Create document sets and documents via workflow from a list (without code)

At a customer, we had to move a legacy VB application to SP2010.
The application existed of:
– dossiers with about 30 metadata fields
– items in those dossier, some have attachments with about 10 metadata

There are about 20K dossiers, we had to migrate the data and make something in order to do archivation.
Our choice fell on document sets: easy archivation, dossier like behavior and a good look and feel to display information.

(other possibilities were folders and items with attachments, infopath forms or a combination between document sets and lists).

Our biggest problem was that not every item in the dossier had a document..

Converting items and dossiers into document sets and documents

So, after playing around with SharePoint designer, we found our solution.

1. create the content types for the document sets and documents.
2. Create the new document library where you want to store your dossiers and link those document sets.
3. Create a list to import the files (we did it from a sql export to excel)
4. Open the site in SPD 2010
5. Create a new workflow on the old items from the list, that starts when a new item is created
6. Add a task to the workflow: create new item on the document library where you are going to store the dossiers
7. Content Type ID from that new item must be the document set you created
8. Add other metadata you want to take with you.
9. Publish the workflow

Now, all you have to do, is copy the dossier information from the excel to the list via datasheet view.
The workflow will start for all items, creating a document set on the document library where you can add documents.
To move the items in the dossier, simply do the same process but with a document content type.

How to create a new item (which is not a document) in the document sets 
Simply create a workflow, that starts from the document set, and that creates a new item (content type= your document).
Add a link to that workflow on your document set welcome page. Every time you want to add a new item, which is not a document, simply click on the link.

To make matters more interesting, you can add initiation form parameters, so you can fill in your metadata.