Stateflow.AtomicBox

Atomic box in chart, state, box, or function

Description

Use Stateflow.AtomicBox objects to encapsulate graphical, truth table, MATLAB^®, and Simulink^® functions in a separate namespace. Atomic boxes allow for:

• Faster simulation after making small changes to a function in a chart with many states or levels of hierarchy

• Reuse of the same functions across multiple charts and models

• Ease of team development for people working on different parts of the same chart

• Manual inspection of generated code for a specific function in a chart

For more information, see Reuse Functions by Using Atomic Boxes.

Creation

Syntax

atomicBox = Stateflow.AtomicBox(parent)

Description

atomicBox = Stateflow.AtomicBox(parent) creates a Stateflow.AtomicBox object in a parent chart, state, box, or graphical function.

Input Arguments

parent — Parent for new atomic box

Stateflow.Chart object | Stateflow.State object | Stateflow.Box object | Stateflow.Function object

Parent for the new atomic box, specified as a Stateflow^® API object of one of these types:

• Stateflow.Box

• Stateflow.Chart

• Stateflow.Function

• Stateflow.State

Properties

Stateflow API objects have properties that correspond to the values you set in the Stateflow Editor. To access or modify a property, use dot notation. To access or modify multiple properties for multiple API objects, use the get and set functions, respectively. For more information, see Modify Properties and Call Functions of Stateflow Objects.

Content

Name — Name of atomic box

"" (default) | string scalar | character vector

Name of the atomic box, specified as a string scalar or character vector.

LabelString — Label for atomic box

"?" (default) | string scalar | character vector

Label for the atomic box, specified as a string scalar or character vector.

IsLink — Whether atomic box is a library link

true or 1 | false or 0

This property is read-only.

Whether the atomic box is a library link, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false).

IsExplicitlyCommented — Whether to comment out atomic box

false or 0 (default) | true or 1

Whether to comment out the atomic box, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). Setting this property to true is equivalent to right-clicking the atomic box and selecting Comment Out. For more information, see Comment Out Objects in a Stateflow Chart.

IsImplicitlyCommented — Whether atomic box is implicitly commented out

true or 1 | false or 0

This property is read-only.

Whether the atomic box is implicitly commented out, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). The atomic box is implicitly commented out when you explicitly comment out an object that contains it. If the atomic box is contained in an atomic subchart or another atomic box, this property is false unless the explicitly commented object is also contained in the atomic subchart or atomic box.

IsCommented — Whether atomic box is commented out

true or 1 | false or 0

Since R2023a

This property is read-only.

Whether the atomic box is commented out, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). This property is true when either IsExplicitlyCommented or IsImplicitlyCommented is true.

CommentText — Comment text

"" (default) | string scalar | character vector

Comment text for the atomic box, specified as a string scalar or character vector. This property applies only when the IsExplicitlyCommented property is true. In the Stateflow Editor, when you point to the comment badge on the atomic box, the text appears as a tooltip. When you set the IsExplicitlyCommented property to false, the value of CommentText reverts to "".

Graphical Appearance

Position — Position and size of atomic box

[0 0 90 60] (default) | [left top width height]

Position and size of the atomic box, specified as a four-element numeric vector of the form [left top width height].

BadIntersection — Whether atomic box intersects a box, state, or function

true or 1 | false or 0

This property is read-only.

Whether the atomic box graphically intersects a box, state, or function, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false).

ContentPreviewEnabled — Whether to display preview of atomic box contents

false or 0 (default) | true or 1

Whether to display a preview of the atomic box contents, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false).

FontSize — Font size for atomic box label

scalar

Font size for the atomic box label, specified as a scalar. The StateFont.Size property of the chart that contains the atomic box sets the initial value of this property.

Hierarchy

Chart — Chart that contains atomic box

Stateflow.Chart object

This property is read-only.

Chart that contains the atomic box, specified as a Stateflow.Chart object.

Subchart — Contents of atomic box

Stateflow.Chart object

This property is read-only.

Contents of the atomic box, specified as a Stateflow.Chart object. Use this object to add children, such as states and transitions, to the atomic box.

Subviewer — Subviewer for atomic box

Stateflow.Chart object | Stateflow.State object | Stateflow.Box object | Stateflow.Function object

This property is read-only.

Subviewer for the atomic box, specified as a Stateflow.Chart, Stateflow.State, Stateflow.Box, or Stateflow.Function object. The subviewer is the chart or subchart where you can graphically view the atomic box.

Machine — Machine that contains atomic box

Stateflow.Machine object

This property is read-only.

Machine that contains the atomic box, specified as a Stateflow.Machine object.

Path — Location of parent in model hierarchy

character vector

This property is read-only.

Location of the parent of the atomic box in the model hierarchy, specified as a character vector.

Identification

Description — Description

"" (default) | string scalar | character vector

Description for the atomic box, specified as a string scalar or character vector.

Document — Document link

"" (default) | string scalar | character vector

Document link for the atomic box, specified as a string scalar or character vector.

Tag — User-defined tag

[] (default) | any data type

User-defined tag for the atomic box, specified as data of any type.

SSIdNumber — Session-independent identifier

scalar

This property is read-only.

Session-independent identifier, specified as an integer scalar. Use this property to distinguish the atomic box from other objects in its parent chart.

Id — Unique identifier

scalar

This property is read-only.

Unique identifier, specified as an integer scalar. Unlike SSIdNumber, the value of this property is reassigned every time you start a new MATLAB session and may be recycled after an object is deleted.

Object Functions

getParent	Identify parent of object
getReferences	Identify references to symbol name
renameReferences	Rename symbol and update references to symbol name
commentedBy	Identify objects that implicitly comment out a graphical object
getMappingForSymbol	Get mapping for symbol in atomic subchart, atomic box, or Simulink based state
setMappingForSymbol	Set mapping for symbol in atomic subchart, atomic box, or Simulink based state
clearMappingForSymbol	Clear mapping for symbol in atomic subchart, atomic box, or Simulink based state
disableMappingForSymbol	Disable input event in atomic subchart or box
dialog	Open properties dialog box
view	Display object in editing environment
highlight	Highlight graphical object
fitToView	Zoom in on graphical object

Examples

Add Atomic Box to Chart

Add an atomic box in the chart ch. Set its name to A.

atomicBox = Stateflow.AtomicBox(ch);
atomicBox.Name = "A";

Version History

Introduced in R2012b

R2023a: New object functions and properties

Stateflow.AtomicBox objects have new object functions and properties:

• The object function getReferences returns the locations where a chart refers to the name of an atomic box.

• The object function renameReferences renames an atomic box and updates all references to the atomic box name in the chart.

• The object function commentedBy identifies the explicitly commented objects that cause an atomic box to be commented out.

• The property IsCommented indicates whether an atomic box is commented out. This property replaces the object function isCommented.

R2022b: Map variables for atomic boxes

Edit the mapping of atomic box symbols by calling the object functions getMappingForSymbol, setMappingForSymbol, clearMappingForSymbol, and disableMappingForSymbol.