What is a type?

A type is a study object that is either partially or fully defined and can be used to create other study objects. Types are like templates except that types appear as options in the Actions menu and in the Project Explorer menu when you create a new study object. Types are used only for items. Some commonly used types, including Float, Text, and Integer, are included in the System library.

Marking an item as a type automatically marks it as a template, as well.

Types have the following requirements:

You can create types for items only.
You can create types in libraries only.
An item marked as a type is automatically marked as a template (and you cannot remove the template categorization).

After you create an item type and publish it, other users can create items from the type.

When you create an item, you must select a type on which to base it, and you choose from types that are in:

The System library. These types are installed with Central Designer.
Libraries that appear in the Library List for the study.

If a type with the same name appears in both the System library and another library, the type from the non-System library is used for creating the item.

An item created from a type inherits the characteristics of the type on which it was based, but the item has no history link to the type. Therefore, a change to the type does not affect the item, and the reverse is also true. Additionally, types do not have versions, so the last published version of a type is always used.

Types appear in the following places in the Project Explorer:

In a library, types appear under the Types container. For example, the Items container contains all item types in the library.
In studies and libraries, item types appear under the container for items.

Note: You can protect templates and types. However, if you create a new study object from a template or type, the newly created study object is not protected.