Using Traceability in Embedded MATLAB Function Blocks

Extent of Traceability in Embedded MATLAB Function Blocks

Like other Simulink blocks, Embedded MATLAB Function blocks support bidirectional traceability, but extend navigation to lines of source code. That is, you can navigate between a line of generated code and its corresponding line of source code. In other Simulink blocks, you can navigate between a line of generated code and its corresponding object.

For information about how traceability works in Simulink blocks, see Tracing Generated Code in the Real-Time Workshop User's Guide.

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Traceability Requirements

To enable traceability comments in your code, you must have a license for Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder software. These comments appear only in code that you generate for an embedded real-time (ert) based target.

Note   Traceability is not supported for M-files that you call from an Embedded MATLAB Function block.

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Basic Workflow for Using Traceability

The workflow for using traceability is described in Generating Reports for Code Reviews and Traceability Analysis in the Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder User's Guide.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Open the Embedded MATLAB Function block in your Simulink model.

2. Define your system target file to be an embedded real-time (ert) target.

    How?

   1. In the model, open Simulation > Configuration Parameters.

   2. In the Real-Time Workshop pane, enter ert.tlc for the system target file.

3. Enable traceability options.

    How?

   In the Real-Time Workshop Report pane, enable options, as shown:

   

4. Generate the source code and header files for your model.

5. Trace a line of code:

   To Trace:	Do This:
   Line of source code to line of generated code	Right-click in a line in your source code and select Real-Time Workshop > Navigate to Code from the context menu
   Line of generated code to line of source code	Click a hyperlink in the traceability comment in your generated code

To learn how to complete each step in this workflow, see Tutorial: Using Traceability in an Embedded MATLAB Function Block

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Tutorial: Using Traceability in an Embedded MATLAB Function Block

This example shows how to trace between source code and generated code in an Embedded MATLAB Function block in the eml_fire demo model. Follow these steps:

1. Type eml_fire at the MATLAB prompt.

2. In the Simulink model window, double-click the flame block to open the Embedded MATLAB Editor.

3. In the Simulink model window, select Simulation > Configuration Parameters.

4. In the Real-Time Workshop pane, go to the Target selection section and enter ert.tlc for the system target file. Then click Apply.

   Note   Traceability comments appear hyperlinked in generated code only for embedded real-time (ert) targets.

5. In the Real-Time Workshop > Report pane, select the Create code generation report option.

   This action automatically selects the Launch report automatically and Code-to-model options.

6. Select the Model-to-code option in the Navigation section. Then click Apply.

   This action automatically selects all options in the Traceability Report Contents section.

   Note   For large models that contain over 1000 blocks, disable the Model-to-code option to speed up code generation.

7. Go to the Real-Time Workshop > Interface pane. In the Software environment section, select the continuous time option. Then click Apply.

   Note   Because this demo model contains a block with a continuous sample time, you must perform this step before generating code.

8. In the Real-Time Workshop pane, click Build in the lower right corner.

   This action generates source code and header files for the eml_fire model that contains the flame block. After the code generation process is complete, the code generation report appears automatically.

   

9. Click the eml_fire.c hyperlink in the report.

10. Scroll down through the code to see the traceability comments.

    

    Note   The line numbers shown above may differ from the numbers that appear in your code generation report.

11. Click the <S2>:1:19 hyperlink in this traceability comment:

    /* '<S2>:1:19' */

    Line 19 of the Embedded MATLAB function appears highlighted in the Embedded MATLAB Editor.

    

12. You can also trace a line in an Embedded MATLAB function to a line of generated code. For example, right-click in line 21 of your function and select Real-Time Workshop > Navigate to Code from the context menu.

    

    The code location for line 21 appears highlighted in eml_fire.c.

    

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Working with Frame-Based Signals

Enhancing Readability of Generated Code for Embedded MATLAB Function Blocks

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