Interface Editor

R2026b

Create and author interfaces in local and shared data dictionaries

Description

The Interface Editor allows you to define interfaces in System Composer™ that might contain attributes. In System Composer architecture models, interfaces are necessary to specify information that flows through ports between components.

Types of interfaces include:

Composite Data Interface — Represents the information that is shared through a connector and enters or exits a component through a port. A data interface can be composite, meaning that it can include data elements that describe the properties of an interface signal.
Value Type — Can be used as a port interface to define the atomic piece of data that flows through that port and has a top-level type, dimension, unit, complexity, minimum, maximum, and description. You can also assign the type of data elements in data interfaces to value types.
Physical Interface — Defines the kind of information that flows through a physical port, The same interface can be assigned to multiple ports. A physical interface bundles physical elements to describe a physical model using at least one physical domain
Service Interface — Defines service elements with function arguments for a client-server port. This interface is only available for software architectures.

You can save a locally defined model data dictionary as a shared data dictionary to reuse interface definitions across architecture models. Apply a profile to your data dictionary to assign stereotypes to interfaces. These interfaces typed by a stereotype now contain metadata, and you can set the property values for each interface independently.

The Interface Editor always displays interfaces in a dictionary view. If you want to view port interfaces, select the port and access the Property Inspector and navigate to the Parameters tab.

Open the Interface Editor

System Composer toolstrip: Navigate to Modeling > Interface Editor.
System Composer toolstrip: Navigate to Modeling > Architecture Views to launch the Architecture Views Gallery tool. In the View Browser, select a new or existing architecture view. On the toolstrip, click the Interface Editor button.

Examples

Parameters

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Create interfaces — Add new interface
button

Add a new interface by clicking or select one of these options from the drop-down list:

Composite Data Interface — Represents the information that is shared through a connector and enters or exits a component through a port. A data interface can be composite, meaning that it can include data elements that describe the properties of an interface signal.
Value Type — Can be used as a port interface to define the atomic piece of data that flows through that port and has a top-level type, dimension, unit, complexity, minimum, maximum, and description. You can also assign the type of data elements in data interfaces to value types.
Physical Interface — Defines the kind of information that flows through a physical port, The same interface can be assigned to multiple ports. A physical interface bundles physical elements to describe a physical model using at least one physical domain
Service Interface — Defines service elements with function arguments for a client-server port. This interface is only available for software architectures.

Add element to selected interface — Add new element
button

Add a new element by clicking . If the selected interface is one of these, the new element added is one of these types:

Composite Data Interface — Data Element
Physical Interface — Physical Element
Service Interface — Service Element — Function Arguments, which are only available for software architectures

Delete selected interface or element — Delete interface or element
button

Delete the selected interface or element in the Interface Editor.

Import interfaces — Import interface definitions
button

Import interfaces from these locations:

Base Workspace
MAT file

Save interfaces and/or link dictionary — Save interfaces or link data dictionary
button

Save interfaces on the current data dictionary or link an existing data dictionary to your model. Select a specific option from the list:

Save dictionary
Save all dictionaries
Save to new dictionary
Link existing dictionary

Launch Architectural Data Editor — Launch Architectural Data Editor
button

Manage interfaces, data types, and data dictionary references in the Architectural Data Editor.

Import new or remove existing profile from dictionary — Choose profile to import into data dictionary
button

Choose a profile XML file to import into the currently selected data dictionary or remove existing profile from dictionary.

Interface Options — Context menu selections for interfaces
Highlight port(s) using this interface (default) | Assign to selected port(s) | Move Interface(s) To

Context menu selections for interfaces in Interface Editor:

Highlight port(s) using this interface — Highlight ports in the System Composer model canvas where the selected interface is used.
Assign to selected port(s) — Assign the selected interface to the selected ports on the System Composer model canvas.
Move Interface(s) To — When you link a data dictionary SLDD file to the model, and when that SLDD file references another data dictionary SLDD file, you can move interfaces from one data dictionary to another. The move operation preserves the port associations to these interfaces, so interfaces are still assigned to the same ports.

