A document type is a schema-like definition that represents a kind of document that publishers and subscribers can exchange using the Broker. A document type has a name, a structure that consists of named fields, and a set of properties that determines how the Broker handles instances of that document type at run time.

A document type must be registered on the Broker before clients can publish instances of that type. The name of the document type, which must be unique within a Broker, is carried by all documents of its type. Subscribers indicate which documents they want to receive by subscribing to specific document types.

Document types are created when a developer uses Software AG Designer to define publishable document types. When a developer creates a publishable document type, the Integration Server to which that developer is connected automatically registers a corresponding document type on the Broker. You can also use the Broker admin APIs to create document types.

Additional document types are created by Broker itself to support underlying system processes and by other webMethods components (such as Designer) that use the Broker's pub-sub infrastructure.

You use the Broker user interface in My webMethods to examine the document types that are registered on a Broker and to monitor the activity associated with each type. You can also use the Broker user interface to export a document type from one Broker and import it on another.

For information about managing document types, see Managing Document Types.