📐Model Editor Overview

Detailing the model editor

The Model Editor

To create block diagrams that represent your models, you will use the Model Editor. To enter the Model Editor, simply double click on a model in a project on your Dashboard, or create a new model from the project view on your Dashboard.

Panning and zooming

While in the Model Editor, there are several useful commands to be aware of for moving around the canvas:

Panning and scrolling

To scroll up or down, simply scroll with your mouse or track-pad.

To scroll left or right, hold Shift while scrolling, or else use a sideways scrolling gesture.

You can also pan around freely if you have a trackpad, or you can hold the spacebar, then “grab” the canvas and drag it around with your cursor.

Zooming in and out

To zoom in, hold the Ctrl key (⌘ key on Mac) and scroll up, or you can pinch out on your trackpad.

To zoom out, do the opposite: Hold Ctrl (or ⌘) and scroll down, or pinch in on your trackpad.

You can also use the key combination of Ctrl + = to zoom in, or Ctrl + – to zoom out.

To reset the zoom (100% zoom level), press Ctrl + 0.

If you’re at 100%, you can press Ctrl + 0 again to fit the contents of your model to the viewport.

Adding blocks

To add a block to your diagram, drag it from the block library to the canvas.

You can also double click the canvas to open the Quick Input. Start typing the name of a block in the search field, and it will suggest block names that match. Use your mouse or arrow keys to select the block you want to add, then press 'Enter' to add it to your canvas.

You can see and edit the properties of your blocks by selecting them. They appear in the Properties panel at the right side of the application window.

Once you’ve added some blocks to your model, you can navigate and select them using the Diagram Browser. Click its button in the toolbar to open it, and click again to hide it.

Selecting blocks

To select a block, you can simply click it with your mouse.

To select multiple blocks, you can click and drag over the canvas until the selection marquee touches the blocks you want to select.

You can also hold Control (or Command on Mac) and click the blocks you want to select. Click a block again to deselect it.

Positioning and connecting blocks

Blocks are arranged in the canvas according to a spacing grid. You can move a block anywhere you like, and it will snap to the nearest grid coordinates. This makes it easier to align your blocks to each other.

Blocks are connected with lines. Lines represent signals that flow between and through your blocks.

To draw a line, start from a block output. As you get closer to the output, it will change appearance to indicate that you can start drawing a line.

Click with your mouse, and a line will form between the output and your mouse pointer. Move the mouse to draw the line dynamically from the output. You can also:

• Click on the canvas to add a bend to the line

• Double click on the canvas to draw the line but leave it unconnected

• Press Esc to stop drawing the line and delete it

When you are drawing a line and you approach an input on another block, that input will change appearance to indicate that you can make a connection to it.

Click your mouse again and the connection is made.

Drawing complex lines

You can tap lines to connect outputs to more than one input:

Start by double clicking the line to tap, or by holding Alt and clicking the line.

A “tap point” will be added to the line, allowing you to branch it to another input.

Drag the line to the input you want to connect to, just like a standard line. Voilà! You have a tapped line going to multiple blocks.

You can also accomplish the same thing in reverse, starting from the destination input:

Start drawing your line from the input you want connected.

When you get close to the line you want to tap, release your mouse...

... and the connection is made.

Selecting objects

Selecting Blocks

To select a block, simply click it. Click anywhere else on the canvas to deselect it.

To select multiple blocks, you can click and drag to select them...

... or you can click the first block, then Ctrl + click (Command + click on Mac) each of the subsequent blocks you’d like to select.

And finally, you can combine these actions together. As long as you are holding the Ctrl key, you can click and drag to select more blocks as you like.

Selecting Lines

Selecting lines works in much the same way. Click a line to select it, and click anywhere else on the canvas to deselect it.

You can hold Control (or Command) and click to select multiple lines.

You can also drag to select multiple lines at once.

And of course, these can be combined. As long as you are holding Control (Command) you can select as many lines as you like.

When selecting lines that have multiple destinations, clicking on a segment of that line will select only that segment.

No matter which segment you select, the selection will be restricted to that segment only.

You can hold Control (or Command) and click to select multiple line segments...

... and you can combine dragging, Control + drag, or Control + click to freely select any line segments you like.

Deleting objects

Deleting blocks

You can delete blocks in a couple of simple ways:

Firstly, you can select the block in question and press the Delete key.

Alternatively, you can right click the block, and choose Delete from the pop-up menu.

Deleting Lines

Similarly for lines, you can select the line and hit the Delete key to remove it.

Or you can right click it and choose Delete from the pop-up menu.

The same operations work for individual line segments. Deleting one segment only affects that segment, and the other connected segments are left alone.