Ports

You can specify the communications of a system by adding ports to blocks (or their parts and references), and connecting them with connectors or item flows.

Context

Ports control how blocks or their parts and references connect to and interact with each other. Proxy ports specify which features of the owning block or internal parts are visible through external connectors, while full ports specify their own features. Use item flows to specify items flowing in or out of blocks, parts, references, and ports. In internal block diagrams (Internal Block Diagrams), use connectors to indicate the connection between the parts or references of a block.

The Port and Item Flow tools are available in block definition diagrams and internal block diagrams. The Connector tool is available in internal block diagrams.

In this example, the Cell phone block receives via its port battery the item flow electricity from the Electrical Power System block.

Procedure

  1. Select the block (or its part or reference) to which you want to add a port to display its context menu, and click the Port, Proxy Port, or Full Port tool. In internal block diagrams, before you can add ports to a part or reference, you must specify a block as its data type (see Parts and References).

    Alternatively, in an internal block diagram (see Internal Block Diagrams), you can directly drag the Port tool from the diagram toolbox and drop it on the boundary of the part, reference or diagram frame as appropriate.

  2. Specify the following properties as appropriate:

    Property

    Description

    Parent Object

    [read-only] Displays the block which owns the port.

    Name/Code/Comment

    Identify the object. The name should clearly convey the object's purpose to non-technical users, while the code, which is used for generating code or scripts, may be abbreviated, and should not normally include spaces. You can optionally add a comment to provide more detailed information about the object. By default the code is synchronized with the name. To decouple name-code synchronization, enter a new code in the Code field.

    Block

    [proxy port] Specifies the interface block that defines the features available through the proxy port.

    [full port] Specifies the block that types the full port.

    Conjugate

    [proxy port] Specifies that the direction is reversed.

    Direction
    Specifies whether the features are provided or required by the owning block. You can select:

    • In - the feature is required by the owning block.

    • Out - the feature is provided by the owning block

    • In/Out - the feature is both provided and required.
    The other tabs such as Dependencies and Diagrams contain additional properties information. For details, see Object Properties.
  3. Click the Children tab, expand the Flow Properties section and specify flow properties for the port.
  4. To connect the ports with an item flow, select the port to display its context menu. You will find the tools as listed below:

    Tool

    Description

    Provided Interface and Required Interface, see Adding Interfaces to Ports.

    Item Flow - A part or a reference has items flowing in or out of another part or reference. Item flows connect ports, parts, and references to show that there are items flowing in or out of the connected objects.

    To create an item flow from the port to another object, select the port to display its context menu, and drag and drop the Item Flow tool onto the target object.
  5. [internal block diagram] To link the ports with a connector, select the Connector tool from the toolbox and drag from one port to the other. Optionally, specify a name and type for the connector. The type of a connector must be consistent with the association specified between the relevant blocks.