Version 7.1 (R2008a) Real-Time Workshop Software :: Real-Time Workshop Release Notes (Real-Time Workshop®)

Version 7.1 (R2008a) Real-Time Workshop Software

This table summarizes what's new in V7.1 (R2008a):

New Features and Changes	Version Compatibility Considerations	Fixed Bugs and Known Problems	Related Documentation at Web Site
Yes Details below	Yes—Details labeled as Compatibility Considerations, below. See also Summary.	Bug Reports Includes fixes	No

New features and changes introduced in this version are

Removed Static Libraries rtwlib_* to Simplify Code Integration

In previous releases, the Real-Time Workshop software provided additional source files and functions for use in building your code in the matlabroot/rtw/c/libsrc directory. During code generation, these files were added to the build process. Continuing reductions of static file dependencies that began in R2007a, this release completely removes static libraries rtwlib_*.lib/a from the product, leaving no C source files under matlabroot/rtw/c/libsrc. Instead, these functions and files are generated only when needed. This reduces the number of additional source files required to compile and build the code, which improves compile time and can simplify code integration and verification.

New API for Registering Hardware Device Vendor and Type

This release provides a hardware device registration API that allows you to add Device vendor and Device type values to the default set that is displayed on the Hardware Implementation Pane of the Configuration Parameters dialog box.

To use this API, you create an sl_customization.m file, located in your MATLAB path, that invokes the registerTargetInfo function and fills in a hardware device registry entry with device information. The device information will be registered with Simulink software for each subsequent Simulink session.

For more information, see Registering Additional Device Vendor and Device Type Values in the Real-Time Workshop documentation.

More Cases Supported for Rate Transition Block Automatic Insertion

Auto-insertion of Rate Transition blocks is now supported for additional rate transitions, such as sample times with nonzero offset, and between non-integer-multiple sample times.

Additionally, as described in Rate Transition Enhancements in the Simulink Release Notes, this release allows you to

Control the level of data transfer determinism when auto-insertion of Rate Transition blocks is selected for your model
Specify Rate Transition block output port sample time as a multiple of input port sample time

Removed Limitations for Number of Referenced Models Built

In previous releases, Microsoft^® Windows^® imposed a limit on the number of models that could be referenced in a model hierarchy. This limitation is removed in R2008a. Under Microsoft Windows, as on all other platforms, the number of referenced models that can appear in a model hierarchy is effectively unlimited. See Creating Model Components for information about model referencing.

BuildInfo API Now Provides Composite Model Reference Description

In previous releases, the model build information set up and managed using the RTW.BuildInfo API did not include source files for referenced models. In this release, the packNGo function supports a full model reference hierarchy, and zip files created using packNGo now include source files for referenced models.

BuildInfo API Better Supports Non-Compiled Dependencies

In this release, the RTW.BuildInfo API adds the following functions for handling non-compiled files, such as DLL files required for a final executable, or a README file:

`addNonBuildFiles`	Add nonbuild-related files to model's build information
`getNonBuildFiles`	Nonbuild-related files from model's build information

MATLAB Editor Syntax Highlighting for Target Language Compiler (TLC) Code

In R2008a, syntax highlighting is available for TLC code. For details, see Setting TLC Language Preferences in the MATLAB documentation.

New Configuration Option "Include custom source code" for S-Function Target

This release adds the model configuration option Include custom source code, which allows you to include custom source code in the code generated for the Real-Time Workshop S-function target (rtwsfcn.tlc). This option is located on the Real-Time Workshop S-Function Code Generation Options pane of the Configuration Parameters dialog box. See Real-Time Workshop Pane: Real-Time Workshop S-Function Code Generation Options in the Real-Time Workshop reference documentation for more information.

New Configuration Objects for Specifying Constant Function Inputs to emlc

When you know primary inputs will not change at runtime, you can specify them as constant values using emlcoder.Example and emlcoder.egc to eliminate overhead in generated code. See Specifying Constant Inputs Using the -eg Option in the Real-Time Workshop documentation.

emlc Searches Directories in Different Order

When you use the -I option to add directories to the Embedded MATLAB path, emlc now searches directories from left to right. This behavior matches C compilers such as gcc and the MATLAB compiler mcc.

