RegisterHITType

The RegisterHITType operation creates a new HIT type, a set of HIT properties which can be used to create new HITs.

A HIT type consists of the following properties of a HIT:

Every HIT has a HIT type. When you create a HIT using the CreateHIT operation, you can specify either the HIT type ID, or the values for the properties common to a HIT type. In the latter case, if the common properties match an existing HIT type, the existing type will be used. If the properties do not match an existing type, a new type will be created implicitly. In both cases, the HIT's type ID will be returned by CreateHIT. The HIT type ID for a HIT can always be retrieved with the HIT data, using a call to the GetHIT operation.

The RegisterHITType operation lets you be explicit about which HITs ought to be the same type. It also gives you error checking, to make sure CreateHIT is called with an valid HIT type ID.

If you register a HIT type with values that match an existing HIT type, the HIT type ID of the existing type will be returned.

Tip:

HIT types allow your application to process HITs of different types separately, such as by passing a HIT type ID to the GetReviewableHITs operation.

HIT types are also used on the Mechanical Turk web site to group similar HITs together. This makes it easy for a Worker to complete multiple similar HITs in a single session.

For more information about creating HITs using HIT types, see the CreateHIT operation.

The following example of a call to the RegisterHITType operation registers a new HIT type.

http://mechanicalturk.amazonaws.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSMechanicalTurkRequester
&AWSAccessKeyId=[the Requester's Access Key ID]
&Version=2006-10-31
&Operation=RegisterHITType
&Signature=[signature for this request]
&Timestamp=[your system's local time]
&Title=Location%20and%20Photograph%20Identification
&Description=Select%20the%20image%20that%20best%20represents...
&Reward.1.Amount=5
&Reward.1.CurrencyCode=USD
&AssignmentDurationInSeconds=30
&Keywords=location,%20photograph,%20image,%20identification,%20opinion

A request to the Mechanical Turk Service includes parameters that control its behavior and the data it returns. Required parameters must be included for the request to succeed.

RegisterHITType accepts parameters common to all operations. Some common parameters are required. See Common Parameters for more information.

The following parameters are specific to the RegisterHITType operation:

NameDescriptionTypeValue
Operation

The operation you would like to call. To access the RegisterHITType operation, set the Operation parameter to RegisterHITType.

Required

RegisterHITType

Title

The title for HITs of this type.

A title should be short and descriptive about the kind of task the HIT contains. On the Mechanical Turk web site, the HIT title appears in search results, and everywhere the HIT is mentioned.

Required

A string, up to 128 characters in length

Description

A general description of HITs of this type.

A description includes detailed information about the kind of task the HIT contains. On the Mechanical Turk web site, the HIT description appears in the expanded view of search results, and in the HIT and assignment screens. A good description gives the user enough information to evaluate the HIT before accepting it.

Though the description is displayed while a Worker completes the HIT, the question data (submitted to CreateHIT) should include the complete instructions for completing the HIT. The Worker may not know to look for instructions in the HIT's description.

The description must be less than 2,000 characters in length.

Required

A string

Reward

The amount of money the Requester will pay a user for successfully completing a HIT of this type.

The value is a Price data structure. For more information, see the Price Data Structure.

Required

A Price data structure

AssignmentDurationInSeconds

The amount of time a user has to complete a HIT of this type after accepting it.

If a user does not complete their assignment in the specified duration, the assignment is considered abandoned. If the HIT is still active (its lifetime has not elapsed), the assignment becomes available for other users to find and accept.

AssignmentDurationInSeconds must be between 30 (30 seconds) and 31536000 (365 days).

Required

A number of seconds, as a positive integer

Keywords

One or more words or phrases that describe a HIT of this type, separated by commas. Searches for words similar to a HIT's keywords are more likely to return the HIT in the search results.

The complete string of keywords, including commas and spaces, must be fewer than 1,000 characters.

Optional

A string

AutoApprovalDelayInSeconds

An amount of time after an assignment for a HIT of this type has been submitted, after which the assignment will be considered "approved" automatically unless the Requester explicitly rejects it.

If not specified, the auto-approval delay is set to the maximum value of 30 days (2592000 seconds). In most cases, the Requester will be able to retrieve and approve answers directly before the auto-approval delay elapses. The maximum value assures that the Worker will get paid even if the Requester is unavailable.

A Requester may wish to specify a shorter auto-approval delay if the Workers are trusted (such as by having been vetted with high Qualification requirements) and to assure Workers that they will be paid in a timely manner.

There is no way to automatically reject results. To reject results, the Requester must explicitly call the RejectAssignment method.

Once an assignment has been approved, it cannot be rejected, and payment cannot be reversed.

AutoApprovalDelayInSeconds must be between 3600 (1 hour) and 2592000 (30 days).

Optional

A number of seconds, as a positive integer

QualificationRequirement

A condition that a Worker's Qualifications must meet before the Worker is allowed to accept and complete a HIT of this type.

The condition specifies that the Worker must have a Qualification of a particular Qualification type, and that its value must compare to the requirement's value in the specified way: equal to, not equal to, less than, less than or equal to, greater than or equal to, or greater than.

A HIT may have between zero and ten (10) Qualification requirements. All requirements must be met by a Worker's Qualifications for the Worker to accept the HIT.

All of a HIT's Qualification requirements must be based on Qualification types with an "active" status. If any requirement is based on a Qualification type with an "inactive" status, the call to CreateHIT will fail.

The value of this element is a Qualification requirement data structure. For more information, see the QualificationRequirement Data Structure.

Optional

A Qualification requirement data structure

A successful request for the RegisterHITType operation will have a RegisterHITTypeResult element in the response.

The RegisterHITTypeResult element contains the following elements:

NameDescriptionValue
HITTypeId

The ID of the newly registered HIT type.

A valid HIT type ID