Real-Time Workshop User's Guide

Building the Program

Once you have created the Simulink block diagram, added the device drivers, and configured the makefile template, you are ready to set the build options and initiate the build process.

Specifying the Real-Time Build Options

Set the real-time build options using the Solver and Real-Time Workshop pages of the Simulation Parameters dialog box. To access this dialog box, select Parameters from the Simulink Simulation menu.

In the Solver page, for models with continuous blocks, set the Type to Fixed-step, the Step Size to the desired integration step size, and select the integration algorithm. For models that are purely discrete, set the integration algorithm to discrete.

Next, use the System Target File Browser to select the correct Real-Time Workshop page settings for Tornado. To access the browser, open the Real-Time Workshop page of the Simulation Parameters dialog box and select Target configuration from the Category menu.

Then click the Browse button. The System Target Browser opens.

Select Tornado (VxWorks) Real-Time Target and click OK. This sets the Target configuration options correctly:

• System target file -- tornado.tlc
• Template makefile -- tornado.tmf template, which you must configure according to the instructions in Configuring the Template Makefile. (You can rename this file; simply change the dialog box accordingly.)
• Make command -- make_rtw

You can optionally inline parameters for the blocks in the C code, which can improve performance. Inlining parameters is not allowed when using external mode.

Code Generation Options.   To specify code generation options specific to Tornado, open the Real-Time Workshop page and select Tornado code generation options from the Category menu.

The Real-Time Workshop provides flags that set the appropriate macros in the template makefile, causing any necessary additional steps to be performed during the build process.

The flags and switches are as follows:

• MAT-file logging: Select this option to enable data logging during program execution. The program will create a file named model.mat at the end of program execution; this file will contain the variables that you specified in the Solver page of the Simulation Parameters dialog box.

Real-Time Workshop adds a prefix or suffix to the names of the Solver page variables that you select for logging. The MAT-file variable name modifier menu lets you select the prefix or suffix.

By default, the MAT-file is created in the root directory of the current default device in VxWorks. This is typically the host file system that VxWorks was booted from. Other remote file systems can be used as a destination for the MAT-file using rsh or ftp network devices or NFS. See the VxWorks Programmer's Guide for more information. If a device or filename other than the default is desired, add "-DSAVEFILE=filename" to the OPTS flag to the make command. For example,

make_rtw OPTS="-DSAVEFILE=filename"

• External mode: Select this option to enable the use of external mode in the generated executable. You can optionally enable a verbose mode of external mode by appending -DVERBOSE to the OPTS flag in the make command. For example,

make_rtw OPTS="-DVERBOSE"

causes parameter download information to be printed to the console of the VxWorks system.

• Code format: Selects RealTime or RealTimeMalloc code generation format.
• StethoScope: Select this option to enable the use of StethoScope with the generated executable. When starting rt_main, there are two command line arguments that control the block names used by StethoScope; you can use them when starting the program on VxWorks. See the section, Running the Program for more information on these arguments.
• Download to VxWorks target: Enables automatic downloading of the generated program.

Additional options are available on the Real-Time Workshop page. See Using the Real-Time Workshop Page for information.

Initiating the Build

To build the program, click on the Build button in the Real-Time Workshop page of the Simulation parameters dialog. The resulting object file is named with the .lo extension (which stands for loadable object). This file has been compiled for the target processor using the cross compiler specified in the makefile. If automatic downloading (Download to VxWorks target) is enabled in the Tornado code generation options, the target server is started and the object file is downloaded and started on the target. If StethoScope was checked on the Tornado code generation options, you can now start StethoScope on the host. The StethoScope object files, libxdr.so, libutilstssip.so, and libscope.so, will be loaded on the VxWorks target by the automatic download. See the StethoScope User's Manual for more information.

Tool Locations

Downloading and Running the Executable Interactively