Method and system for simulating a control program

A method for generating source code for a program, the program being modeled as one or more blocks of a block diagram in a technical computing environment, the one or more blocks of the model comprising at least one signal or parameter that is marked as an enumeration, the technical computing environment comprising a model editor, a data definition tool and a code generator, the method being executed by at least one processor of a host computer, the method comprising:

• opening the block diagram in the model editor;
• generating source code for the one or more blocks of the block diagram using the code generator, including converting the at least one signal or parameter to an enumeration variable in the source code;
• storing information on the source code in the data definition tool, the information comprising the defined type of the enumeration variable in the source code;
• building the program from the source code using a predefined compiler in order to generate a binary executable file;
• generating an auxiliary file based on the information in the data definition tool, wherein the auxiliary file is built to be a standalone executable or integrated into the binary executable file of the program;
• initializing a simulation by transferring the binary executable file to the embedded system and running at least one function in the auxiliary file in order to determine the width of the basic data type corresponding to the enumeration variable in the binary executable file;
• storing information on the enumeration variable in the data definition tool, comprising the determined byte width or a determined basic data type or both;
• simulating the program by running the binary executable file on the target processor;
• receiving user input indicating that a variable description file is to be generated;
• and
• generating a variable description file for the program, the variable description file comprising information on the enumeration variable, wherein at least the determined byte width or the determined basic data type is retrieved from the data definition tool.

A method for simulating a program, the program being modeled as one or more blocks of a block diagram in a technical computing environment, the one or more blocks comprising at least one structured signal or parameter that comprises multiple components, the technical computing environment comprising a model editor, a data definition tool and a code generator, the method being executed by at least one processor of a host computer, comprising:

• opening the block diagram in the model editor;
• generating source code for the one or more blocks of the block diagram using the code generator, including converting the at least one signal or parameter to a structured variable in the source code;
• storing information on the source code in the data definition tool, the information comprising the names of the components of the structured variable in the source code;
• building the program from the source code using a predefined compiler in order to generate a binary executable file;
• generating an auxiliary file based on the information in the data definition tool, wherein the auxiliary file is built to be a standalone binary executable file or integrated into the binary executable file of the program;
• initializing a simulation by running at least one function in the auxiliary file in order to determine address offset values for the components of the structured variable in the binary executable file;
• and
• simulating the program, including accessing at least one component of the structured variable.

A method for generating source code for a program, the program being modeled as one or more blocks of a block diagram in a technical computing environment, the one or more blocks of the model comprising at least one structured signal or parameter that comprises multiple components, the technical computing environment comprising a model editor, a data definition tool and a code generator, the method being executed by at least one processor of a host computer, comprising:

• opening the block diagram in the model editor;
• generating source code for the one or more blocks of the block diagram using the code generator, including converting the at least one signal or parameter to a structured variable in the source code;
• storing information on the source code in the data definition tool, the information comprising the names of the components of the structured variable in the source code;
• building the program from the source code using a predefined compiler in order to generate a binary executable file;
• generating an auxiliary file based on the information in the data definition tool, wherein the auxiliary file is built to be a standalone executable or integrated into the binary executable file of the program;
• initializing a simulation by transferring the binary executable file to the embedded system, running at least one function in the auxiliary file in order to determine address offset values for the components of the structured variable in the binary executable file;
• storing information on the structured variable in the data definition tool, comprising the determined address offset values of the components;
• simulating the program by running the binary executable file on the target processor;
• receiving user input indicating that a variable description file is to be generated;
• and
• generating a variable description file for the program, the variable description file comprising information on the structured variable, wherein at least the address offsets of the components are retrieved from the data definition tool.