I have a subsystem in Simulink with LConn and RConn blocks, some from Simulink Electrical and others from Simscape. How can I retrieve their type info from MATLAB?

I have a subsystem in Simulink with several LConn and RConn blocks. Some of them are from Simulink Electrical, and others are from Simscape. In Simulink, they appear as triangles or squares. How can I retrieve this information from MATLAB to determine their type?

Answer 1

[Yifeng Tang]

I think this will help:

myBlock = 'example/Subsystem';

port_handles = get_param(myBlock,"PortHandles")
inports   = port_handles.Inport;
outports  = port_handles.Outport;
PhysConnL = port_handles.LConn;
PhysConnR = port_handles.RConn;

get_param(inports(1)  ,"PortType")
get_param(outports(1) ,"PortType")
get_param(outports(2) ,"PortType")
get_param(PhysConnL(1),"PortType")
get_param(PhysConnR(1),"PortType")

You'll need the attached slx file to run the code.

This gives me:

port_handles = struct with fields:
      Inport: 168.0007
     Outport: [179.0007 180.0016]
      Enable: []
     Trigger: []
       State: []
       LConn: 181.0010
       RConn: 182.0010
    Ifaction: []
       Reset: []
       Event: []
ans = 'inport'
ans = 'outport'
ans = 'outport'
ans = 'connection'
ans = 'connection'

Answer 2

[Simon]

Hi,

As I understand, you want to distinguish between Simulink Electrical and Simscape LConn/RConn blocks inside your Simulink subsystem. I see it’s already been answered using get_param('PortHandles'), which is helpful for identifying the subsystem’s external ports. Additionally, using find_system allows you to identify all internal LConn and RConn blocks and determine their type and origin, you can also use the following approach:

Use find_system to search for all LConn and RConn blocks inside your subsystem, then query their ReferenceBlock and MaskType properties. This will show you whether each block is from Simscape or Simulink Electrical. For example:

subsys = 'example/Subsystem'; %use your path, run the code in MATLAB command window for the slx file
lconns = find_system(subsys, 'RegExp', 'on', 'Name', 'LConn');
rconns = find_system(subsys, 'RegExp', 'on', 'Name', 'RConn');
all_conns = [lconns; rconns];

for i = 1:length(all_conns)
    blk = all_conns{i};
    ref = get_param(blk, 'ReferenceBlock');
    mask = get_param(blk, 'MaskType');
    disp(['Block: ' blk]);
    disp(['  ReferenceBlock: ' ref]);
    disp(['  MaskType: ' mask]);
end

If ReferenceBlock contains simscape/ports/LConn or RConn, it’s Simscape; if it contains powerlib/Elements/LConn or similar, it’s Simulink Electrical.

This method allows you to programmatically distinguish the type and origin.

Please refer to the following documentation for more information:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/simulink/slref/find_system.html

https://www.mathworks.com/help/simulink/slref/block-parameters-and-properties.html

Hope it helps!