About Adding Features to Family Tables
Keep in mind the following when adding features to Family Tables:
• If you give the feature a NOTE name, the name appears at the top of that feature column in the Family Table.
• When a feature is omitted, all its dimensions and children are omitted or ignored. If a feature is present, all its parents are present. In cases of conflict, omitted features supersede present features.
• In a multi-level Family Table, you cannot add a feature to an instance Family Table if that feature is already added as a column in the parent Family Table. The system displays the message Cannot add a parameter existing in a parent table of this object.
• When dealing with patterns, the system automatically records the parent feature. Also, note that you can include the pattern instance parameter in the table. You can have zero instances by omitting the pattern completely.
• When you place a UDF defined with a Family Table, any features in the UDF instance which have been suppressed are not placed on the part. They are in effect deleted as the UDF group is placed.
The following information is helpful when adding a UDF to a Family Table:
• When you place a UDF from a Family Table on a part, any features in the UDF which have been suppressed are not placed on the part. They are in effect deleted as the UDF is placed.
• When a UDF contains a Family Table within it, you cannot suppress and resume features within that UDF by adding instance names of the UDF to the part Family Table. This is because when UDF is placed, any feature that is suppressed in the UDF Family Table will not be placed at all. Therefore, when adding that same UDF group to a part Family Table, any non-placed features cannot be resumed, and likewise, any placed feature cannot be suppressed when creating a new part instance.
Adding a Feature to a Family Table By Using Suppression
In some cases, you must suppress some features before making and including others in the table. This makes it possible to include features that may conflict if they are present at the same time, such as a round and a chamfer on the same edge.
For example, suppose you have an edge that can be filleted, chamfered, or left square depending on the instance.
In this case, you would have to add both the fillet and the chamfer features to the Family Table; however, you cannot have both features on the model simultaneously. You can, however, create the fillet, add it to the Family Table, and then suppress it. You could then create the chamfer and add it to the table later.