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Suppression and Family Tables
You manage modeling entities through the Suppress command or through family table instances. The Suppress command and the family table instance methods are useful in slightly different situations. Here is an overview:
Suppress command—To suppress specific modeling entities, right-click the entity on the Model Tree. Click Suppress to suppress the selected modeling entity. Suppressed entities are hidden in the model display and ignores them during meshing and analysis. You can reactivate any suppressed modeling entity by right-clicking and selecting Resume on the Model Tree. Using the command is handy if you want to suppress modeling entities on the fly, or if you do not want the overhead of creating family table instances. Modeling features, for example datum curves, cannot be suppressed or resumed.
 
* To display all the modeling entities in a Model Tree, you must ensure that you select the Suppressed Objects check box on the Model Tree Items dialog box that you access through the Settings > Tree Filters command.
Creation of family table instances—Click Tools > Family Table to create separate instances of the simulation model, each with a different set of suppressed modeling entities. This technique is useful if you plan to solve several different types of simulation problems for a single model and want a slightly different set of modeling entities for simulation problem. The advantage of this technique is that you can set up each instance to solve a particular problem. Each instance acts as a record of the modeling entity state required to solve the associated simulation problem. Use of family table instances can save substantial model adjustment overhead for large, complex models, but requires preplanning and additional setup time.
To setup family table instances for simulation, you begin in Creo Parametric, where you create one or more family table instances for your model. You create one instance for each problem that requires a unique set of modeling entities. After you create family table instances, you enter Creo Simulate while in the generic version of the model. You then add modeling entities by inserting family table columns and selecting from the Model Tree. After you have all the desired modeling entity columns in place, you can work through the model instances, suppressing and activating individual modeling entities for each instance. Having now defined the simulation family table, you can now decide which problem you want to solve and open the associated model instance, working through the problem in that instance only.
When working in a family table instance, be aware that Creo Simulate promotes any modeling entity you create within an instance to the generic model. However, the modeling entity appears as suppressed, and you must resume the entity if you want to use it in the generic model or any of the other instances.
 
* When you are working in Creo Simulate, you can only add simulation modeling entities to the family table. You cannot add Creo Parametric values, features, components, or parameters. You also cannot create new family table instances while you work in Creo Simulate.
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