Library Startup Skript in Dymola - modelica

Using Dymola, I'm looking for a way to automatically execute a script when loading a library. The intention is to define additional displayUnits using the defineUnitConversion() command, which are specific to the library that is loaded. Still I think there are quite some other cases where this could be helpful.
What I figured out in this regard:
I know that it is possible to add conversions to the file in DymolaInstallDir/insert/displayUnits.mos but this comes with the disadvantage that is has to be done again on every new computer or after an update of Dymola. I would like to avoid this.
Other than that I only found the libraryinfo.mos file, which seems to be read during the start-up of Dymola. Therefore I assume it is not the right place to put the conversions, as it contains general information about the library and should only contain the respective functions.

Dymola 2022 has a new (tool-specific) feature that covers exactly this use-case. It is mentioned in the Dymola 2022 release notes in the section "Library startup script" on page 24.
It basically introduces the a new annotation, which allows to specify a path to a .mos script, which is executed, when the respective library is loaded. Here is the example from the release notes:
package ThisPack
annotation(__Dymola_startup =
"modelica://ThisPack/Resources/Scripts/Dymola/startup.mos");
end ThisPack;
The annotation can also be set via the UI...

Related

Removing annotations from a Modelica model

I'm developing a Modelica library and need to produce a document with source code listings. I'd like to be able to include the source of the Modelica models without annotations.
I could manually edit them out, but I'm looking for a more automated strategy. I'm guessing the most convenient and straightforward approach is to use some tool to save .mo files with no annotations and include those in my document (I'm using \lstinputlisting in LaTeX).
Is it possible to do this? I have access to Dymola, OpenModelica and JModelica. Dymola is obviously capable of producing such a listing, as it's able to include it in the automatically generated documentation (File > Export > HTML...). I've been looking into scripting with Dymola and OpenModelica, but haven't found a way to do this either.
JModelica seems like it could be a good option, but I don't have experience working with Python. If this is possible and someone gives me some pointers, I'm willing to look into it myself. I found a mention to a prettyprint function that might do the job, but I'm not sure where to start. I can't even find reference to that function in the latest documentation.
It would also be more convenient for me to find a way of doing it with Dymola/OpenModelica (whether through the UI or by using a script). Have I missed something?
I think you could use saveTotalModel("total.mo", MyModelName) in OpenModelica. This will strip most annotations (not ones used for code generation if I remember correctly) and pretty-print the source code including all dependencies. Then you just copy-paste the models/packages that you want to include in the listing. Or if you prefer, you can do something like the following to only include code for a particular model:
loadModel(Modelica);
loadFile("MyModel.mo");
saveTotalModel("total.mo", MyModel.A.B);
clear();
loadFile(MyModel);
str := list(MyModel.A.B);
writeFile("MyModel.A.B.listing", str);

Remove/Add References and Compile antique VB6 application using Powershell

I've been given the task of researching whether one can use Powershell to automate the managing of References in VB6 application and then compile it's projects afterwards.
There are 3 projects. I requirement is to remove a specific reference in each project. Then, compile projects from bottom up (server > client > interface) and add reference back in along the way. (remove references, compile server.dll >add client reference to server.dll, compile client.dll > add interface reference to client.dll, compile interface.exe)
I'm thinking no, but I was still given the task of finding out for sure. Of course, where does one go to find this out? Why here of course, StackOverflow.
References are stored in the project .VBP files which are just text files. A given reference takes up exactly one line of the file.
For example, here is a reference to DAO database components:
Reference=*\G{00025E01-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}#5.0#0#C:\WINDOWS\SysWow64\dao360.dll#Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library
The most important info is everything to the left of the path which contains the GUID (i.e., the unique identifier of the library, more or less). The filespec and description text are unimportant as VB6 will update that to whatever it finds in the registry for the referenced DLL.
An alternate form of reference is for GUI controls, such as:
Object={BDC217C8-ED16-11CD-956C-0000C04E4C0A}#1.1#0; tabctl32.ocx
which for whatever reason never seem to have a path anyway. Most likely you will not need to modify this type of reference, because it would almost certainly break forms in the project which rely on them.
So in your Powershell script, the key task would be to either add or remove the individual reference lines mentioned in the question. Unless you are using no form of binary compatibility, the GUID will remain stable. Therefore, you could essentially hardcode the strings you need to add/remove.
Aside from all that, its worth thinking through why you need to take this approach at all. Normally to build a VB6 solution it is totally unnecessary to add/remove references along the way. Also depending on your choice of deployment techniques, you are probably using either project or binary compatibility which tends to keep the references stable.
Lastly, I'll mention that there are existing tools such as Kinook's Visual Build Pro which already know how to build groups of VB6 projects and if using a 3rd party tool like that is an option, could save you a lot of work.

