Code Generation Reports

HDL Coder™ produces a code generation report that helps you to:

Debug code generation issues and verify that your MATLAB^® code is suitable for code generation.
View generated HDL code.
See how the code generator determines and propagates type information for variables and expressions in your MATLAB code.
Access additional reports.

Report Generation

When you enable report generation, the code generator produces a code generation report. To control generation and opening of a code generation report, use app settings, codegen options, or configuration object properties.

To view the code generation report, click the View report link. If no build errors occur, this report provides links to your MATLAB code, generated C/C++ files, and compile-time type information for the variables in your MATLAB code. If build errors occur, the report lists errors and warnings.

In the HDL Coder app:

Open the HDL Coder Workflow Advisor.
In the HDL Code Generation step options, on the Coding Style tab, under Generated Code Comments, select the Generate report check box.

At the command line, use codegen options:

To generate a report, use the -report option.
To generate and open a report, use the -launchreport option.

Alternatively, use configuration object properties:

To generate a report, set GenerateReport to true.
If you want codegen to open the report for you, set LaunchReport to true.

Report Location

The code generation report is named report.mldatx. It is located in the html subfolder of the code generation output folder. If you have MATLAB R2018a or later, you can open the report.mldatx file by double-clicking it.

Errors and Warnings

View code generation error, warning, and information messages on the All Messages tab. To highlight the source code for an error or warning, click the message. It is a best practice to address the first message because subsequent errors and warnings can be related to the first message.

Files and Functions

The report lists MATLAB source functions and generated files. In the MATLAB Source pane, the Function List view organizes functions according to the containing file. To visualize functions according to the call structure, use the Call Tree view.

To view a function in the code pane of the report, click the function in the list. Clicking a function opens the file that contains the function. To edit the selected file in the MATLAB Editor, click Edit in MATLAB or click a line number in the code pane.

Specialized Functions or Classes

When a function is called with different types of inputs or a class uses different types for its properties, the code generator produces specializations. In the MATLAB Source pane, numbered functions (or classes) indicate specializations. For example:

MATLAB Source

To view a MATLAB function in the code pane, click the name of the function in the MATLAB Source pane. In the code pane, when you pause on a variable or expression, a tooltip displays information about its size, type, and complexity. Additionally, syntax highlighting helps you to identify MATLAB syntax elements and certain code generation attributes, such as whether a function is extrinsic or whether an argument is constant.

Extrinsic Functions

The report identifies an extrinsic function with purple text. The tooltip indicates that the function is extrinsic.

This image shows the report when it identifies the extrinsic function. The extrinsic function is purple.

Constant Arguments

Orange text indicates a compile-time constant argument to an entry-point function or a specialized function. The tooltip includes the constant value.

This image shows the report when it identifies a compile-time costant argument. The constant a is highlighted in orange.

Knowing the value of a constant argument helps you to understand the generated function signatures. It also helps you to see when code generation creates function specializations for different constant argument values.

To export the value to a variable in the workspace, click the Export icon .

MATLAB Variables

The Variables tab provides information about the variables for the selected MATLAB function. To select a function, click the function in the MATLAB Source pane.

The variables table shows:

Class, size, and complexity
Properties of fixed-point types

This information helps you to understand type propagation and identify type mismatch errors.

Visual Indicators on the Variables Tab

This table describes the symbols, badges, and other indicators in the variables table.

Column in the Variables Table	Indicator	Description
Name	expander	Variable has elements or properties that you can see by clicking the expander.
Name	`{:}`	Heterogeneous cell array (all elements have the same properties)
Name	`{n}`	nth element of a heterogeneous cell array
Class	`v > n`	`v` is reused with a different class, size, and complexity. The number `n` identifies each unique reuse (a reuse with a unique set of properties). When you pause over a renamed variable, the report highlights only the instances of this variable that share the class, size, and complexity.
Class	`complex` prefix	Complex number
Class		Fixed-point type To see the fixed-point properties, click the badge.

Additional Reports

The Summary tab can also have links to these additional reports:

Conformance report
Resource report
HDL Coding Standard Report

Report Limitations

The entry-point summary shows the individual elements of varargin and varargout, but the variables table does not show them.
The report does not show full information for unrolled loops. It displays data types of one arbitrary iteration.
The report does not show information about dead code.