Reducing the number of states for certain objects—in particular, when there are more than two. (Note: for assemblies with hierarchical states, the Analyst can use diagnostics to minimize the design states within the lower-level design.)
Selecting fewer objects on the Auto-Create Design States dialog—design states will then only be created for paths that travel through states on selected objects. If there are multiple, disjunct sets of object states within a design, the Analyst may wish to consider invoking the Auto-Create operation multiple times (once for each set of states). If these design states are later inherited hierarchically, the Analyst should disable Mutually-Exclusive States on the upper-level assembly if upper-level state configurations need to simultaneously take into account multiple sets of lower-level states.
The Analyst can only apply these methods to the extent that a useful set of design states is generated. Furthermore, when a large number of design states are created, it is often advisable for the Analyst to immediately perform a diagnostic analysis and reduce the number of design states to the minimal number needed to accomplish the diagnostic goals for that design.In general, the Analyst should be wary of working with large numbers of design states (for more, see the topics "The Dangers of Using Design States" and "Good Design State Practices").
Design states can now be generated randomly (rather than systematically). With this ability, the Analyst can now address much larger problems, where a ―sufficiently rich set of design states is preferable to an ―exhaustive set. On the status dialog that now displays as design states are created, there is an abort button that allows the Analyst to stop the operation at any point.
Click on the OK button to generate design states based on the selected options, or on the Cancel button to exit this dialog without generating design states.
When eXpress estimates that the Auto-Create Design States operation could result in the creation of more than 2000 design states, a warning prompt appears that allows the Analyst to confirm whether or not that many design states should be created.
