Open Variant Manager and Visualize Variant Elements

Open Example Model

This tutorial uses the example model slexVariantManagerOverviewGS, which comes with a minimal set of variant configurations. You can use this model to follow along with the steps in the tutorial.

modelName = "slexVariantManagerOverviewGS";
open_system(modelName);

Explore Variant Elements

You begin by examining the model hierarchy of the top-level model, slexVariantManagerOverviewGS. For more information on the model, see Explore the Model.

On the Modeling tab, expand the Design gallery, and click Variant Manager.

You can add Variant Manager to the Simulink^® quick access toolbar for faster access. Right-click the Variant Manager icon in the Simulink Toolstrip and select Add to Quick Access Bar.

If you prefer using the MATLAB^® Command Window, you can open Variant Manager with this command.

Simulink.VariantManager.open(modelName);

In the default view, Variant Manager shows a tree view of the model hierarchy. Each node represents a block, a referenced component, or a variant parameter.

The Blocks tab shows only the variant blocks in the model. Try identifying the control variables used by the Controller variant subsystem. Notice that all choices use the control variable vCtrl.

Switch to the Variant Parameters tab and select the Choice view. This tab lists variant parameters such as pKc, pInitCond, pLUTBPs, and pLUTData. These variant parameters use the variant control variables vCtrl and vLUTFid.

Some rows in the hierarchy might appear dimmed, because when you open Variant Manager, the tool highlights the active variant choices based on the current control variable values. These values come from the data sources used by the model. If you want to see these values for the VMControllerGS model, open the Design Data section of the dVMControllerGS.sldd in Model Explorer.

To view the data dictionaries used by the model, use Model Explorer. In the Simulink Toolstrip, on the Modeling tab, click Model Explorer.