7—External System Editor

7 External System Editor

The External System Editor provides the resources necessary to create and edit
external system definitions (ESDs). An external system definition specifies an
external simulator and defines the interfaces necessary to communicate with it.
In the External System Editor, interfaces are represented as rows in a table.

The section includes the following topics:

• External System Editor Menus on page ER-7-2

• External System Editor Operations on page ER-7-3

For more information about external systems and cosimulation modeling

techniques, see Chapter 8 External System Domain on page MC-8-1.

Figure 7-1 External System Editor

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 7—External System Editor

External System Editor Menus

The External System Editor, shown in Figure 7-1, provides operations for
creating and working with ESDs. You can access these operations from the
External System Editor menu bar.

Table 7-1 External Systems Editor Menus

Menu Description Reference

File Contains operations that relate to File Menu on page ER-2-2

high-level functions such as
opening and closing projects,
saving scenarios, importing
models, and printing graphics and
reports

Edit Contains operations that allow you Edit Menu on page ER-2-5
to edit the preferences that control
program operation and to
manipulate text and objects

Windows Lists all open editor windows and Windows Menu on

allows you to make one active page ER-2-7

Help Provides access to Help Menu on page ER-2-8

context-sensitive help, the product
documentation and tutorials, and
information about the program

Related Topics

• External System Editor on page ER-7-1

OPNET Modeler/Release 16.1 ER-7-2

7—External System Editor

External System Editor Operations

This section contains procedures for using the External System Editor to create
ESD models, including:

• Creating ESD Models on page ER-7-3

• Defining Esys Interfaces on page ER-7-3

Creating ESD Models

Procedure 7-1 Creating an External System Definition

1 Choose File > New, select External System Definition from the pull-down list, and
press OK.

➥ An empty External System Editor opens.

2 Click in the Simulator Description field and select an ESD file from the list.

This list includes all available files defining how to build a cosimulation (.sd files).

3 Define any esys interfaces needed by the external simulator, as described in

Defining Esys Interfaces on page ER-7-3.

4 Add to the Comments field (the large field at the top of the editor window) any
information a user may need about how to use the ESD model.

5 Save the model.

End of Procedure 7-1

Defining Esys Interfaces

Esys interfaces are defined in a table. In this table, each row represents a single
esys or vector interface and each column represents an interface attribute.

Figure 7-2 Interface Table

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 7—External System Editor

Procedure 7-2 Defining esys Interfaces

1 Open the ESD model for which you want to define interfaces.

2 For each interface, do the following:

2.1 Click in the Name cell of the first empty row and enter a name for the interface.

2.2 Click on the Type cell for the interface and select a data type from the list.

2.3 Click on the Direction cell for the interface and select the data flow direction
that the interface should support.

2.4 If this is a vector interface, click in the Dimension cell for the interface and
enter the number of values in the vector. (For a standard esys interface, leave
the Dimension attribute set to 0.)

2.5 Click in the Comment cell for the interface and enter a description of the
interface.

3 If necessary, use the buttons below the interface table to delete interfaces or
change their order. Each button affects the selected interface row.

End of Procedure 7-2

Related Topics

• External System Editor on page ER-7-1

OPNET Modeler/Release 16.1 ER-7-4