Deactivating / Activating a Node  

This task shows you how to deactivate / activate a Node in the Product Structure context.
Open the CRIC_TERMINAL_NODE01.CATProduct document.

  1. Select the Product CRIC_SCREW.

  2. Either select the command Edit > Representation > Deactivate Node or select the Deactivate icon .
    This functionality allows you to mask an active representation from a particular node (at the level of CRIC_SCREW) in the specification tree and in the geometry :

  3. To make the elements re-appear both in the tree and geometry, re-select the same node, CRIC_SCREW, and select Edit > Representation > Active Node or clicking the Activate icon , the elements re-appear both in the tree and in the geometry :

    With these functionalities, you can choose to visualize the geometric representation of CATIA elements, belonging to a CATProduct. With the Deactivate Node functionality, only the selected element is hidden. Whereas with the Deactivate Terminal Node functionality, the last node's elements of the selected node are masked. For more information, see the following chapter Deactivate / Activate Terminal Node.
While reopening your document, if you close a CATIA document containing deactivated CATParts or CATProducts, he deactivated elements are activated. As opposed to the SHOW / NO SHOW functionality, the entities in the NO SHOW mode remain in this mode when you reopen the document.

Both functionalities, Deactivate / Activate Node and SHOW / NO SHOW, are very similar. However, with the deactivate option you liberate the geometrical space, a deactivated representation is unloaded and it is no longer stored. On the contrary, with the SHOW / NO SHOW mode there is a more important quantity of stored memory.

The activate / deactivate functionality allows a more precise selection and de-selection, especially with the Terminal Node deactivation.

You can activate or deactivate Shape representation in Tools > Options > Infrastructure, select the Product Structure tab and check the box entitled Do not activate default shapes on open. The entity representation disappears, it is a profit for memory space and its icon in the specification tree changes into: . You can work only on the tree. For more information about activate or deactivate Shape representation, see Specification Tree.
Since CATIA R16 SP4, it is not possible to undo after the Activate Node, Deactivate Node, Activate Terminal Node and Deactivate Terminal Node operations. They are session operations, non-persistent for the model, like the VisuMode/DesignMode switch.