When the Usage setting for a design state is set either to "Local and Hierarchical" or "Hierarchical only", then that design state will be inherited into the next higher level design, where it will appear as an object state on the linked assembly. These hierarchical object states can themselves be enabled within upper-level design state definitions or directly used in the state selections within upper-level test definitions.
The Object States list on the States panel (depicted below) lists hierarchical states using brown text against a gray background, indicating that the state name cannot be edited within this design (hierarchical states are only renamed when the name is changed on the corresponding design state in the lower-level design). The backgrounds of the Active Functions and Control Deps. lists are also grayed out, since this information is inherited from below and cannot be edited at this design level. Because the "States are Mutually Exclusive" and "Allow No State Selections" checkboxes remain active for assemblies with hierarchical states, however, the Analyst can modify these settings within the upper-level design.
For information about how hierarchical states affect functionality within an upper-level design, refer to the following topics:
