Component Model Annotations¶

defaultComponentName¶

Type: Model Annotation

The defaultComponentName annotation is used within a model definition to define the default name that an instance of that model should have. This is used by graphical tools to assign an initial name to components when they are dragged into a diagram.

defaultComponentPrefixes¶

Type: Model Annotation

Where the defaultComponentName annotation defines the default name used when a component is dragged into a diagram, the defaultComponentPrefixes defines any qualifiers that should automatically be included in the declaration of the component. The value of this annotation should be a string that is a space separated list of the qualifiers.

When a component is instantiated, graphical tools will find the definition associated with that component and look to see if a value has been provided for the defaultComponentPrefixes annotation. If so, it will extract the qualifiers listed in that string and immediately add them as qualifiers to that component’s declaration.

Dialog¶

Type: Declaration Annotation

The Dialog annotation is used to help organize variables (typically parameters) in the context of a graphical user interface. It provides additional information, beyond what is necessary to compile the model, that instructs graphical tools what content to include in component dialogs.

The structure of a Dialog annotation can be represented by the following record definition:

record Dialog
  parameter String tab = "General";
  parameter String group = "Parameters";
  parameter Boolean enable = true;
  parameter Boolean showStartAttribute = false;
  parameter String groupImage = "";
  parameter Boolean connectorSizing = false;
end Dialog;

The tab field is a string that indicates the name of the tab that this variable should be organized under. The group field specifies the name of a “group” within the specified tab in which the variable should be placed. The enable field should be given an expression that indicates when the parameter should be shown. The showStartAttribute field can be used to incorporate the start attributes value (for this variable) into the user interface so the user can easily specify the value of the start attribute. The groupImage field allows the user to specify an image to associate with the group named by the group field. Finally, the connectorSizing is only useful in declarations for integer parameters that are used to specify the size of arrays of connectors. In such circumstances, if the value of the connectorSizing field is true, the graphical environment may update the value of the annotated parameter in response to any action that impacts the necessary size of that connector.

DynamicSelect¶

Type: Declaration Annotation

The DynamicSelect annotation is used to specify how annotation values can depend on a simulated solution. For example, the DynamicSelect annotation can be used to adjust the color of a component icon in response to a change in temperature. The DynamicSelect has two values associated with it, i.e.,

DynamicSelect(static_value, dynamic_value)

The first is the “static” value. This value is used when either no simulation results are available or in the case that the specific tool does not support linking simulation results to annotations. The second value is the “dynamic” value. This is an expression, typically involving variables in the scope in which the annotated declaration appears, which is evaluated based on simulation results.

preferredView¶

Type: Definition Annotation

The preferredView annotation is used to describe what particular “view” of a given definition should be shown when that model is selected within a graphical tool. Possible values for this annotation are:

• “info” - Show any documentation associated with this definition.
• “text” - Show the Modelica code associated with this definition.
• “diagram” - Show the schematic diagram associated with this definition.

A common use for the preferredView annotation is to created a package specifically for documentation. In this case, the package includes a Documentation annotation and the preferredView annotation is set to info (thus causing the documentation to be shown when the definition is visited).

unassignedMessage¶

Type: Declaration Annotation

The value of the unassignedMessage annotation is a string. If an equation cannot be found to compute a value for the annotated declaration, the string value given to the unassignedMessage annotation may be presented as a diagnostic message by the compiler.