Public-works needs to delete a hydrant tag property on only one instance while other hydrants keep it. What constraint should they remember?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Shared instances are copycats by design—if you scrape a tag off the prototype, every hydrant loses it. To drop a tag on just one, use the right override path or deinstance that hydrant so it can diverge. One-off changes need a one-off identity.
Full Explanation
Shared instances copy prototype opinions by design. Public-works deleting a hydrant tag on only one instance while others keep it typically requires proper overs on that instance or deinstancing that hydrant so it can diverge. Editing the shared prototype removes the tag from every hydrant that shares it. One-off removals need one-off identity or instance-scoped authorship—not a prototype wipe.
Claiming one instance can never diverge is false; OpenUSD allows controlled divergence via overs or deinstancing. Deleting a property on the shared prototype does not affect only the selected instance—it affects all sharers. Specializes arcs do not automatically isolate property deletions to a single hydrant; specializes is a weak composition arc, not an instancing isolation tool.
Exam caveat: pointInstancer instances and native instances have different authoring knobs, but neither lets a prototype edit silently mean “only this one.” Operational check: select the target hydrant, author an instance-scoped removal or deinstance that path, recompose, and confirm sibling hydrants still show the tag and remain efficiently instanced. If all tags vanish, the prototype was edited—undo and redo on the single-instance path.