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## To Create an Item Type

1. If you do not already have a data store open, select New from the File menu to create a new data store to define this new item type. Then define a new item type in the navigator tree by choosing New Item Type from the Edit menu. An Item Type property page appears.

2. Every item type has an all-uppercase internal name, which is a maximum of eight characters long. All Oracle Workflow APIs, SQL scripts, and PL/SQL procedures refer to the internal name when identifying an item type.

> Attention: To update the internal name for an item type once it is defined, you must use a special SQL script called wfchitt.sql. You should only use this script to correct errors in an item type's internal name during design time. Do not use this script to rename item types that are involved in running instances of processes. See: Wfchitt.sql.

> Caution: Do not include colons ":" or leading/trailing spaces in your internal name.

3. Enter a translatable Display Name that is longer and more descriptive. You can also supply a description for the item type.

4. Specify a persistence type of Temporary or Permanent. If you set the persistence type to Temporary, then specify the number of days from the time the item instance completes before its status audit trail can be purged. See: Persistence Type.

5. If your item type has or will have more than one workflow process associated with it, you may specify a selector function using the syntax <`package_name`>.<procedure_name>. The selector function is a PL/SQL stored procedure that automatically identifies the specific process definition the Workflow Engine should execute when a workflow is initiated for this item type. You can also extend the selector function to be a general callback function that resets context information each time the Workflow Engine establishes a new database session to execute activities. See: Standard API for an Item Type Selector or Callback Function.

6. Choose Apply to save your changes.

7. Select the Roles tab page to specify the roles that have access to this item type. (This functionality will be supported in a future release.)

8. Select the Access tab page to set the access and customization levels for this item type. See: Allowing Access to an Object.

9. Choose Apply to save your changes, OK to save your changes and close the property page or Cancel to cancel your changes and close the property page.

10. A secondary branch appears in the navigator tree that represents the item type you just created. You can review or edit the properties of this item type at any time by double-clicking on the item type in the navigator tree or by selecting the item type and choosing Properties from the Edit menu.

11. Define as many item type attributes as necessary to use as global variables in your process. You use these item type attributes to pass values to and from your function, notification, and event activities. See: To Define an Item Type or Activity Attribute.

### See Also

To Copy an Item Type

Using the Edit Button in a Property Page

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