle Help for the Web

What are item types?

| Definition | Related Help Topics | Additional Information |

Definition

Items are one of the basic components of a portal page. Items in OracleAS Portal are based on item types. Item types define the contents of an item and the information that is stored about an item. The information stored about an item is determined by the attributes of the item type.

Base item types

Base item types are the item types included with OracleAS Portal. There are two types of base item types. Content item types allow users to add content (for example, images, documents, or text) to a page. Navigation item types allow users to add navigational elements (for example, a login/logout link, basic search box, or a list of objects) to a page.

Base content item types

Base File: Uploads a file and stores it in the page group.
Base Image Map: Uploads an image and allows the contributor to identify areas within the image that users can click to go to different URLs.
Base Image: Uploads an image and stores it in the page group.
Base PL/SQL: Executes PL/SQL code and displays the results.
Base Page Link: Links to another page in the page group.
Base Text: Displays text (up to 32KB).
Base URL: Links to another Web page, Web site, or document.

Base navigation item types

Portal Smart Link: Adds a smart link (and associated image) to the page. A smart link is a link that users can click to access areas of the portal quickly, such as Account Information, Advanced Search, Contact Information, Help, and Home.
Login/Logout Link: Adds links and/or icons to the page that users can click to log in or log out of the portal.
Basic Search Box: Adds a basic search box (and associated image) to the page in which users can enter search criteria. Users can specify whether users of the search box can search all page groups or only the page group specified.
List of Objects: Adds a list of objects (pages, categories, and perspectives) that users specify to the page. Users can choose to display this list as a drop-down list or as links (with or without associated images).
Portal Smart Text: Adds smart text, such as the current date, current user, or current page to the page.
Object Map Link: Adds a map of objects available in the portal.
Page Path: Adds the page path to the page. Users can choose the number of levels for the path, and the character that separates the path levels.
Page Function: Adds a page function to the page. If there are no page functions associated with the current page, this item type is not displayed.

Extended item types

The base content item types are not actually available for users to add to pages. Instead OracleAS Portal provides extended item types based on the base content items.

File and Simple File
Simple Image
Image and Simple Image Map
PL/SQL and Simple PL/SQL
Page Link and Simple Page Link
Text and Simple Text
URL and Simple URL
Zip File

If these extended item types listed above do not provide enough flexibility, you can further extend them to meet your requirements (provided you have the appropriate privileges). To extend these item types, you must have at least the Manage Classifications privilege on the Shared Objects page group. You can add different attributes to the item types to store exactly the information that you want. You can also add calls to PL/SQL and HTTP procedures and even pass attributes to the parameters of those procedures.

To extend an item type, find the item type in the Navigator under the Shared Objects page group, then click the Edit link.

Custom item types

If you prefer, you can create your own entirely new custom item types. You can base a custom item type on one of the existing base content item types. Basing a custom item type on a base item type means that the custom type will inherit certain attributes. You can then extend the custom item type to include other attributes and procedure calls. You can also choose to not base your custom item type on any base item type, which gives you complete control over the attributes included in the custom item type.

To create a custom item type, you must have at least the Manage Classifications privilege on the page group in which you want to create the item type.

Notes:

You can only base custom item types on one of the base content item types. You cannot base custom item types on any of the base navigation item types.
After you create an item type, you must make the item type available to users of the page group. Users will not see the item type, and will not be able to add an item of that type, until the item type is added to the list of visible item types.

Additional Information

On Portal Center:

For more information go to the documentation section of Portal Center.