Horizontal Slider
Change parameter or variable value using horizontal slider with customizable appearance
- Library:
Simulink / Dashboard / Customizable Blocks
Description
Use the Horizontal Slider block to tune the value of a variable or block parameter during simulation. You can customize the appearance of the Horizontal Slider block to look like a control in a real system. You can adjust the scale range and tick values to fit the desired range for the value you want to tune. Use the Horizontal Slider block with other dashboard blocks to create an interactive dashboard to control your model.
Customize Horizontal Slider Blocks
When you add a Horizontal Slider block to your model, the block is preconfigured with a default design. You can use the block with the default design or customize the appearance of the block using design mode. You can enter design mode in one of three ways after selecting the block:
On the Slider tab, under Design, click Edit.
In the Property Inspector, on the Design tab, click Edit.
Pause on the ellipsis that appears above the block and click the Edit Custom Block button.
In design mode, you have access to block parameters and settings that allow you to design the appearance of the block. You can use the toolbar above the block to change the background image or needle image and to set the opacity and color for the scale, tick labels, and value bar. To design the appearance of the scale, select the aspect of the scale you want to edit in the middle section of the toolbar. Use the controls on the right of the toolbar to set the color and opacity. You can also click and drag to reposition the needle or the scale.
For fine control of the block design, use the Design tab in the Property Inspector. You can use the Property Inspector to enter exact values for design settings. The Design tab also includes design parameters that are not available through the toolbar or interactive editing, such as the ability to add a foreground image to the block.
When you finish editing the design, click Exit in the upper-right of the canvas to exit design mode.
Connect Dashboard Blocks
Dashboard blocks do not use ports to connect to model elements. To connect dashboard blocks to variables and block parameters, use connect mode. Connect mode facilitates the process of connecting dashboard blocks in your model, especially when you want to connect multiple blocks at once. To connect a single dashboard block, you can also use the Connection table in the block dialog box.
Tip
You can modify dashboard block connections in your model during normal and accelerator mode simulations.
Note
Dashboard blocks cannot connect to variables until you update the model diagram. To connect dashboard blocks to variables or modify variable values between opening your model and running a simulation, update the model diagram using Ctrl+D.
To enter connect mode, in the canvas, select the dashboard block to connect. On the Simulink® Toolstrip, a tab named after the type of the selected block appears. On the block tab, click Connect. In connect mode, when you select one or more blocks, a list of parameters and variables available for connection appears. Select a variable or parameter from the list to connect to the selected dashboard block.
When the value of the selected variable or block parameter is nonscalar, use the text box
at the bottom of the Connection table to specify the element you want
to connect to the dashboard block. To connect to an element of a vector, matrix, or array,
specify the element index, for example, 3
or (1,3)
. To
connect to an element in a bus or structure, specify the element in the context of the bus
or structure hierarchy by using dots to indicate different levels in the hierarchy, and omit
the top level. For example, specify a.b
to connect to scalar element
b
of the structure or bus a
nested inside the
selected composite variable or parameter.
To connect another dashboard block, pause on another dashboard block and click the Connect button above it. Then, make a selection of signals and blocks in your model and choose a model element to connect.
When you finish connecting the dashboard blocks in your model, on the block tab, click Done Connecting.
Tip
You can hide the message shown on unconnected blocks using the
set_param
function with the ShowInitialText
block parameter. The message also disappears when you connect the block.
Parameter Logging
Tunable parameters connected to dashboard blocks are logged to the Simulation Data
Inspector, where you can view the parameter values along with logged signal data. You can
access logged parameter data in the MATLAB® workspace by exporting the parameter data from the Simulation Data Inspector
by using the UI or the Simulink.sdi.exportRun
function. For more information about exporting
data using the Simulation Data Inspector UI, see Export Data to the Workspace or a File. The
parameter data is stored in a Simulink.SimulationData.Parameter
object, accessible as an element in the
exported Simulink.SimulationData.Dataset
.
Limitations
Except for the Dashboard Scope block and the Display block, dashboard blocks can only connect to real scalar signals.
The toolstrip does not support blocks that are inside a panel.
You cannot use the Connection table in the block dialog to connect a dashboard block to a block that is commented out. When you connect a dashboard block to a commented block using connect mode, the dashboard block does not display the connected value until the you uncomment the block.
Dashboard blocks cannot connect to model elements inside referenced models.
When you simulate a model hierarchy, dashboard blocks inside referenced models do not update.
Dashboard blocks do not support rapid accelerator simulation.
When you connect a dashboard block to a variable or parameter during simulation, the data for that variable or parameter is not logged to the Simulation Data Inspector. To log variable and parameter data to the Simulation Data Inspector, connect the dashboard block to the variable or parameter prior to simulation.
When you simulate a model in external mode with the Default parameter behavior set to Inlined, dashboard blocks can appear to change parameter and variable values. However, the change does not propagate to the simulation. For example, Gain blocks display changes made to the Gain parameter using the dashboard blocks, but the Gain value used in the simulation does not change.
Parameters
Model Examples
Block Characteristics
Data Types |
|
Direct Feedthrough |
|
Multidimensional Signals |
|
Variable-Size Signals |
|
Zero-Crossing Detection |
|