Is there a way to deep copy Simulink.SimulationInput object?

I am trying to copy a Simulink.SimulationInput object by doing the following:

Input(1) = Simulink.SimulationInput('foo');

Input(1) = Input(1).setVariable('A',Simulink.Parameter(5));

Input(1) = Input(1).setVariable('simin',timeseries([0,10],[0,10]));

%%

Input(2) = Input(1);

Input(2) = Input(2).setVariable('A.Value',10);

%%

Input(1).Variables(1).Value

Input(2).Variables(1).Value

By setting the value of variable 'A' to 10 after copying Input(1) to Input(2), the value for Input(1) also changes to 10. Why does this happen?

Is there a deep copy method for SimulationInput object?

 

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

The cause of the observed behavior is that Simulink.Parameter is a handle object so when the second SimulationInput object is assigned to be equal to the first one, both of them refer to the same Simulink.Parameter object. 

There are two ways to implement the desired workflow where each SimulationInput object would have independent copies of the Simulink.Parameter object, A:

 

1. Use 'Input(2).setVariable('A',Simulink.Parameter(10))' instead of 'Input(2).setVariable('A.Value',10)', it gives the desired outcome:

Input(1) = Simulink.SimulationInput('mdlname');
Input(1) = Input(1).setVariable('A',Simulink.Parameter(5));
Input(1) = Input(1).setVariable('simin',timeseries([0,10],[0,10]));
%%
Input(2) = Input(1);
Input(2) = Input(2).setVariable('A',Simulink.Parameter(10));

%%
Input(1).Variables(1).Value
Input(2).Variables(1).Value

2.Create Simulink Parameter and SimulationInput object first, then use setVariable:

 Input(1:2) = Simulink.SimulationInput('mdlname');

A = Simulink.Parameter(5);

Input(1) = Input(1).setVariable('A', A);

Input(1) = Input(1).setVariable('simin',timeseries([0,10],[0,10]));

%%

Input(2) = Input(2).setVariable('A.Value', 10);