{"id":12870,"date":"2022-10-10T12:27:05","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T16:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/simulink\/?p=12870"},"modified":"2022-10-13T13:11:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T17:11:48","slug":"parameter-values-in-blocks-dialogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/simulink\/2022\/10\/10\/parameter-values-in-blocks-dialogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Parameter Values in Blocks Dialogs"},"content":{"rendered":"
MATLAB R2022b was released a few weeks ago, so it's time to highlight a few new Simulink features. In this post, I decided to focus on one feature that might pass a little bit under the radar, but that I believe can save you a lot of time.<\/span><\/div>
In case you haven't noticed, in R2022b we now display the evaluated value of parameters in block dialogs:<\/span><\/div>
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The same also happens in the Property Inspector:<\/span><\/div>
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Here is a quick video illustrating that this feature immediately displays any expression you type in the block dialog, evaluated in the context of where the block is located:<\/span><\/div>
\"inPlaveValue.gif\"<\/img><\/div>

A More Complex Example<\/span><\/h2>
Obviously, for simple models, figuring out the value of a parameter is relatively easy. You can simply type it in the base workspace or look inside a data dictionary. Let's look into a more complex setup where the utility of this feature becomes more obvious.<\/span><\/div>
To illustrate how valuable this feature is in a more complex project, try using the <\/span>Four Hydraulic Cylinder Simulation<\/span><\/a> example included with Simulink.<\/span><\/div>
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If you look at the dialog of one of the Constant blocks in Cylinder 2, you can immediately see that the expression <\/span>Ac^2\/K<\/span> resolves to 5e-11:<\/span><\/div>
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If you do the same inside Cylinder 3, the same expression resolves to a different value, 8e-11:<\/span><\/div>
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The reason is that those masked subsystems receive different parameters values. Without this feature, you would need to go through a series of steps to figure out those values without simulating the model:<\/span><\/div>