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Originally Posted by Dzdconfusd
DO NOT USE ASSEMBLY CUTS OR FEATURES IN PRO/E
They cause all sorts of reference issues and if you select the wrong options when creating them you can cause all sorts of problems. This is more of an issue when multiple people are working on an assembly but the consequences are sitll the same. This is the easiest way to cause a cicular reference and should only be done as a last resort.
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This is where design intent, manufacturing intent and program functionality clash. If the intent is for a cut to be made through the assembly, and not individually on each part, the assembly cut seems logical--but for the reasons you describe, things can get a little crazy when chasing the references later on, because of Pro/E's need to maintain dependencies. (Note that for the same manufacturing intent reasons, assembly protrusions don't make much sense at all, in most cases.)
If you're going to be putting the parts in
other assemblies, definitely treat it like the second case, or the third case (if you're
very careful about what assemblies it will belong to). If you're going to leave it all in one assembly, occasional use of the assembly cut should be fine--but it isn't intended to replace individual part features. I would avoid other sorts of assembly features, if they aren't sensibly grounded in either design or manufacturing intent.
Most importantly, whichever technique is used, good practices should always be followed when choosing references: don't pick features that are prone to disappearing or changing, as the model evolves; try to use as few references as possible to constrain the sketch; avoid references on separate models in an assembly, if a single model will do (mostly for Insert Feature).
In short, "never" is probably too strong, but if in doubt, you can still take the safer route, and modify the underlying model. With a little experience in choosing references, you shouldn't have too much trouble making a good decision.