Freezing simulink canva with plenty of dashboard elements

I have a problem with freezing simulink canva, depsite having quite powerful hardware (Windows 10, i7-1265U, 32GB RAM, iGPU intel iRIS Xe), either during modeling or simulating. When I try in any way to manipulate the "display position" of the dashboard elements (i.e. zoom in/out, move view, open subsystem) the whole simulink gui freezes for a shorter (when modelling) or longer (when simulating) period of time. Then it can be seen in Windows task manager that the CPU usage jumps while the GPU is amost idle. This does not happen when you manipulate the canva in the same way but without dashboard elements.

I attach a simple example where are two subsystems - one contains 512 dashboard lamps, second 512 groups of blocks in-subsystem-out. To reproduce the problem it is enough to zoom in/out and after establishing the view clicking the space to fit the view.

Answer 1

[Hitesh]

Hi Marek,

I also encountered the same issue when trying to zoom or open subsystems with dashboard elements in the Simulink file you shared. This performance issue in Simulink during operations involving dashboard elements was due to insufficient memory allocation for Java heap space. Simulink utilizes Java for its graphical user interface components, and dashboard elements.

By increasing the Java heap memory, you provide more resources for Simulink to handle complex graphical operations and large numbers of dashboard elements efficiently. This adjustment allows Simulink to manage memory more effectively, reducing the likelihood of freezing or sluggish performance when zooming, panning, or opening subsystems with numerous dashboard elements. After increasing the Java Heap Size, I was able to successfully zoom and open subsystems with dashboard elements in the Simulink file that have you shared.

Steps to Increase Java Heap Memory:

• Go to the "Home" tab in MATLAB.
• Click on "Preferences".
• In the Preferences window, select "MATLAB > General > Java Heap Memory".
• Increase the heap size slider to allocate more memory. Be cautious not to exceed the available physical memory of your system. Click "Apply" and then restart MATLAB for the changes to take effect.

For more information on "Java Heap Memory Preferences", refer to the following MATLAB documentation:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_external/java-heap-memory-preferences.html

[Marek Wocka]

Hi Hitesh,

unfortunatelly, this has not helped me for combinations of this tools/settings:

• Matlab R2023b, 2024a
• Java 1.8.0_202-b08 with Oracle, Adoptium OpenJDK 11, Adoptium OpenJDK 17
• Java Heap Memory 1728 MB (default), 3456 MB (doubled), 6144 MB.

[Hitesh]

Hi Marek,

I hope you have verified it with the same file you shared. Have you restarted MATLAB after increasing the Java Heap Memory? Changes will take effect in subsequent sessions. However, I was able to perfrom all operations that is zoom in/out, move view, open subsystem and running simulation.

[Marek Wocka]

Hi,

Yes, I have verified the same file to 6GB of Java heap Memory, but only in 2023b and default java JRE. More test I have performed with a bigger project I help to develop. I have of course restarted Matlab after each change (of java heap memory or of java JRE). There was no increase in speed of "access to the elements" after zooming (in or fitting with spacebar).

By speed of "access to the elements" after zooming I mean: inside "dashboard elements" subsystem, when I zoom in maximally with mouse wheel, I need to wait about 9 seconds until the lamp and its text are sharp, the lamp is highlited and I can access the submenu by right clicking on that element. Less or more the same time is needed if I fit the view with spacebar. Comparing to subsystem "group_of_subsystems", after zooming in or out, I have "immediate" access to any element.

It is worse in that project I help developing - the times are in range 45-60 seconds, even up to 90 seconds. So if I would like to edit two dashboard elements far apart, I have to zoom in a little, wait about a minute, edit first element, zoom out, wait a minute, zoom in to second element, wait a minute, edit, zoom out, wait a minute. It means it can take up 3-4 minutes to make two cosmetic changes in dashboard! The whole Simulink interface is frozen then. The same behaviour with non-dashboard elements takes only some seconds.

[Hitesh]

Hi Marek,

I think this might be best handled with MathWorks tech support. Could you submit a technical support request ?