Display

Display signal value during simulation with customizable appearance

Since R2023b

• 

Libraries:
Simulink / Dashboard / Customizable Blocks

Description

The Display block connects to a signal in your model and displays the signal value during simulation. The Display block can display scalar signals. When you use the Display block in the Customizable Blocks library, you can customize the appearance of the block to look like a real display in your system. Use the Display block with other dashboard blocks to build an interactive dashboard of controls and indicators for your model.

Customize Display Blocks

When you add a Display block to your model, the block is preconfigured with a default design. You can use the block with the default design or customize the appearance of the block.

To customize the appearance of the block, use design mode. After selecting the block, you can enter design mode in one of three ways:

• On the block-specific tab, under Design, click Edit.

• In the Property Inspector, on the Design tab, click Edit.

• Pause on the ellipsis that appears over the block and click the Edit Custom Block button.

In design mode, you can:

• Change the font. Choose from a list of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) fonts that look the same on all platforms.

• Change the font size.

• Change the text color.

• Make the text bold, italic, or underlined.

• Change the position of the text within the block.

• Upload a background image or set a solid background color.

• Upload a foreground image.

You can use the toolbar above the block to change the font, font size, and text color, to make the text bold, italic, or underlined, and to upload a background image.

You can use the Design tab in the Property Inspector for fine control over the block design and to enter exact values for design settings.

Use the Design tab to:

• Change the position of the text within the block.

• Set a solid background color.

• Upload a foreground image.

When you finish editing the design, to exit design mode, click the X in the upper right of the canvas.

Connect Dashboard Blocks

Dashboard blocks do not use ports to connect to model elements. To connect dashboard blocks to signals in your model, use connect mode. Connect mode facilitates the process of connecting dashboard blocks in your model, especially when you want to connect multiple blocks at once. To connect a single dashboard block, you can also use the Connection table in the block dialog box.

Tip

You can modify dashboard block connections during normal and accelerator mode simulations.

To enter connect mode, in the canvas, select the dashboard block to connect. On the Simulink^® Toolstrip, a tab named after the type of the selected block appears. On the block tab, click Connect. In connect mode, when you select one or more signals or blocks, a list of signals that are available for connection appears. Select a signal from the list to connect to the selected dashboard block. To connect another dashboard block, pause on the block you want to connect and click the Connect button above it. Then, select one or more signals and blocks in the model and choose a signal to connect.

When you finish connecting the dashboard blocks in your model, on the block tab, click Done Connecting.

Tip

You can hide the message shown on unconnected blocks using the set_param function with the ShowInitialText block parameter. The message also disappears when you connect the block.

Limitations

• You cannot use the Connection table to connect a dashboard block to a block that is commented out. When you connect a dashboard block to a commented block using connect mode, the dashboard block does not display the connected value until the you uncomment the block.

• Dashboard blocks in a parent model cannot connect to signals inside referenced models.

• When you simulate a model hierarchy, dashboard blocks inside referenced models do not update.

• Dashboard blocks do not support rapid accelerator simulation.

• You cannot connect a dashboard block to state activity or chart data in Stateflow^® during simulation.

• You cannot programmatically connect a dashboard block to state activity or chart data in Stateflow.

• Some signals do not have data available during simulation due to block reduction or optimization for accelerator mode simulations. To view such a signal using a dashboard block, mark the signal for logging.

Parameters

Use the Property Inspector and the Block Parameters dialog box to specify the values of the block parameters. To set the core parameters of the dashboard block, use the Block Parameters dialog box or the Parameters tab in the Property Inspector. To customize the block, use the Design tab in the Property Inspector. To open the Block Parameters dialog box for a block, double-click the block. To open the Property Inspector, on the Modeling tab, under Design, select Property Inspector.

Parameters

To set the core parameters of the dashboard block, open the Property Inspector and click the Parameters tab.

Signal

Connection — Signal to connect and display

signal connection options

Use the Connection table in the Block Parameters dialog box to select or change the signal that the block connects to. To connect the block to a signal:

1. If the block is not connected, in the Property Inspector, on the Parameters tab, click Connect to open the Block Parameters dialog box. If the block is already connected and you want to change the signal to which it connects, click Change.

2. Select a signal in the model.

3. In the table, select the signal you want to connect.

4. Click Apply.

To help understand and debug your model, you can connect dashboard blocks to signals in the model during simulation.

