Schemas, Roles & Search Path

Hi all,

I just want to check my understanding of schemas, search paths and roles in
implementing my database design.

Scenario:
A database with various "modules" (groups of tables & views, etc.), some of
which are shared in common across a given organization, but others are
specific to a given department within the organization. I am thinking to
use schemas for the department-specific modules. So, for example:
Schema COMMON module: contains relations for categories, contacts and a few
other items.
FACILITIES module: contains relations for facility management department,
which includes the physical security team.
HR module: HR-specific relations
ACCOUNTING module: Accounting relations - but other departments need access
to certain accounting functions.
The relations within each schema still need appropriate privilege settings,
of course.

I would use group and user roles to manage privileges throughout the
database, so:
Group roles for HR, Accounting, Facilities, Sales, etc.
User roles assigned to appropriate group roles

I *think* I want to set the search path on the group roles so that the
Facilities team can see the COMMON and FACILITIES schemas:

ALTER ROLE fm_users search_path=common, facilities, accounting;

Or do I need to set the search path for each user individually?

ALTER ROLE joe SET search_path=common, facilities, accounting;

I don't see any references to setting the search_path for group roles, so I
assume I need to set this at the user role level. Is that correct?

My thinking on the design could be off base, but I think this is the
general approach I want.

Thanks!
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