> 1) Is control as simple as reserving a directory on the network and > restricting access? Maybe...maybe not. How good is you're access control? How do you ensure that the data is really the most current for that revision. Contrary to popular belief, data will be changing right up to moment you start building. Your best bet is to invest in a PDM (Product Data Management) software package right from the start. Its sole purpose is data configuration management control. > 2) What is done to make sure the drawing matches the fab data after > revisions are made? See number 1. > 3) Fab data will reside separately from drawing data for redundancy. Most PDM packages allow for, and are in fact designed for that configuration. > 4) Is FTP or e-mail preferred for fab data transfer? Or is this fab house > specific? That usually depends on the size of the data files you're sending. Many mail handlers will truncate data files that exceed a certain size. Compressing the files helps a lot. FTP is much faster. It's also more reliable, due to the parity checking that occurs during a transfer. > 5) Are there software packages that automate all/some of this process? Many people write their own shell scripts or C programs to post process and package the data for transfer. This not only ensures consistency of data setups and formats, but is very fast. Michael Hiteshew Lockheed Martin Launching Systems [log in to unmask] (410) 682-1259 ############################################################## TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ############################################################## To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET ############################################################## Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ##############################################################