More About

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Data Dictionary

A data dictionary is a repository of data relevant to your model. The Architectural Data section of a data dictionary stores shared definitions used in Simulink^® and architecture model interfaces, such as port interfaces, data types, and system wide constants. For more information, see What Is a Data Dictionary? You can save local interfaces on a System Composer model to the Architectural Data section of a Simulink data dictionary using the Interface Editor. In addition to the Interface Editor, you can also use the Architectural Data Editor to manage and modify interfaces and value types.

Data Interface

A data interface defines the kind of information that flows through a port. You can assign the same interface to multiple ports. A data interface can be composite, meaning that it can include data elements that describe the properties of an interface signal. Data interfaces represent the information that is shared through a connector and enters or exits a component through a port. Use the Interface Editor to create and manage data interfaces and data elements and store them in a data dictionary for reuse between models.

Data Element

A data element describes a portion of an interface, such as a communication message, a calculated or measured parameter, or other decomposition of that interface. Data interfaces are decomposed into data elements that can represent pins or wires in a connector or harness, messages transmitted across a bus, and data structures shared between components.

Value Type

A value type can be used as a port interface to define the atomic piece of data that flows through that port and has a top-level type, dimension, unit, complexity, minimum, maximum, and description. You can also assign the type of data elements in data interfaces to value types. Add value types to data dictionaries using the Interface Editor so that you can reuse the value types as interfaces or data elements.

Owned Interface

An owned interface is an interface that is local to a specific port and not shared in a data dictionary or the model dictionary. Create an owned interface to represent a value type or data interface that is local to a port.

Adapter

An adapter connects two components with incompatible port interfaces by mapping between the two interfaces. An adapter can act as a unit delay, rate transition, or merge. You can also use an adapter for bus creation. Use the Adapter block to implement an adapter. With an adapter, on the Interface Adapter dialog box, you can: create and edit mappings between input and output interfaces, apply an interface conversion UnitDelay to break an algebraic loop, apply an interface conversion RateTransition to reconcile different sample time rates for reference models, apply an interface conversion Merge to merge two or more message or signal lines, and when output interfaces are undefined, you can use input interfaces in bus creation mode to author owned output interfaces.

Physical Interface

A physical interface defines the kind of information that flows through a physical port. The same interface can be assigned to multiple ports. A physical interface is a composite interface equivalent to a Simulink.ConnectionBus object that specifies a number of Simulink.ConnectionElement objects. Use a physical interface to bundle physical elements to describe a physical model using at least one physical domain.

Physical Element

A physical element describes the decomposition of a physical interface. A physical element is equivalent to a Simulink.ConnectionElement object. Define the Type of a physical element as a physical domain to enable use of that domain in a physical model.

Function

A function is an entry point where a transfer of program control occurs and can be defined in a software component. You can apply stereotypes to functions in software architectures, edit sample times, and specify the function period using the Functions Editor.

Service Interface

A service interface defines the functional interface between client and server components. Each service interface consists of one or more function elements. Once you have defined a service interface in the Interface Editor, you can assign it to client and server ports using the Property Inspector. You can also use the Property Inspector to assign stereotypes to service interfaces.

Function Element

A function element describes the attributes of a function in a client-server interface. Edit the function prototype on a function element to change the number and names of inputs and outputs of the function. Edit function element properties as you would edit other interface element properties. Function argument types can include built-in types as well as bus objects. You can specify function elements to support two types of execution. Asynchronous execution is when the client sends a request to the server, the function executes asynchronously based on the priority order, and the function returns the output arguments to the client. Synchronous execution is when the client sends a request to the server, the function runs immediately, and the function returns the output arguments to the client.

Function Argument

A function argument describes the attributes of an input or output argument in a function element. You can set the properties of a function argument in the Interface Editor just as you would other value types: Type, Dimensions, Units, Complexity, Minimum, Maximum, and Description.

Version History

Introduced in R2019a