This is a very interesting topic, and I thought I would throw in my $0.02. I can only speak as a user of Alibre and M-Files, and obviously cannot give an 'official' answer. From reading the M-files literature, I get the impression that the reason the M-files has a 'traditional file' structure was to provide a means of transition to move files from the Windows File System into M-Files. My guess is that the M-Files designers thought that users would perhaps first transition files from the Windows File System into 'traditional folders' in M-Files, and then add meta-data (project, customer, etc.) to the files after that initial transition. This is just guesswork on my part.
I believe that using the traditional file structure in the Vault is probably not the most optimum way of using the Vault. However, I have a lot of trouble thinking that it could cause any long-term problems. A traditional file location in the Vault is just another piece of meta-data for a file stored in the Vault. Why should this particular type of meta-data cause any problems vs. other types of meta-data (project, customer, etc.)?
(I was also quite puzzled that the Alibre Data Migration tool did not transition files into the Vault using the traditional file structure of M-Files. I think if the Data Migration tool moved files from the old repository or the WFS into traditional folders in the Vault, many users would have been much happier. After the transition into traditional folders, users could create their own meta-data structure over time, and I think it would have been a much smoother transition.)
The one very nasty thing I do not like about using traditional file data in the Vault is that if a traditional folder is deleted, all files associated with that folder are also deleted. I don't recall if M-files even gives you a warning about this when you delete a traditional folder, but I think that using the traditional file structure in the Vault makes it very easy to delete a large number of files accidentally. (On the other hand, if you were to delete a project, the files associated with that project do not get deleted.) This is one reason I do not use the traditional file structure in the Vault.
When I used to use the repository, I did tend to create folders for assemblies, parts, hardware, etc. For myself, I find that when using the Vault, I do not need such folders. For example, I have a view in the M-Files explorer that shows just the assemblies for a given project. In the window that shows the assemblies, there is an arrow next to the assembly that I can click that shows what parts and sub-assemblies make up the assembly. (I can also see where that assembly is used in another assembly.) I find that this makes it easy to negotiate the hierarchy of an assembly or part, and I think it is even easier than the traditional file structure.
wfpelletier
