there are some options but they are not safe as creating a new ones under the master template from the umbraco backend.

http://our.umbraco.org/projects/developer-tools/doc-type-extensions

Sorry for the short post, posting from an iPad is a nightmare!

Hope the link helped.

Rich

Hi Sean,

The Doc Type Extensions package Rich mentioned above should do the trick, but it can also be done manually:

1) Create new Document Type (don't add any properties)

2) Update the cmsContentType.masterContentType field for each of the Document Types you'd like to inherit from (1)

3) Add properties to (1)

HTH,

Hendy

I think the Doc Type Extension project doens't work with Umbraco 4.7. Ask Matt to be sure.

Jeroen

Didn't know that.

The other option (if you don't have any current data) is to export each Doc Type (right click and export doc type) you then get an XML file with all the doc type properties, it's pretty easy to understand.

You can then change the master doc/properties etc. and import the Doc Types back in (Right click, import Doc Type)

Rich

@Rich, might be quicker and easier to update the cmsContentType table to set the new parent Document Type (which should not have any properties as yet) for each of Document Types to be moved - this will keep any existing content & values. New properties can then be added to the newly added base Document Type.

@Hendy agreed that should work and be quicker, always good to have options though :)

@Hendy How do you update the cmxContentType.masterContentType? Is that done in the SQL database, or can you do it through the Umbraco admin UI?

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'm keen to give the Doc Type Extension project a run when I get a chance, just to see the different ways it can be run.

Does anyone know how to achieve the same thing with umbraco v6?

There is a table called "cmsContentType2ContentType" which is updated when you add a new child doc type. But if you add new entries manually - it seems to have no influence. 

Same problem here: http://our.umbraco.org/forum/templating/templates-and-document-types/43487-Change-document-type-inheritance-in-Umbraco-6

I solved the issue with 2 SQL commands. This is the SQL code:

USE WebsiteDB;  -- Set with your DB name
GO

DECLARE @ContentTypeId INT, @NewParentId INT;
SET @ContentTypeId = 1285;  -- set with ID of ContentType to change
SET @NewParentId = 1381;    -- set with ID of new parent to set to @ContentTypeId (use -1 to set to root)

IF @NewParentId IN (0, -1) BEGIN
    SET @NewParentId = -1;  -- new parent is Root node.
END

-- Common variables
DECLARE @strSplit VARCHAR(100), @str VARCHAR(100), @ind INT, @count INT;

-- Reading current path info
DECLARE @CurrentParentPathTable TABLE (Id INT, Sort INT);
SELECT @strSplit = [path] FROM umbracoNode WHERE id = @ContentTypeId;

-- Split @CurrentPath to @CurrentParentPathTable table
SET @ind = CharIndex(',', @strSplit);
SET @count = 0;
WHILE @ind > 0 BEGIN
    SET @str = SUBSTRING(@strSplit, 1, @ind - 1);
    SET @strSplit = SUBSTRING(@strSplit, @ind + 1, LEN(@strSplit) - @ind);
    INSERT INTO @CurrentParentPathTable values (@str, @count);
    SET @count = @count + 1;
    SET @ind = CharIndex(',', @strSplit);
END
SET @str = @strSplit;
INSERT INTO @CurrentParentPathTable values (@str, @count);

-- Reading new path info
DECLARE @NewParentPath VARCHAR(100);
DECLARE @NewParentPathTable TABLE (Id INT, Sort INT);
IF @NewParentId = -1 BEGIN
    SET @NewParentPath = '';
END ELSE BEGIN
    SELECT @strSplit = [path] FROM umbracoNode WHERE id = @NewParentId;
    SET @NewParentPath = @strSplit + ',';

    -- Split @path to @NewParentPathTable table
    SET @ind = CharIndex(',', @strSplit);
    SET @count = 0;
    WHILE @ind > 0 BEGIN
        SET @str = SUBSTRING(@strSplit, 1, @ind - 1);
        SET @strSplit = SUBSTRING(@strSplit, @ind + 1, LEN(@strSplit) - @ind);
        INSERT INTO @NewParentPathTable values (@str, @count);
        SET @count = @count + 1;
        SET @ind = CharIndex(',', @strSplit);
    END
    SET @str = @strSplit;
    INSERT INTO @NewParentPathTable values (@str, @count);
END

-- Clean current document type inherit structure
DELETE TB1
FROM [cmsContentType2ContentType] TB1
    INNER JOIN @CurrentParentPathTable TB2 ON TB1.parentContentTypeId = TB2.Id
WHERE TB1.[childContentTypeId] = @ContentTypeId;

-- Set new document type inherit structure
INSERT INTO [cmsContentType2ContentType] ([parentContentTypeId], [childContentTypeId])
SELECT TB1.Id, @ContentTypeId
FROM @NewParentPathTable TB1
WHERE TB1.Sort IN (SELECT MAX(Sort) FROM @NewParentPathTable WHERE Id > 0);

-- Remove GroupID from properties that are in inherits groups
UPDATE cmsPropertyType
SET propertyTypeGroupId = NULL
FROM cmsPropertyType
    INNER JOIN cmsPropertyTypeGroup ON cmsPropertyType.propertyTypeGroupId = cmsPropertyTypeGroup.id
WHERE (cmsPropertyType.contentTypeId = @ContentTypeId) AND (cmsPropertyTypeGroup.parentGroupId IS NOT NULL);

-- Remove inherits groups
DELETE TB1
FROM cmsPropertyTypeGroup TB1
WHERE (TB1.contenttypeNodeId = @ContentTypeId) AND (TB1.parentGroupId IS NOT NULL);


-- Update Path field
UPDATE umbracoNode
SET parentId = @NewParentId
    , [path] = @NewParentPath + CAST(id AS VARCHAR(20))
    , [level] = (SELECT COUNT(*) + 1 FROM @NewParentPathTable WHERE Id > 0)
WHERE id = @ContentTypeId;

GO

After execution, it is important to reset WebApplication. To do this, open web.config then do save it.

UPDATE 2015-01-27:

• add support for set "root" as new parent.
• add compatibility to Umbraco 7.2

Note: to move a documentType that has children:

• run T-SQL for the first documentType
• run T-SQL for any children

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