Documentation

Manage Code Specifications in One Location

When you create code definitions in an Embedded Coder Dictionary, you can manage the specifications for your generated code in one place. You do not need to specify your code customizations on each individual data item or function that you want to configure. By specifying your code in the Embedded Coder Dictionary, you can:

Apply Definitions to Model Elements with Flexibility

Storing your code definitions in a dictionary gives you flexibility in applying the definitions to your model because the code definitions in a dictionary are separate from the elements in your model. Configure data elements and functions in your model by mapping them to code definitions. When you map an item to a code definition, the code generated for that item reflects the specifications in your code definition. To map model elements to code definitions, use the Code Mappings Editor. You can apply a code definition to one model element or to many model elements.

To configure many elements of the same type to use the same code definition, specify the definition in the default mapping. When you map a category of data elements or functions to a code definition, items in that category use the code definition by default for generating code. For example, if you want the input ports in your model to generate code that reads data from a specific file, define the data specifications in a storage class definition. Then, map the input ports data category to your storage class. By default, the input ports of the model generate code that reads data according to the specifications in your definition.

To configure an individual item to generate code according to its own specifications, map the item to its own code definition. If the item is in a category for which you have already specified a default mapping, the mapping for the individual item overrides the default mapping. The default and individual mappings enable you to configure many items in your model at once with the flexibility to configure items individually.

Generate Standardized Code from Multiple Models

Separating code definitions from your model means that you can standardize the code generated from many models by sharing one set of code definitions. Because the definitions in your Embedded Coder Dictionary are separate from your model elements, you can share the definitions by storing the Embedded Coder Dictionary in a Simulink data dictionary outside of your model. The figure shows an example of two models sharing a dictionary. In the figure:

To store your code definitions in a shared Simulink data dictionary:

For the models that are linked to the dictionary, you can configure the default mapping. In the shared Embedded Coder Dictionary, such as CodeDefinitions.sldd, you can set the dictionary default code definition for a category of model data or functions. Models that are linked to the dictionary use the definition by default to generate code for the associated category of data or functions. You can apply code interface definitions to your linked models by default without modifying the individual models.

You can still configure a linked model to use definitions that are different from the dictionary defaults. In the linked model, configure the default mapping and the individual mapping by using definitions that the model has access to, including definitions in the shared dictionary.

Generate Code for Different Platforms

By separating code definitions from your design data, you can generate code for different platforms from the same model or model hierarchy. For each platform:

For example, you can share an Embedded Coder Dictionary with your models for an embedded real-time (ERT) target platform. For each of the models, maintain a separate AUTOSAR dictionary with definitions for an AUTOSAR platform. To configure the models for the ERT platform:

When you specify the ERT-based system target file, the models use this code mapping.

To configure the models for the AUTOSAR code generation target:

When you specify the AUTOSAR-based system target file, the models use the AUTOSAR code mapping.

To generate code for either platform, specify the system target file. The code mapping for the model is updated to reflect the mapping and definitions that you specified for that platform.