newbie question

At times it is possible. The problem you are experiencing is as you said the parent child relation ship. A lot of times the relationship is no more than a face being used by a sketch. This can compound quickly. If this is the case you may be able to create a plane that wouldn't reference the feature you want supressed and Edit Sketch plane.
There are many other things that could be referenced by sketches. Edges of the feature for example. These relationships are a little harder to locate. But to avoid this you will have to do planning before you start throwing your model together. You need to think of how you (and in many cases your boss) would want the model to be changed and try to model it and leave yourself an out in cases that you may need to make a change. It is impossible to always plan for the exact change that might need to be made, but do your best. This comes with experience and training. One thing you mignt want to try is to reference sketches instead of surfaces and edges where you can. This way you can insert a chamfer above the child feature with out breaking it because the edge is now gone, and you could suppress the feature and leave the sketch unsupressed so the children of the sketch are still intact.
Corey

you've experienced maybe the primary "learning curve" issue of parametric modelers. for the most part, grinding through such situations is the best way to truly understand strategy with the software. bill

In part mode. Insert-feature-combine ( yes odd nomenclature ). select the "subtract" radio button.

I have highlighted the two parts but the combine icon is not available (grey).
> In part mode. Insert-feature-combine ( yes odd nomenclature ). select > the "subtract" radio button. > > > -- > Brian Hokanson > Starting Line Products >
>> How do I cut part A from Part B? >> >> Part A has a profile and detail underside that I want to imprint on part >> B. >> >> Tried it in part and assembley modes. Cant seem to get my head around it. >> >> How do I subtract a from b? >> >> > > > >

I would look at using the Cavity tool. Start by reviewing the help files on Cavity, then edit the part you wish to modify within the context of your assembly. You will create a cavity within the part B that corresponds to part A. In other words, part A will be your design part and part B is the mold base. I use these terms loosely, but this is the terminology found within the help file for Cavity.

If its not a large file, you can e-mail it to me and I'll take a look. Does your solid bodies folder say that you have 2 solids?
>I have highlighted the two parts but the combine icon is not available >(grey). >
>> In part mode. Insert-feature-combine ( yes odd nomenclature ). select >> the "subtract" radio button. >> >> >> -- >> Brian Hokanson >> Starting Line Products >>
>>> How do I cut part A from Part B? >>> >>> Part A has a profile and detail underside that I want to imprint on part >>> B. >>> >>> Tried it in part and assembley modes. Cant seem to get my head around >>> it. >>> >>> How do I subtract a from b? >>> >>> >> >> >> >>

John,
The problem here is that both parts are the same part (check the feature tree). I believe a cavity feature would create a circular reference. However, I have never tried this exact scenario, so I'm not 100% sure.

Either that, or do it within the part, and not an assembly. Use a linear pattern to put a copy of the seat body where it needs to be, then use the appropriate combine feature to do the subtraction.