An EPC-Project Mode domain is a domain with functionality similar to an owner operator domain but instead of As-Built has a Project Center. Such a domain is partitioned into several schemas: a single schema for Project Center and separate schemas for projects. During the initial planning stage you can break the main project down into smaller pieces or projects. This would allow you to allow for different groups of engineers or sub-contractors to work on the design of the new plant without having access to your entire database. Each project is defined for one plant only, and a plant can have several associated projects.
The System Administrator can create an EPC-Project Mode domain on the fly, when initializing a new domain in the database platform (Oracle, or SQL Server). Also, the System Administrator can convert an existing engineering company domain to an EPC-Project Mode domain using the Domain Definition window options. When making domain definitions, the System Administrator sets the claim mode (exclusive or non-exclusive). After creating the first project, these definitions become fixed in the current domain. When creating an EPC-Project Mode domain, The Project Center is created automatically. Then, the Domain Administrator needs to create project schemas and assign Project Administrators to each project. After that, Smart Instrumentation users can define the Project Center data and then claim this data for the existing projects.
When users complete working in a project, the Project Administrator can merge the project data back with the Project Center and then delete the project. This needs to be performed in Smart Instrumentation. It is not possible to delete the Project Center. After merging project data with the Project Center, you cannot reverse the process. For this reason, at all stages of plant planning, you should ensure that there is full coordination of engineering activities between the Project Center and other projects within your EPC-Project Mode domain, to avoid inadvertent loss of data.
We do not recommend working in the Project Center. If you want to combine two projects,
copy directly from one project to the other.