Items are one of the basic components of a Portal page. Items in Portal are based on item types. Item types define the contents of an item and the information that is stored about an item. Users with the appropriate privileges can create an item type. The information stored about an item is determined by the attributes of the item type.
The following lists sample item types that may appear in Portal. Users may or may not see any of the item types listed below. In addition, users may see other item types that are not listed. The page group administrator chooses the item types that are displayed for a page group.
The content item types may include:
File and Simple File: Uploads a file and stores it in the page group. For more information, see Adding a File item.
URL and Simple URL: Adds a link to another Web page, Web site, or document URL either internal or external to the page group. For more information, see Adding a URL item.
Text and Simple Text: Adds text (up to 32KB) to display in the page. For more information, see Adding a Text item.
Image and Simple Image: Uploads an image item. For more information, see Adding an Image item.
PL/SQL and Simple PL/SQL: Adds PL/SQL code which executes the PL/SQL procedure and displays the results. For more information, see Adding a PL/SQL item.
Page Link and Simple Page Link: Adds a link to display another page in the page group. For more information, see Adding a Page Link item.
Simple Image Map: Uploads an image map item. An image map is an image with separate areas that users can click to go to different URLs. For more information, see Adding an Image Map item.
Zip File: Lets users upload a set of files to the page group in a single operation. For example, users can replicate a Web site or file system so that it is contained in a page group. For more information, see Adding a Zip file item.
The built-in navigation item types may include:
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. For more information, see Adding a Portal Smart Link item.
Login/Logout Link: Adds links and/or icons to the page that users can click to log in or log out of the portal. For more information, see Adding a Login/Logout Link item.
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. For more information, see Adding a Basic Search Box item.
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). For more information, see Adding a List of Objects item.
Portal Smart Text: Adds smart text, such as the current date, current user, or current page to the page. For more information, see Adding a Portal Smart Text item.
Object Map Link: Adds a map of objects available in the portal. For more information, see Adding an Object Map Link item.
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. For more information, see Adding a Page Path item.
Sub Page Display: Displays links to one or two levels of sub pages associated with the page. For more information, see Adding a Sub Page Display item.
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. For more information, see Adding a Page Function item.
If the item types listed above do not provide enough flexibility, users with the appropriate privileges can create additional custom item types to meet their requirements. Users can base a custom item type on one of the base item types, or create a completely new item type. The Portal base item types include: File, URL, Text, Image, Image Map, PL/SQL, and Page Link.
Custom item types, based on one of the base item types, automatically inherit the base item type's attributes. After the custom item type is created, it can be edited so that additional attributes can be added.
Notes:
You must create an attribute before you can add it to a custom item type.
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.
In addition to adding attributes to custom item types, you can also add calls to PL/SQL and HTTP procedures. You can pass attributes as parameters to those procedures, if required. For example, if the Review custom item type includes a Search attribute to store a search string, you could add a procedure call to a search engine and pass the search string to that search engine. When users run the search engine, the search results for the search string are displayed.
When users create a custom item type they are not adding an item to the page group. They are creating a new type of item in addition to the types that Portal provides. Page group administrators can add custom item types to the list of item types displayed to users.
Creating a custom item type
Changing a custom item type's basic properties
Adding attributes to a custom item type
Adding procedure calls to a custom item type
Deleting a custom item type
What is an item?
Choosing the item types available in a page group
Changing the attributes displayed in a region