Configuring TICS for Matlab/Simulink

It is possible to analyze Simulink models in TICS.

Prerequisites

For a successful Simulink integration, the following prerequisites must be met:

Setup

The following prerequisites concern the environment of the buildserver:

• The following licenses of Matlab/Simulink and components must be available for a complete analysis:
• A Matlab license.
• A Simulink license.
• Simulink Design Verifier (for Abstract Interpretation, Dead Code)
• Simulink Verification and Validation Products (for Coding Standards, Duplicated Code)
• dSPACE TargetLink (for Compiler Warnings)
• A Matlab instance with these licenses must be activated on the buildserver and be on the PATH (entering 'matlab' in a command window will open Matlab). TargetLink, if present, needs to be linked to the MATLAB installation.

Analysis

The following prerequisites are necessary for a complete analysis of a project:

• For the Code Coverage metric there needs to be an html file present in the result directory of the project with as title 'Coverage Report', as is generated by default by Matlab.
• For the Cyclomatic Complexity metric there needs to be a code coverage file present as well; it is also necessary to either have it present in the branch directory or to use the RESULTDIR property in PROJECTS.txt.

Basic configuration

To be able to analyze a Simulink model the language must be added in the SERVER.txt with a PREPARE step. Note that Simulink model analysis is only possible with TICSQServer, and must always include a PREPARE step.

Syntax

The following language properties have to be declared on SERVER level:

'LANGUAGES' => {
  'SIMULINK' => {
    'EXTENSIONS' => [
      'simulink',
    ],
    'RULESETS' => [
      {
        'METRIC' => 'CODINGSTANDARD',
        'NAME' => 'Simulink Coding Standard',
        'RULESDIR' => 'codingstandards/SIMULINK',
      },
      {
        'METRIC' => 'COMPILERWARNING',
        'NAME' => 'Simulink Compiler Warnings',
        'RULESDIR' => 'compilerwarnings/SIMULINK',
      },
      {
        'METRIC' => 'ABSTRACTINTERPRETATION',
        'NAME' => 'Simulink Abstract Interpretation',
        'RULESDIR' => 'abstractinterpretation/SIMULINK',
      },
    ],
    'FANOUT' => {
      'TOOL' => 'Simulink',
    },
    'TESTCOVERAGE' => {
      'TOOLS' => ['Simulink'],
    },
    'CYCLOMATICCOMPLEXITY' => {
      'TOOL' => 'Simulink',
    },
    'DEADCODE' => {
      'TOOL' => 'Simulink',
    },
    'DUPLICATEDCODE' => {
      'TOOL' => 'Simulink',
    },
  },
}

and:

'PREPAREQDB' => 'PREPAREQDB.pm',

Furthermore, it is necessary to define the 'SIMULINKSTARTMODEL' property, which contains a starting model (which is the Simulink model from which you want to start your analysis) on the PROJECTS level. This can be defined either for each branch or for an entire project, but it is necessary to provide this starting model to run a successful Simulink analysis.

'your_project_name' => {
  'TOOLS' => {
    'Simulink' => {
      'SIMULINKSTARTMODEL' => 'C:/somewhere/your_starting_model.slx',
    },
  },
}

The following needs to be included in PREPAREQDB.pm:

use TICSPrepSimulink;

sub PrepareQDB ($$$) : Private {
  my ($project, $branchdir, $branchname) = @_;

  &TICSPrepSimulink::PrepareSimulink($project, $branchdir, $branchname);
}

For more information please refer to the implementation ticket.

Additional configuration properties for Simulink analysis

The following properties can be configured in addition to the Simulink start model, in either SERVER.txt or PROJECTS.txt:

• The LOOKUNDERMASKING property defines how masked subsystems are treated by the Simulink integration. In case LOOKUNDERMASKING is equal to 1, then the integration will look beyond masked blocks what it can find.
• The HOOKSCRIPTS property defines where to look for hook scripts of TargetLink: scripts that are necessary to prepare, or process, the compiling of code by Simulink. If a HOOKSCRIPTS dir is specified in the configuration, then the Simulink integration will attempt to use these scripts when compiling the model to get Compiler Warnings.
• The PREPARESCRIPT property defines a preparation script that is necessary to get all data necessary to correctly analyze the model by the Simulink integration. In case a preparation script is specified, this script is always run when MATLAB is called before executing the actual analysis on the model.
• The SIMULINKRESULTDIR property defines a result directory in the case that we do not wish to run a live Simulink analysis for some metrics, and instead want to import results from a list of reports in a directory (currently, this behaviour is only supported for Simulink Coding Standards). In the case a Simulink result directory has been defined, this Simulink result directory is used to import the results instead of running a live Simulink analysis.

An example of the properties in use at the PROJECTS.txt level.

'your_project' => {
  'TOOLS' => {
    'Simulink' => {
      'LOOKUNDERMASKING' => 0,
      'HOOKSCRIPTSDIR' => 'C:/your_model_dir/your_scripts_dir',
      'PREPARESCRIPT' => 'C:/your_model_dir/startup.m',
      'SIMULINKSTARTMODEL' => 'C:/your_model_dir/starting_model.slx'
    },
  },
},