Documentation

Basic File Format

In the simplest format, the first row in the Microsoft Excel file is a header that lists the names of the signals in the file. The first column is time. The name for the time column must be time, and the time values must increase monotonically. The rows below the signal names list the signal values that correspond to each time step.

The import operation does not support time data that includes Inf or NaN values or signal data that includes Inf values. Empty or NaN signal values imported from the Microsoft Excel file render as missing data in the Simulation Data Inspector. All built-in data types are supported.

Multiple Time Vectors

When your data includes signals with different time vectors, the file can include more than one time vector. Every time column must be named time. Time columns specify the sample times for signals to the right, up to the next time vector. For example, the first time column defines the time for signal1 and signal2, and the second time column defines the time steps for signal3.

Signal columns must have the same number of data points as the associated time vector.

Signal Metadata

The file can include metadata for signals such as data type, units, and interpolation method. Metadata for each signal is listed in rows between the signal names and the signal data. You can specify any combination of metadata for each signal. Leave a blank cell for signals with less specified metadata.

Label each piece of metadata according to this table. The table also indicates which tools and operations support each piece of metadata.

When an imported file does not specify signal metadata, double data type, linear interpolation, and union synchronization are used.

User-Defined Data Types

In addition to built-in data types, you can use other labels in place of the DataType: label to specify fixed-point, enumerated, alias, and bus data types.

When you specify the type using the name of a Simulink.Bus object and the object is not in the MATLAB workspace, the data still imports from the file. However, individual signals in the bus use data types described in the file rather than data types defined in the Simulink.Bus object.

Complex, Multidimensional, and Bus Signals

You can import and export complex, multidimensional, and bus signals using a Microsoft Excel file. The signal name for a column of data indicates whether that data is part of a complex, multidimensional, or bus signal. Microsoft Excel file import and export do not support array of bus signals.

Multidimensional signal names include index information in parentheses. For example, the signal name for a column might be signal1(2,3). When you import data from a file that includes multidimensional signal data, elements in the data not included in the file take zero sample values with the same data type and complexity as the other elements.

Complex signal data is always in real-imaginary format. Signal names for columns containing complex signal data include (real) and (imag) to indicate which data each column contains. When you import data from a file that includes imaginary signal data without specifying values for the real component of that signal, the signal values for the real component default to zero.

Multidimensional signals can contain complex data. The signal name includes the indication for the index within the multidimensional signal and the real or imaginary tag. For example, signal1(1,3)(real).

Dots in signal names specify the hierarchy for bus signals. For example:

Function-Call Signals

Signal data specified in columns before the first time column is imported as one or more function-call signals. The data in the column specifies the times at which the function-call signal was enabled. The imported signals have a value of 1 for the times specified in the column. The time values for function-call signals must be double, scalar, and real, and must increase monotonically.

When you export data from the Simulation Data Inspector, function-call signals are formatted the same as other signals, with a time column and a column for signal values.

Simulation Parameters

You can import data for parameter values used in simulation. In the Simulation Data Inspector, the parameter values are shown as signals. Simulink Test uses imported parameter values to specify values for those parameters in the tests it runs based on imported data.

Parameter data is specified using two or three columns. The first column specifies the parameter names, with the cell in the header row for that column labeled Parameter:. The second column specifies the value used for each parameter, with the cell in the header row labeled Value:. Parameter data may also include a third column that contains the block path associated with each parameter, with the cell in the header row labeled BlockPath:. Specify names, values, and block paths for parameters starting in the first row that contains signal data, below rows used to specify signal metadata. For example, this file specifies values for two parameters, X and Y.

Multiple Runs

You can include data for multiple runs in a single file. Within a sheet, you can divide data into runs by labeling data with a simulation number and a source type, such as Input or Output. Specify the simulation number and source type as additional signal metadata, using the label Simulation: for the simulation number and the label Source: for the source type. The Simulation Data Inspector uses the simulation number and source type only to determine which signals belong in each run. Simulink Test uses the information to define inputs, parameters, and acceptance criteria for tests to run based on imported data.

You do not need to specify the simulation number and output type for every signal. Signals to the right of a signal with a simulation number and source use the same simulation number and source until the next signal with a different source or simulation number. For example, this file defines data for two simulations and imports into four runs in the Simulation Data Inspector:

You can also use sheets within the Microsoft Excel file to divide the data into runs and tests. When you do not specify simulation number and source information, the data on each sheet is imported into a separate run in the Simulation Data Inspector. When you export multiple runs from the Simulation Data Inspector, the data for each run is saved on a separate sheet. When you import a Microsoft Excel file that contains data on multiple sheets into Simulink Test, you are prompted to specify how to import the data.