14.7 Copying Items

You can create a new item by copying an existing item and editing its attributes. You can make multiple copies of an item and add the copies to various pages. You must have the appropriate privileges on both the page from which you are copying the item, and the page to which you are copying the item.

You can also copy most item types between page groups, with a few exceptions:

• You cannot copy item placeholder item types to a different page group.

• You cannot copy an item that is based on a local type to a different page group. A local type is a custom item type created in a page group other than the Shared Objects page group. Only those items that are based on shared item types can be copied across page groups.

• You cannot copy page function items. This is because such items are based on page types that have specific procedures set up, and those procedures are not included in a copy of a page function item.

• You cannot copy an item to a different page group if a local category or perspective is attached to the item. You must detach the category or perspective from the item, if possible, and then re-attempt the copy.

• You cannot copy an item from a page group with one default language into a page group with another default language. You cannot do this even if the other default language page group is set to the same language as the first page group through the Set Language portlet. Objects can be copied only between page groups sharing a common default language.

  When you copy an item, all of its translations are also copied, provided the target page group has the same translations. If the target page group does not have the same translations, only the translations in common between the source and target page groups are copied.

• Copies initiated from WebDAV may fail as Forbidden if they do not operate between page groups with the same base translation.

• Items with sub-items in a non-active state cannot be copied until the sub-item is deleted or rendered active. Non-active states include:

  • Pending

  • Pending as new but not current

  • Pending as new and current

  • Draft

  • Rejected

  • Rejected and deleted

  For information on which items are accessible in what states, see Section 17.9.3, "Item URL Security".

This section describes how to copy single items and multiple items simultaneously. It contains the following sub-sections:

• Section 14.7.1, "Copying a Single Item"

• Section 14.7.2, "Copying Multiple Items"