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Reuse Model Components from Files

Open Model
Step 5 of 7 in Basic Modeling Workflow

When working on a large model, you can separate it into multiple files so that team members can develop different model components at the same time. You can reuse these components multiple times in a model and in other models.

Model, library, and subsystem files provide a single source for multiple instances of the same model component. To learn when you should use each of these componentization methods, see Component-Based Modeling Guidelines.

Subsystems

Model ex_modeling_component_reuse references the contents of subsystem file ex_modeling_mechanical_system.slx twice to represent identical mechanical subsystems.

While you can define a subsystem for reuse in either a library or subsystem file, subsystem files allow for easier editing. When you edit a referenced subsystem, the changes apply to the subsystem file and all instances of the referenced subsystem.

Models

Model ex_modeling_component_reuse references the contents of model file ex_modeling_controller.slx. Controller code is often deployed on embedded systems, so having a standalone controller model is useful.

An embedded processor might not support default properties for the controller. Since a controller model might be used to generate code for an embedded processor, these constraints apply to the referenced controller model and the interface with its parent model:

  • Fixed Signal Attributes — To require that buses at model interfaces share the same signal attributes, bus objects specify signal attributes at the three sets of input and output ports.

  • Discrete Sample Time — To specify a discrete sample time, model ex_modeling_controller specifies a discrete execution domain and script ex_modeling_data_controller.m specifies discrete PID controller values.

  • Fixed Data Type — To apply the single-precision data type required by the embedded processor, Data Type Conversion blocks convert the bus element data types before they reach the model interface.

Related Topics

Basic Modeling Workflow
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