Compatibility Considerations

In previous releases, the search order was from right to left. The change may produce unexpected results if you use emlc -I with overloaded functions. For example, suppose you specify two directories on the -I argument list, where each directory contains a file named myFcn.m, as follows:

emlc -I 'dir1;dir2' myFcn.m

In this release, emlc adds myFcn.m from dir1 to the Embedded MATLAB path. In previous releases, dir2 took precedence.

Generated Code No Longer Automatically Includes math.h Header File

In previous releases, code generated by the Real-Time Workshop software automatically included the math.h header file, defining C standard math functions, regardless of the math requirements of the target environment. In this release, selecting a target function library (TFL) for your model controls which header files are included, and the generated code does not automatically include math.h unless your model contains a floating-point math function that requires it. For more information about selecting TFLs, see Selecting and Viewing Target Function Libraries in the Real-Time Workshop documentation.

Compatibility Considerations

If you have created an inlined S-function that implicitly relies on the math.h provided by The MathWorks, and if the generated code for your model no longer includes math.h, you will need to update the TLC file for your S-function to explicitly include math.h. For example, you can add the following line to a BlockInstanceSetup, BlockTypeSetup, or Outputs function in your S-function TLC file:

  %<LibAddToCommonIncludes("math.h")>

For more information, see LibAddToCommonIncludes(incFileName) and Block Target File Methods in the Real-Time Workshop Target Language Compiler documentation.

Default TCP/IP Transport for External Mode Uses New Server (Target) Side Communication Interface

In previous releases, the server (target) side of the default TCP/IP transport layer for external mode communication was defined by the following files in the server side directory matlabroot/rtw/c/src/ext_mode/:

common/ext_svr_transport.h
tcpip/ext_svr_tcpip_transport.c
tcpip/ext_tcpip_utils.c

In R2008a, the default TCP/IP transport has been revised to use a new server (target) side communication interface. The server side of the TCP/IP transport layer is now defined by the following files in matlabroot/rtw/c/src/ext_mode/:

common/rtiostream.h
common/rtiostream_interface.c
tcpip/rtiostream_tcpip.c

The file tcpip/ext_svr_tcpip_transport.c has been removed from the software and the file ext_tcpip_utils.c has been moved to the client (host) side directory matlabroot/rtw/ext_mode/tcpip/.

For details, see in the Real-Time Workshop User's Guide and see the files in matlabroot/rtw/c/src/ext_mode/.

Compatibility Considerations

If you have custom template makefiles (TMFs) that use the default external mode TCP/IP transport layer, you must locate the EXT_SRC line in each TMF and replace "ext_svr_tcpip_transport.c" with "rtiostream_interface.c rtiostream_tcpip.c". For example, given the following line:

EXT_SRC = ext_svr.c updown.c ext_work.c ext_svr_tcpip_transport.c

Change it to:

  EXT_SRC = ext_svr.c updown.c ext_work.c rtiostream_interface.c rtiostream_tcpip.c

Model Referencing Not Supported with ASAM-ASAP2 Data Definition Target

The ASAM-ASAP2 Data Definition Target in Real-Time Workshop 7.1 (R2008a) does not support model referencing.

"What's This?" Context-Sensitive Help Available for Simulink Configuration Parameters Dialog

R2008a introduces "What's This?" context-sensitive help for parameters that appear in the Simulink Configuration Parameters dialog. This feature provides quick access to a detailed description of the parameters, saving you the time it would take to find the information in the Help browser.

To use the "What's This?" help, do the following:

Place your cursor over the label of a parameter.
Right-click. A What's This? context menu appears.
For example, the following figure shows the What's This? context menu appearing after a right-click on the Start time parameter in the Solver pane.
Click What's This? A context-sensitive help window appears showing a description of the parameter.

New and Enhanced Demos

The following demo has been added:

Demo...	Shows How You Can...
`rtwdemo_configuration_set`	Work with configuration parameters to configure a model for code generation. The demo also links to documentation of model options and provides tools and scripts to help automate model configuration.

Version 7.1.1 (R2008a+) Real-Time Workshop Software

Version 7.0.1 (R2007b+) Real-Time Workshop Software

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