A problem with Copy Instance to Generic

I have an assembly with parts and sub-assemblies in it, that uses family tables to control the configuration of the assembly. The main components are plates which we produce, the others are bolts, and dowel pins, and springs, all of which have family tables for the different sizes.



Because I always want these plates (the main components) to have the same name, in the Top Level Assembly I copy the instance I need to the Generic (this is a function in the Family Table menu).



With components controlled by the family table (eg. the bolts, dowel pins, springs) you can either specify an instance or N for No instance at all.



The only problem with this is: When you copy the instance to the generic, wherever a component is specified as N it wants to delete it from the assembly entirely. If you then to change the generic to another instance that has that component, it is gone, because ProE forced you to delete it.



Does any else have this problem? It seems there should be an S option to just suppress it so that it doesn't permanently remove it from the assembly.

Well, in answer to my own problem, here is my work-around.



For parts I want to not appear when I copy the instance to the generic (but I don't want them deleted either), I create an instance in the part with the name *_ref (anything_ref) and the solid features suppressed (OK if there aren't a lot of them). My BOM's all filter on the REF text, so they don't show up there, and the part has no solids, so it doesn't appear in the assembly or in the drawings.



An awkward way to accomplish it, but the only way I know of.