A custom item type is a repository item type created from scratch, that is, it bears no relation to existing item types. For example, you might create a custom item type called assortment that represents the living room furniture displayed in an advertisement. Users can buy as many items in the assortment as they wish. Although assortments have characteristics similar to categories and SKU bundles, they are not based on these item types. Another custom item type is an alert that displays the weather for a place and time.
To make a custom item type visible in Asset Manager applications:
Create your custom item type based on instructions provided in the SQL Content Repository chapter of the ATG Repository Guide.
Configure the item type for the versioned database by adding new properties to the repository, adding columns for those properties in the appropriate database tables, and informing the versioning system about the new item type. See the Configuring Repository Asset Support section of the Adding an ATG Content Administration Server chapter in the ATG Content Administration Programming Guide for instructions.
Add the new type to the Browse tab views. See Modifying Tree Views section of the Configuring the Merchandising UI chapter of the ATG Merchandising User Guide.
Make the new type searchable in the Search tab. See Creating and Defining a Task Configuration File.
Create item mappings that control which properties appear for the item type in the Details pane in a given context. See Custom Item Types and View Mappings.
Create property groups so that you can use the Multi Edit tab to edit items in bulk. See Creating and Defining Multi Edit Property Groups.
A default icon represents all custom repository items in the Navigation pane. If you provide a different icon, see the Implementing a Custom Icon section for instructions.
Items of a custom type are automatically visible in the Project tab, Multi Edit tab, and all relevant dialog boxes.
