About Scope Blocks, Viewers, Signal Logging, and Test Points :: Visualizing Simulation Results (Simulink®)

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About Scope Blocks, Viewers, Signal Logging, and Test Points

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What Are Scope Blocks, Signal Viewers, Test Points and Data Logging? How Scope Blocks and Signal Viewers Differ Why Use Generators and Signal Viewers Instead of Source and Scope Blocks?

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Scope blocks, signal viewers, test points, and data logging provide ways for you to display and capture results from your simulations.

These icons represent the various data display and data capture devices:

To learn how to quickly perform basic signal viewer tasks, see Performing Common Viewer Tasks.
For detailed information on signal viewers, see Introducing the Signal and Scope Manager.
To learn how to add and change signal viewers, see Using the Signal and Scope Manager.
For more information on signal logging, see Logging Signals.
For more information on Signal Test Points, see Working with Test Points.
For more information on Scope Blocks, see Sinks.

You use Scope Blocks and signal viewers to display simulation results, but as shown in this table, their characteristics differ:

Characteristic	Signal Viewer	Scope Block
Interface	Attach to signal using Signal Selector or context menu See The Signal Selector See Scope Viewer Context Menu	Drag from Library Browser
Scope of Control	All viewers centrally managed from Signal and Scope Manager See Introducing the Signal and Scope Manager	Each managed individually
Signals per axis	Multiple	One nonbus signal per axis or multiple signals fed through a mux or a bus
Axes per scope	Multiple Displaying Multiple Axes	Multiple
Data handling	Save data to a signal logging object	Save variable data to workspace as structures or arrays
Data logging	Log data to model-wide data object See Simulink.ModelDataLogs	None
Scrolling display data capability	Yes	No
Display	Data markers Legends Color and line codes distinguish signals	Color and line codes distinguish signals
Graph Refresh Period	Adjustable	Fixed
Display of Minor Steps	The viewer does not display minor steps regardless of the value of the Refine parameter setting.	The scope displays minor steps if the Refine parameter is greater than 1. The value of the Refine parameter indicates the number of intermediate steps displayed.

You should use signal generators and viewers instead of Source and Scope blocks when:

You want to navigate to and attach generators or viewers deep within a model hierarchy.
You want to centrally manage all generators and viewers present in your model.
You want to use the display features provided by signal viewers that are not available in Scope blocks.
You want to reduce clutter in your block diagram. Because signal viewers attach directly to signals, it is not necessary to route them to a Scope block. This results in fewer signal routes in your block diagram.
You want to easily view data from referenced models. See Working with Test Points for more information.

Visualizing Simulation Results

Methods for Attaching a Generator or Viewer

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