Tip

You can also use bind mode to select or change the signal that the block connects to. To enter bind mode:

• If you are in design mode, exit by clicking the Edit button on the Design tab of the Property Inspector.

• Click the dashboard block in the canvas. If the dashboard block is not connected, the Connect button and an ellipsis appear over the dashboard block. If the dashboard block is already connected, only the ellipsis appears.

• If the dashboard block is not connected, click Connect. If the dashboard block is connected, pause on the ellipsis. In the action menu that expands, click Connect. In either case, a list of signals that are available for connection appears.

To connect the dashboard block in bind mode:

• From the list, select the signal you want to connect.

• To exit bind mode, click Done Connecting over the dashboard block.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: Binding

Type: Simulink.HMI.SignalSpecification

Default: []

Main

Format — Format for displaying signal values

short (default) | long | shortE | longE | ...

Specify a format for displaying signal values.

If You Select...	The Block Displays...
short	Scaled fixed-decimal format with four digits after the decimal point.
long	Scaled fixed-decimal format with fifteen digits after the decimal point for double values and seven digits after the decimal point for single values.
shortE	Scientific notation format with four digits.
longE	Scientific notation format with fifteen digits after the decimal point for double values and seven digits after the decimal point for single values.
shortG	Data takes the more compact format between fixed-decimal or scientific notation, with a total of five digits.
longG	Data takes the more compact format between fixed-decimal or scientific notation, with a total of fifteen digits for double values and seven digits for single values.
shortEng	Engineering notation where the exponent is a multiple of three, with four digits after the decimal point.
longEng	Engineering notation where the exponent is a multiple of three, with fifteen significant digits.
+-	Positive/negative format. +, -, and blank characters are displayed for positive, negative, and zero values, respectively.
bank	Currency format with two digits after the decimal point.
hex	Hexadecimal representation.
rat	Ratio.
Custom	Custom string format. Data is displayed in a custom string that you specify using the Format String parameter.
Integer	Data rounded to the nearest whole number.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: Format

Type: character array | string

Values: 'short' | 'long' | 'shortE' | 'longE' | 'shortG' | 'longG' | 'shortEng' | 'longEng' | 'bank' | '+' | 'hex' | 'rat' | 'Custom' | 'Integer'

Default: 'short'

Format String — Custom string to format data

'%d' (default) | string

Specify a custom string to format displayed signal data. The format string consists of text and format operators, which start with a % sign and end with a conversion character. Use the format operators at the place in the string where you want the signal data to display. For more information about supported formatting operators, see the formatSpec input of the compose function.

Example: The value of pi is %.2f displays the value of the connected signal within a sentence.

Example: $%.2f displays the value of the connected signal with a dollar sign and two decimal places.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Format to Custom.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: FormatString

Type: character array | string

Default: '%d'

Label — Position of label displaying name of connected element

Top (default) | Bottom | Hide

You can display the name of the element to which the dashboard block connects in a label positioned at the top or at the bottom of the block, or you can hide the label. If you want the label to be visible, specify the position of the block. If you do not want the label to be visible, specify Hide.

Note

When the dashboard block is not connected to an element, the label is blank.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: LabelPosition

Type: character vector

Values: 'Top' | 'Bottom' | 'Hide'

Default: 'Top'

Lock Aspect Ratio — Option to maintain block aspect ratio

on (default) | off

Select this parameter to maintain the aspect ratio when resizing the block in the Simulink canvas.

Tip

• When the aspect ratio is locked, adding a new background image changes the aspect ratio of the block to match that of the background image.

• When the aspect ratio is not locked, adding a new background image does not change the proportions of the block but instead stretches or scales the background image to fit the size of the block.

Design

To customize the dashboard block, open the Property Inspector, click the Design tab, and click Edit.

Display

Lock Aspect Ratio — Option to maintain block aspect ratio

on (default) | off

Select this parameter to maintain the aspect ratio when resizing the block in the Simulink canvas.

Tip

• When the aspect ratio is locked, adding a new background image changes the aspect ratio of the block to match that of the background image.

• When the aspect ratio is not locked, adding a new background image does not change the proportions of the block but instead stretches or scales the background image to fit the size of the block.

