public static int getItemType( String itemType ) throws BadDataTypeException {
    int result = Data.NO_SELECTION;
    int index;

    for ( index = 1; index < ITEM_TYPES.length; index++ ) {
      if ( itemType.equalsIgnoreCase( ITEM_TYPES[index] ) ) {
        result = index;
        break;
      } // if
    } // for

    if ( result == Data.NO_SELECTION ) {
      throw new BadDataTypeException( "! Item Type '" + itemType + "' is not valid" );
    } // if

    return result;
  } // getItemType -------------------------------------------------------------