Simulink®

Browsing and Searching Block Libraries

About the Simulink^® Library Browser

The Simulink^® Library Browser (see Library Browser) allows you to browse and search the block libraries installed on your system. In particular, you can use the Library Browser to determine at a glance what libraries are installed on your system, view their contents, and search for library blocks by name. You can also use the Library Browser to copy blocks from block libraries into your models.

Tip   You can use the Library Browser to browse libraries that you create as well as standard Simulink and Simulink blockset libraries. See Adding Libraries to the Library Browser for more information.

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Opening the Library Browser

You can open the Library Browser by

• clicking the Library Browser button

  

  in the toolbar of the MATLAB^® desktop or a Simulink model editor window

  or

• entering

  simulink

  at the MATLAB command line.

Tip   To keep the Library Browser above all other windows on your desktop, select the Pushpin button on the browser's toolbar.

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Browsing Block Libraries

• Determining What Block Libraries Are Installed on your System

• Viewing the Contents of a Block Library

• Getting Help for a Library Block

Determining What Block Libraries Are Installed on your System

To determine what block libraries are installed on your system, open the Simulink Library Browser (see Opening the Library Browser). The Library Browser's Libraries pane displays a tree-structure directory of the block libraries installed on your system.

Tip   If the directory is too big to fit into the Libraries pane, the pane displays scroll bars. Use the scroll bars to move off-screen libraries into view. You can expand or collapse directory entries to show or hide sublibraries. To expand or collapse an entry, click the entry's +/- button. Click a library's name in the directory to display the library's contents in the Library Browser's Library pane.

Viewing the Contents of a Block Library

To view the contents of a block library, select the library's entry in the Library Browser's Libraries pane. The Library Browser displays the contents in its Library pane.

Getting Help for a Library Block

To get help for a library block displayed in the Library Browser's Library pane, select the block and then select Help from the block's context (right-click) menu or the Library Browser's Help menu.

Tip   The Library Browser's Block Description pane displays a brief description of the selected block's purpose and usage.

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Searching Block Libraries

To search for library blocks whose names contain a specified character string:

1. Enter the character string in the text field of the Library Browser's Search tool.

2. Uncheck, if necessary, all the options on the Search tool's options menu.

   Note   The options are unchecked by default.

3. Select the tool's Search button.

The Search tool finds the blocks whose names contain a string that matches, without regard to character case, the specified string and displays the results in the Library Browser's Found pane.

Tip   Use the Search tool's options menu to find blocks whose names match character case, whole words, or MATLAB regular expressions.

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Opening a Library

To open a library, right-click the library's entry in the browser. Simulink displays an Open Library button. Select the Open Library button to open the library.

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Creating and Opening Models

To create a model, select the New button on the Library Browser's toolbar. To open an existing model, select the Open button on the toolbar.

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Copying Blocks

To copy a block from the Library Browser into a model, select the block in the browser, drag the selected block into the model window, and drop it where you want to create the copy.

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Working with Library Links

Creating Block Libraries