Text

Font — Font

Courier Prime | DSEG7-Classic | Noto Sans | Noto Serif | Roboto | Ubuntu

Choose from a list of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) fonts that look the same on all platforms.

Size — Font size

scalar

Choose from a list of font sizes between 6 and 72.

Text Color — Text color

[r g b] vector

Choose a text color from the palette of standard colors, or specify a custom color.

X Offset — Horizontal offset of center of text from center of block

scalar

Specify the horizontal offset of the center of the text from the center of the block as a ratio of the block width. Relative to the position of the text when the offset is 0, an offset with a negative value moves the text left, and an offset with a positive value moves the text right.

Y Offset — Vertical offset of center of text from center of block

scalar

Specify the vertical offset of the center of the text from the center of the block as a ratio of the block height. Relative to the position of the text when the offset is 0, an offset with a negative value moves the text up, and an offset with a positive value moves the text down.

Width — Width of text bounding box

scalar

Specify the width of the bounding box of the text as a ratio of the block width.

Height — Height of text bounding box

scalar

Specify the height of the bounding box of the text as a ratio of the block height.

Lock Aspect Ratio — Option to maintain text bounding box aspect ratio

on (default) | off

Select this parameter to maintain the aspect ratio when resizing the bounding box of the text in the Simulink canvas.

Background Image

Use Background Color — Option to specify solid block background color

off (default) | on

For the block background, you can provide a background image or select a solid color. To select a solid background color, select this parameter. To provide a background image, clear this parameter.

Note

Changing the background color using the Format tab of the Simulink Toolstrip removes the background image and enables the Use Background Color parameter.

Example: on

Color — Block background color

[r g b] vector

To use a solid background color, select the Use Background Color parameter. Then, choose a background color from the palette of standard colors, or specify a custom color.

Tip

You can also specify the Background Color in the Format tab of the Simulink Toolstrip.

To specify the color of the block text, use the Font Color parameter.

Programmatic Use

Specify the BackgroundColor parameter for the block as a 1-by-3 [r g b] vector with values between 0 and 1 that is formatted as a string or a character vector.

Block Parameter: BackgroundColor

Type: string | character vector

Values: [r g b] vector

Opacity — Block background opacity

1 (default) | scalar

Specify the block background opacity as a scalar value from 0 to 1.

Example: 0.5

Corner Radius — Corner radius of area with block background color

scalar

Specify the corner radius of the area covered by the block background color as a ratio of half of the smaller of the two block dimensions, width or height.

Example: 0.25

Foreground Image

Image X Offset — Horizontal offset of left edge of image from left edge of block

scalar

Specify the horizontal offset of the left edge of the image from the left edge of the block as a ratio of the block width. Relative to the position of the image when the offset is 0, an offset with a negative value moves the image left, and an offset with a positive value moves the image right.

Example: 1

Image Y Offset — Vertical offset of top edge of image from top edge of block

scalar

Specify the vertical offset of the top edge of the image from the top edge of the block as a ratio of the block height. Relative to the position of the image when the offset is 0, an offset with a negative value moves the image up, and a positive value moves the image down.

Example: 1

Width — Image width

scalar

Specify the image width as a ratio of the block width.

Example: 0.5

Height — Image height

scalar

Specify the image height as a ratio of the block height.

Example: 0.5

Lock Aspect Ratio — Option to maintain image aspect ratio

on (default) | off

Select this parameter to maintain the aspect ratio when resizing the image using the Property Inspector.

Block Characteristics

Data Types	Boolean | double | enumerated | fixed point | half | integer | single
Direct Feedthrough	no
Multidimensional Signals	no
Variable-Size Signals	no
Zero-Crossing Detection	no

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using Simulink® Coder™.

Dashboard blocks are ignored for code generation.

Version History

Introduced in R2023b

R2023b: Open Panel in New Window

Starting in R2023b, you can open a dashboard panel in a new window. To do so, select the panel and pause on the ellipsis that appears. In the action menu that expands, click the Open In New Window button .

You can minimize and restore the new window containing the panel separately from the model window. From the panel window, you can run, pause, stop, and step through the simulation. In the panel window, you can edit the panel and the blocks it contains.

To return the panel to the model canvas, in the panel window toolstrip, click Open in canvas .

For more information about opening a panel in a new window, see Open Panel in New Window.