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# Create items

Create items by adding files or folders to OpenText Dimensions CM. You can also create items with no initial content.

To create items by delivering files, see Deliver to a project.

In this topic:

## Guidelines for creating items

Review these guidelines and limitations before creating items from files or folders.

Guidelines and limitations:

- To create items, you need the Create Item privilege.

- This operation is not available for items in streams.

- Your process model may require you to relate a new item to a request.

- You can add an existing folder as a directory item. Folder contents, including subfolders and files, are compressed and stored in OpenText Dimensions CM as a single item.

  Note: OpenText Dimensions CM doesn't maintain metadata for directory items. Operations that rely on metadata, such as deliver, update, and synchronize, may not work as expected for directory items.

- When you first create an item, it is displayed in your inbox but not in the inboxes of other users.

- You cannot use the following characters in the item ID: . ; - " @ ` :

- If you specify a lifecycle state that has been set to 'sensitive' in your process model, the sensitive state is ignored and the item is created at the initial state of the lifecycle.

  Example: Assume that you have three states, A, B, and C, and B is set to sensitive. If you try to create a new item at status B, it is created instead at the initial state, A.

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## Create an item

You create an item by adding a file or folder to OpenText Dimensions CM. Or you can create a virtual item with no content.

To create an item:

1. In a Design Parts tree, select a design part.

   Or in a Project tree, select a project folder.

2. Select File > New > Item, or click Create Object and select New Item.

3. Select what item to create:

   Create a virtual item (an item with no content). | Select Create a virtual item. Virtual items are primarily used for controlling hardware configuration items rather than software.
   Create an item from a file or folder in your work area. | Select Create item using specified workfile/folder. Enter a path to the file or folder you want to add, or click the browse arrow to find the file/folder. If you specify a folder, you create a directory item. The folder and all its contents are stored in OpenText Dimensions CM as a single item.

4. For Item Description, enter a description for the new item. The default description is itemID.

5. (Optional) For Owning Design Part, enter the design part to own the item, or click the browse button to find the design part.

   Note: If you have set a default design part for the project, this field is populated with that design part. If there is no default design part, the owning design part is determined from the Upload Rules, if any. If this field is empty, the top design part for the product is used.

6. For Item Type, accept or select an item type. By default, the item type is determined from the file extension according to the process model.

   If you create an item without adding a file, you must choose an item type.

7. For Item Format, select an item format. This option is required if the process model defines item formats for items of the selected type, or if you are using Dimensions Make.

8. (Optional) In the In response to Requests field, specify one or more requests, or browse to find them.

   By default, the default request for your current project is selected.

9. To specify what happens to the file in your work area after you add it to OpenText Dimensions CM, select an option from the After Item Created list:

   - To keep the file, select Keep original workfile unchanged.

   - To delete the file, select Delete original workfile.

   - To delete the file and immediately get its copy from OpenText Dimensions CM, select Automatic get, original workfile set read-only. You may choose this option if the item has header substitution variables that you want to be inserted in the file in your work area.

10. Enter a comment for this new item revision. Your process model may require you to enter a description.

11. To override the default settings for the item, or to set the item type, select the Advanced tab and edit the details:

    Field | Description
    --- | ---
    ID | Accept or enter the item ID. Do not edit this field if your process model rules are set to automatically generate the item ID from the project file name. Any text that you enter is ignored, and the item ID generated automatically. Otherwise, enter a unique ID.
    Status | Enter a valid status for the item type. The default is the initial state in the item lifecycle. Note: If you specify a lifecycle state that has been set to 'sensitive' in your process model, the sensitive state is ignored and the item is created at the initial state of the lifecycle.
    Variant | Enter the name for a variant item. The default is the variant for the product.
    Revision | Type a revision ID for the item. The default is 1.
    Project | Type the project folder and file name for the new item. The Project fields are populated automatically if you have specified a file name earlier. If you specify a folder, it should be relative to the root project folder. If you enter a file name, the name must be unique in the project folder.
    Library Filename | Type the name for the item in the OpenText Dimensions CM item library. The default is the value in the Project Filename field.
    Branch | Select a named branch for the new item. If the list is empty, named branches are not enabled for the current project.

    Note: If you change the values for the Filename or Folder fields, OpenText Dimensions CM may automatically update the values of Item Type, Item Format or Owning Design Part, based on what you have changed. We recommend to check these fields on the General tab.

    If you are creating a virtual item, in the Filename field, enter a project file name for the new item, including a file extension.

12. To set attributes, select the Attributes tab. Attributes in bold are required. Attributes in italics cannot be modified.

13. Click Create.

The new item is added to your inbox. It is not displayed in other users' inboxes until you action it to them.

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## Create multiple items

To create a number of items, add files in your work area to a project/stream in OpenText Dimensions CM.

We recommend that you set the project root folder to a folder in your work area and then upload (deliver) the new files from a folder structure under that folder that corresponds to their required location in the project.

For streams, you add new items by performing a deliver from a work area to which new files have been added.

To create multiple items from files in your work area:

1. Copy the item files to one or more folders in your work area corresponding to where you want them to belong within the project/stream folder structure. For details, see About projects.

2. In the desktop client, select the required project/stream. Ensure that the default work area corresponds to the correct root folder, and your default design part, default request, and default branch are set to the required values if necessary. For details, see Open projects and set defaults.

3. In the My Current Project/Stream window, expand the Files and Folders node and select the folder where you want to add the items.

4. Right-click the folder and select Deliver. The Synchronize wizard opens. For details about this tool, see Use the Synchronize wizard with projects.

5. Verify the Folder and Associated Dimensions Project and click Next.

   When OpenText Dimensions CM has finished comparing the differences, the next page of the wizard is displayed containing a folder structure.

6. On the Defaults tab, enter a comment for check-in.

   If needed, enter a request under work for the items to be related as In Response To.

   If needed, enter the design part to own the items.

7. Click Next.

8. After the processing is finished, click Synchronize.

   When the operation is processed, the wizard displays a message Synchronization is now complete. For details, see Use the Synchronize wizard with projects or Deliver changes to streams.

9. Click Close.

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See also:

- Select items
- Create items
- Edit object attributes

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