Embedded Coder not recognizing tokens in default code generation template

I recently obtained a license to use Embedded Coder with an existing Simulink model that we have developed. In attempting to generate C code for the first time from the model, I am working through several errors. At first, we had no code generation templates (.cgt) files defined in the model parameters. After some hunting, I found the default template that comes with MATLAB (matlabroot/toolbox/rtw/targets/ecoder/ert_code_template.cgt).
The latest is that I get errors on nearly every token in this default code generation template.
Since I'm just trying to get something to build, at first I commented out the offending lines (things like RTWFileVersion, etc), but now I am noticing that it's giving me errors for things that are mandatory (ie. Types). Types is one of several required items that must be in the .cgt file, so what's wrong that causes MATLAB to not recognize these tokens? I'm guessing something may be messed up with my installation, such as a path.
Other details:
Simulink R2013A x32
Target is a Freescale device
Thanks to Matthias W for getting me to check other configuration options. Turns out I had selected a .tlc file that was probably incompatible with Embedded Coder.
In Code Generation for "System target file" I have selected the ert.tlc file and now I am able to build the parts of my model I'm interested in.

Possibility of an LLVM LTO Pass plugin?

I was wondering if it's currently possible to have an 'external' (.so/.dylib) LLVM plugin (module) pass scheduled at LTO time? The reason for wanting this is a inter-modular optimization I want to add.
I also found this topic; How to write a custom intermodular pass in LLVM?
But a separate tool is not an option for me.
Thanks
I think the most helpful thing here might be to understand how passes are run and what the state of the code is during LTO.
First of all, when optimization passes are run by the compiler, they are done as a set that has been added to a PassManager. This means that LLVM/Clang, when passed something like -O3 will create a copy of a PassManager and subsequently provide it the set of passes expected to provide O3 level of optimization. This is very different from what you are doing with an external library which must be provided manually and cannot be fit into the pass pipeline normally.
Then we have the state of things when doing LTO. During Link Time Optimization, all of the individual translation units have been consolidated and are now a single Module. This means that an optimization which runs on each function will run on every function in the code base. Similarly, a per-module optimization will run on the full Module and therefor offer Inter-Procedural Analysis/Optimization.
If you're looking to use an Intra-Modular Pass then there is no reason to do this at LTO time and instead you can simply make a ModulePass and run that on each unit.

Is there something like a "pre-build" callback function?

I have a Simulink model, the purpose of which is automated code generation.
My model uses S-functions (developed by another party), which has hard-coded assumptions about the path. For instance, several external data files are needed, which are referenced in the S-function via a relative path like ..\Bin\data\datafile.bin. This makes it necessary to set MATLAB's current working directory to a specific path before the model can be run.
I can automatically check and set the correct path via model callback functions. However, all model callback functions only seem to be related to the simulation process, not the build process. That means that I can run the model irrespective of what directory I'm in, but when I try to build the model, it always fails unless I manually navigate MATLAB back to the correct directory.
Needless to say, that's quite annoying. So I was wondering if there is something like a "preBuildFcn" callback fnuction, a function that is run before starting the build process? Any other solution (that does not involve modifying the S-function) is also very welcome.
There are plenty of hooks into the build process of Simulink / Embedded Coder ('entry', 'before_tlc', 'after_tlc', 'before_make', 'after_make', 'exit', and 'error'). I assume you want an 'entry' hook.
All you need to do is write an M-function with the name your_system_target_file name_make_rtw_hook, as explained in the documentation Customize Build Process with STF_make_rtw_hook File.
In case you can't open the online documentation (login required), here is the path to the HTML in your MATLAB installation: MATLAB root\help\rtw\ug\customizing-the-target-build-process-with-the-stf-make-rtw-hook-file.html
I am not sure whether building simulink models is sufficiently similar to building regular MATLAB programs, but here is what I used in the past:
Set up the project manually
Build the project programmatically
The program that is used to build the project should be able to set the path or do other custom things.