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I would second Mike on this.
We also transferred our folders from Intralink 3.4 to Windchill 9.0 directly. It was the only timely way to get through the upgrade back then (3 years ago). Historically we had created a new folder for each contract we won (we are custom build to order shop).
We have just recently restructured all our Product folders and Libraries by using the family group codes in our ERP system (SAP), to determine which product/Library folder the models and drawings should be in (currently we have MCAD items only in Windchill).
Now permissionsare giventhrough roles on the specific product folders. We then use those roles for our workflow approvals. Our permissions are a mix of setting access to certain roles, and global rules set by groups. It is my impression most companies do it this way, to varying degrees.
Eugene
In Reply to Mike Lockwood:
I would also second Mike's opinion about re-assessing your data storage structure. Using Contexts with consistentaccess rights can be really valuable. Prior to our implementation, after I had begun to realize the differences between Intralink 3.x and Windchill, I actually moved our Intralink 3 folders around to look like what Windchill would be after the we switched over, making the top-level folders match the new contexts. This helped ease the transition somewhat.
The biggest hurdle during a switch-over is that Windchill is NOT like Intralink 3.x and trying too much to make them similar could conceivably confuse or annoy your users even more than if you just aligned your data within conventional Windchill structures. You're going to have to educate the users on the differences and teach them how to use the new system anyway, so trying to maintain similarity can lead to more comparisons between the two systems, which inevitably means that Windchill loses the popularity contest. People don't like to change..
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Going from Intralink 3.x to PDMLink is an opportunity to re-consider how data is divided.
Generally better to sort of start over on approaching this - putting all data specific to each Product in a series of Product containers, then all other shared data (e.g. fasteners) in a series of Library containers.
Think long and hard about using Folders within these containers; many of the historic reasons for folders sort of melt away.
I would never, never, never consider a separate domain for each user - many other ways to approach.