Import System Composer Architecture using Model Builder.

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This example shows how to import architecture specifications into System Composer using the systemcomposer.io.modelBuilder() utility class. These architecture specifications can be defined in external source such as Excel file.

In system composer, an architecture is fully defined by three sets of information:

  • Components and its position in architecture hierarchy

  • Ports and its mapping to components

  • Connections between the components through ports In this example, we also import interface data definitions from external source.

  • Interfaces in architecture models and its mapping to ports

This example uses systemcomposer.modelBuilder class to pass all of the above architecture information and import a System Composer model.

In this example, architecture information of a small UAV system is defined in an Excel spreadsheet and is used to create a System Composer architecture model.

External Source Files

  • Architecture.xlsx : This Excel file contains hierarchical information of the architecture model. This example maps the external source data to System Composer model elements. Below is the mapping of information in column names to System Composer model elements.

     # Element    : Name of the element. Either can be component or port name.
     # Parent     : Name of the parent element.
     # Class      : Can be either component or port(Input/Output direction of the port).
     # Domain     : Mapped as component property. Property "Manufacturer" defined in the
                    profile UAVComponent under Stereotype PartDescriptor maps to Domain values in excel source file.
     # Kind       : Mapped as component property. Property "ModelName" defined in the
                    profile UAVComponent under Stereotype PartDescriptor maps to Kind values in excel source file.
     # InterfaceName : If class is of port type. InterfaceName maps to name of the interface linked to port.
     # ConnectedTo : In case of port type, it specifies the connection to
                     other port defined in format "ComponentName::PortName".

  • DataDefinitions.xlsx : This excel file contains interface data definitions of the model. This example assumes the below mapping between the data definitions in the source excel file and interfaces hierarchy in System Composer :

     # Name        : Name of the interface or element.
     # Parent      : Name of the parent interface Name(Applicable only for elements) .
     # Datatype    : Datatype of element. Can be another interface in format
                     Bus: InterfaceName
     # Dimensions  : Dimensions of the element.
     # Units       : Unit property of the element.
     # Minimum     : Minimum value of the element.
     # Maximum     : Maximum value of the element.

Step 1. Instantiate the model builder class

You can instantiate the model builder class with a profile name.

Make sure the current directory is writable because this example will be creating files.

[stat, fa] = fileattrib(pwd);
if ~fa.UserWrite
    disp('This script must be run in a writable directory');
    return;
end
% Name of the model to build.
modelName = 'scExampleModelBuider';
% Name of the profile.
profile = 'UAVComponent';
% Name of the source file to read architecture information.
architectureFileName = 'Architecture.xlsx';

% Instantiate the ModelBuilder
builder = systemcomposer.io.ModelBuilder(profile);

Step 2. Build Interface Data Definitions.

Reading the information in external source file DataDefinitions.xlsx, we build the interface data model.

Create MATLAB tables from source Excel file.

opts = detectImportOptions('DataDefinitions.xlsx');
opts.DataRange = 'A2'; % force readtable to start reading from the second row.
definitionContents = readtable('DataDefinitions.xlsx', opts);

% systemcomposer.io.IdService class generates unique ID for a
% given key
idService = systemcomposer.io.IdService();

for rowItr =1:numel(definitionContents(:,1))
    parentInterface = definitionContents.Parent{rowItr};
    if isempty(parentInterface)
        % In case of interfaces adding the interface name to model builder.
        interfaceName = definitionContents.Name{rowItr};
        % Get unique interface ID. getID(container,key) generates
        % or returns(if key is already present) same value for input key
        % within the container.
        interfaceID = idService.getID('interfaces',interfaceName);
        % Builder utility function to add interface to data
        % dictionary.
        builder.addInterface(interfaceName,interfaceID);
    else
        % In case of element read element properties and add the element to
        % parent interface.
        elementName  = definitionContents.Name{rowItr};
        interfaceID = idService.getID('interfaces',parentInterface);
        % ElementID is unique within a interface.
        % Appending 'E' at start of ID for uniformity. The generated ID for
        % input element is unique within parent interface name as container.
        elemID = idService.getID(parentInterface,elementName,'E');
        % Datatype, dimensions, units, minimum and maximum properties of
        % element.
        datatype = definitionContents.DataType{rowItr};
        dimensions = string(definitionContents.Dimensions(rowItr));
        units = definitionContents.Units(rowItr);
        % Make sure that input to builder utility function is always a
        % string.
        if ~ischar(units)
            units = '';
        end
        minimum = definitionContents.Minimum{rowItr};
        maximum = definitionContents.Maximum{rowItr};
        % Builder function to add element with properties in interface.
        builder.addElementInInterface(elementName, elemID, interfaceID, datatype, dimensions, units, 'real', maximum, minimum);
    end
end

Step 3. Build Architecture Specifications.

Architecture specifications de Create MATLAB tables from source Excel file.

excelContents = readtable(architectureFileName);
% Iterate over each row in table.
for rowItr =1:numel(excelContents(:,1))
% Read each row of the excel file and columns.
    class = excelContents.Class(rowItr);
    Parent = excelContents.Parent(rowItr);
    Name = excelContents.Element{rowItr};
    % Populating the contents of table using the builder.
    if strcmp(class,'component')
        ID = idService.getID('comp',Name);
        % Root ID is by default set as zero.
        if strcmp(Parent,'scExampleSmallUAV')
            parentID = "0";
        else
            parentID = idService.getID('comp', Parent);
        end
        % Builder utility function to add component.
        builder.addComponent(Name,ID,parentID);
        % Reading the property values
        kind = excelContents.Kind{rowItr};
        domain = excelContents.Domain{rowItr};
        % *Builder to set stereotype and property values*
        builder.setComponentProperty(ID, 'StereotypeName','UAVComponent.PartDescriptor','ModelName',kind,'Manufacturer',domain);
    else
        % In this example, concatenation of port name and parent component name
        % is used as key to generate unique IDs for ports.
        portID = idService.getID('port',strcat(Name,Parent));
        % For ports on root architecture. compID is assumed as "0".
        if strcmp(Parent,'scExampleSmallUAV')
            compID = "0";
        else
            compID = idService.getID('comp',Parent);
        end
        % Builder utility function to add port.
        builder.addPort(Name, class, portID, compID );

        % InterfaceName specifies the name of the interface linked to port.
        interfaceName = excelContents.InterfaceName{rowItr};

        % Get interface ID. getID() will return the same IDs already
        % generated while adding interface in Step 2.
        interfaceID = idService.getID('interfaces',interfaceName);
        % Builder to map interface to port.
        builder.addInterfaceToPort(interfaceID, portID);

        % Reading the connectedTo information to build connections between
        % components.
        connectedTo = excelContents.ConnectedTo{rowItr};
        % connectedTo is in format -:
        % (DestinationComponentName::DestinationPortName).
        % For this example, considering the current port as source of the connection.
        if ~isempty(connectedTo)
            connID = idService.getID('connection',connectedTo);
            splits = split(connectedTo,'::');
            % Get the port ID of the connected port.
            % In this example, port ID is generated by concatenating
            % port name and parent component name. If port id is already
            % generated getID() function returns the same id for input key.
            connectedPortID = idService.getID('port',strcat(splits(2),splits(1)));
            % Using builder to populate connection table.
            sourcePortID = portID;
            destPortID = connectedPortID;
            % Builder to add connections.
            builder.addConnection(connectedTo,connID,sourcePortID,destPortID);
        end
    end
end

Step 3. Builder build method imports model from populated tables.

[model, importReport] = builder.build(modelName);

Close Model

bdclose(modelName);

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