timer

Class: matlab.DiscreteEventSystem
Namespace: matlab

Event action when timer completes

Syntax

[entity,events]=timer(obj,storage,entity,tag)
[entity,events,out1,...]=timer(obj,storage,entity,tag,in1,...)


Description

[entity,events]=timer(obj,storage,entity,tag) specifies event actions for when scheduled timer completes.

[entity,events,out1,...]=timer(obj,storage,entity,tag,in1,...) specifies such event actions when the block has one or more input signal ports and/or signal output ports.

Input Arguments

obj — Discrete-event System object™

MATLAB^® object

Discrete-event System object.

storage — Storage

double

Index of the storage element.

entity — Entity

MATLAB structure

Entity for the timer event. Entity has these fields:

• sys (MATLAB structure) — It has these fields:

  • id (double) — Entity ID

  • priority (double) — Entity priority

• data — Entity data

tag — Tag

character vector

Tag of the currently executing timer event.

in1 — Signal input

any value

Any data inputs of the object. These input arguments exist only when the object has data inputs.

Output Arguments

entity — Entity

MATLAB structure

Entity with changed value.

events — Events

vector of MATLAB structures

Events to be scheduled after the method returns. Use matlab.DiscreteEventSystem class methods to create events. Each event has these fields:

• type (character vector) — Type of the event

• delay (double) — Delay before the event

• priority (double) — Priority of the event

• Storage (double) — Index of the storage element

• tag (character vector) — Event tag

• location (MATLAB structure) — Source or destination location of entity

out1 — Signal output

any value

Data outputs of the object. You must specify these output arguments when the object has data outputs.

Examples

Event Action When Timer Completes

Forward entity when timer completes for discrete-event system object obj.

function [entity,events] = timer(obj,storage,entity,tag)
    % Check which timer of the entity has expired, and forward the
    % entity to the next location accordingly.
    switch tag
        case 'ServiceComplete'
            entity.done = 1;
            events = obj.eventForward('output', 1, 0);                    
        case 'Timeout'
            entity.done = 0; 
            events = obj.eventForward('storage', 2, 0);
    end
end

Custom Entity Storage Block with Timer Events

This example uses a custom entity storage block with one input, two outputs, and a storage element. An entity of type Part with TimeOut attribute enters the storage of the custom block to be processed. TimeOut determines the maximum allowed processing time of the parts. When a part enters the storage, two timer events are activated. One timer tracks the processing time of the part in the oven. When this timer expires, the entity is forwarded to output 1. Another timer acts as a fail-safe and tracks if the maximum allowed processing time is exceeded or not. When this timer expires, the process is terminated and the entity is forwarded to the output 2.

For more information, see Custom Entity Storage Block with Multiple Timer Events.

classdef CustomEntityStorageBlockTimer < matlab.DiscreteEventSystem
                        
    % A custom entity storage block with one input port, two output ports, and one storage. 
 
    % Nontunable properties 
    properties (Nontunable)
    % Capacity
        Capacity = 1;
    end
    
    methods (Access=protected)       
 
        function num = getNumInputsImpl(~)
            num = 1;
        end
        
        function num = getNumOutputsImpl(~)
            num = 2;
        end      
        
        function entityTypes = getEntityTypesImpl(obj)
            entityTypes = obj.entityType('Part');
        end
        
        function [inputTypes,outputTypes] = getEntityPortsImpl(obj)
            inputTypes = {'Part'};
            outputTypes = {'Part' 'Part'};
        end

        function [storageSpecs, I, O] = getEntityStorageImpl(obj)
            storageSpecs = obj.queueFIFO('Part', obj.Capacity);
            I = 1;
            O = [1 1];
        end
          
    end
  
    
   methods

        function [entity,event] = PartEntry(obj,storage,entity,source)
            % Specify event actions when entity enters storage.
             ProcessingTime=randi([1 15]);
             event1 = obj.eventTimer('TimeOut', entity.data.TimeOut);
             event2 = obj.eventTimer('ProcessComplete', ProcessingTime);   
             event = [event1 event2];
        end

        function [entity, event] = timer(obj,storage,entity,tag)
            % Specify event actions for when scheduled timer completes. 
            event = obj.initEventArray;
            switch tag
                case 'ProcessComplete'
                    event = obj.eventForward('output', 1, 0);
                case 'TimeOut'
                    event = obj.eventForward('output', 2, 0);
            end

        end
            
    end
    
end

Version History

Introduced in R2016a