2.2 Model Center
25
(1) Class Window;
(2) Class Browser;
(3) Component Browser;
(4) other windows (this includes windows for setting variables and parameters,
Messages window, and others).
All Model Center windows, with the exception of the Class Window, can be
dragged in the main window, as well as moved out of it in the form of floating
windows (drag-and-drop principle). When you exit the application, the location and
size of the windows are saved. When you reopen the Wolfram SystemModeler, you
will see that the window view you have selected is preserved. To reset window
settings to “default” view, select “View” -> «Reset Window Layout».
The basis of modeling in the Wolfram SystemModeler environment and the fundamental structural units of modeling in the Modelica language are the components.
In the Modelica language, they are referred to as classes, which are elaborated in
more detail in the following sections.
Classes (components)
Classes usually contain equations as executable code for computing, but they can
also include traditional algorithmic code. All data in the Modelica language is also
described by classes. Modelica has the following class types (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1 Types of class
Class type
Description
Model
Designed for acausal, or physical, modeling, i.e., for those systems in which
cause–effect relationships are not obvious and may change
Block
Used for causal, or block-based, modeling, i.e., in cases where the causal
relationships in the simulated system are obvious. Thus, the difference of the
block type is that all its external variables must be either input or output
Connector
Class, which is a special type that serves to communicate between components.
The connector cannot have equations and contains only variables involved in
connections
Function
A class that describes a function written in an algorithmic language
Package
Packages are used to combine description elements into groups (i.e., class
libraries)
Record
Records are used to combine variables of different types into a logical integer.
A record may have variables like a model but does not include equations.
Records are mainly used to group data. But, they are also very useful in
describing data associated with annotations
Type
Class of data type. In addition to using basic types, the user has the ability to
declare his own data type using the keyword type
Enumeration Enumerated data type. It is used to define the type of variables that can take
only a limited set of specific values
25
(1) Class Window;
(2) Class Browser;
(3) Component Browser;
(4) other windows (this includes windows for setting variables and parameters,
Messages window, and others).
All Model Center windows, with the exception of the Class Window, can be
dragged in the main window, as well as moved out of it in the form of floating
windows (drag-and-drop principle). When you exit the application, the location and
size of the windows are saved. When you reopen the Wolfram SystemModeler, you
will see that the window view you have selected is preserved. To reset window
settings to “default” view, select “View” -> «Reset Window Layout».
The basis of modeling in the Wolfram SystemModeler environment and the fundamental structural units of modeling in the Modelica language are the components.
In the Modelica language, they are referred to as classes, which are elaborated in
more detail in the following sections.
Classes (components)
Classes usually contain equations as executable code for computing, but they can
also include traditional algorithmic code. All data in the Modelica language is also
described by classes. Modelica has the following class types (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1 Types of class
Class type
Description
Model
Designed for acausal, or physical, modeling, i.e., for those systems in which
cause–effect relationships are not obvious and may change
Block
Used for causal, or block-based, modeling, i.e., in cases where the causal
relationships in the simulated system are obvious. Thus, the difference of the
block type is that all its external variables must be either input or output
Connector
Class, which is a special type that serves to communicate between components.
The connector cannot have equations and contains only variables involved in
connections
Function
A class that describes a function written in an algorithmic language
Package
Packages are used to combine description elements into groups (i.e., class
libraries)
Record
Records are used to combine variables of different types into a logical integer.
A record may have variables like a model but does not include equations.
Records are mainly used to group data. But, they are also very useful in
describing data associated with annotations
Type
Class of data type. In addition to using basic types, the user has the ability to
declare his own data type using the keyword type
Enumeration Enumerated data type. It is used to define the type of variables that can take
only a limited set of specific values