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copy

Copy array of objects to clipboard

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Syntax

copy(clipboard,objArray)

Description

copy(clipboard,objArray) copies the objects in the array objArray to the clipboard. To paste the copied objects, use the pasteTo function.

example

Examples

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This example uses:

Open Live Script

Group a state and copy its contents to the chart. When you group a state, box, or graphical function, you can copy and paste all the objects contained in the grouped object, as well as all the relationships among these objects. This method is the simplest way of copying and pasting objects programmatically. If a state is not grouped, copying the state does not copy any of its contents.

Stateflow chart with a hierarchy of states. The outer state is called A. It contains two inner states called A1 and A2.

Open the model and access the Stateflow.Chart object for the chart.

open_system("sfHierarchyAPIExample")
ch = find(sfroot,"-isa","Stateflow.Chart");

Find the Stateflow.State object named A.

sA = find(ch,"-isa","Stateflow.State",Name="A");

Group state A and its contents by setting the IsGrouped property for sA to true. Save the previous setting of this property so you can revert to it later.

prevGrouping = sA.IsGrouped;
sA.IsGrouped = true;

Change the name of the state to Copy_of_A. Save the previous name so you can revert to it later.

prevName = sA.Name;
newName = "Copy_of_"+prevName;
sA.Name = newName;

Access the clipboard object.

cb = sfclipboard;

Copy the grouped state to the clipboard.

copy(cb,sA);

Restore the state properties to their original settings.

sA.IsGrouped = prevGrouping;
sA.Name = prevName;

Paste a copy of the objects from the clipboard to the chart.

pasteTo(cb,ch);

Adjust the state properties of the new state.

sNew = find(ch,"-isa","Stateflow.State",Name=newName);
sNew.Position = sA.Position + [400 0 0 0];
sNew.IsGrouped = prevGrouping;

Chart showing result of pasting a copy of state A and its contents.

This example uses:

Open Live Script

Copy states A1 and A2, along with the transition between them, to a new state in the chart. To preserve transition connections and containment relationships between objects, copy all the connected objects at once.

Stateflow chart with a hierarchy of states. The outer state is called A. It contains two inner states called A1 and A2.

Open the model and access the Stateflow.Chart object for the chart.

open_system("sfHierarchyAPIExample")
ch = find(sfroot,"-isa","Stateflow.Chart");

Find the Stateflow.State object named A.

sA = find(ch,"-isa","Stateflow.State",Name="A");

Add a new state called B. To enable pasting of other objects inside B, convert the new state to a subchart.

sB = Stateflow.State(ch);
sB.Name = "B";
sB.Position = sA.Position + [400 0 0 0];
sB.IsSubchart = true;

Create an array called objArray that contains the states and transitions in state A. Use the function setdiff to remove state A from the array of objects to copy.

objArrayS = find(sA,"-isa","Stateflow.State");
objArrayS = setdiff(objArrayS,sA);
objArrayT = find(sA,"-isa","Stateflow.Transition");
objArray = [objArrayS objArrayT];

Access the clipboard object.

cb = sfclipboard;

Copy the objects in objArray and paste them in subchart B.

copy(cb,objArray);
pasteTo(cb,sB);

Revert B to a state.

sB.IsSubchart = false;
sB.IsGrouped = false;

Reposition the states and transitions in B.

newStates = find(sB,"-isa","Stateflow.State");
newStates = setdiff(newStates,sB);

newTransitions = find(sB,"-isa","Stateflow.Transition");
newOClocks = get(newTransitions,{"SourceOClock","DestinationOClock"});

for i = 1:numel(newStates)
    newStates(i).Position = newStates(i).Position + [25 35 0 0];
end
set(newTransitions,{"SourceOClock","DestinationOClock"},newOClocks);

Chart showing result of copying contents of state A and pasting them into state B.

Input Arguments

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Clipboard, specified as a Stateflow.Clipboard object.

Objects to copy, specified as an array of Stateflow API objects. The array must contain only graphical objects or only nongraphical objects.

Graphical objects include:

Nongraphical objects include:

Copying graphical objects also copies the Stateflow.Data, Stateflow.Event, and Stateflow.Message objects that the graphical objects contain. When you copy multiple graphical objects, the value of their Subviewer property must be the same.

Tips

To maintain the transition connections and containment relationships between copied objects, you must:

  • Copy a grouped object to the clipboard. When you group a state, box, or graphical function, you can copy and paste all the objects contained in the grouped object, as well as all the relationships among these objects. For more information, see Copy and Paste by Grouping.

  • Copy all the related objects. For example, to copy two states connected by a transition to another container, create an array that contains both the states and the transition. Then you can copy the array to the clipboard. For more information, see Copy and Paste Array of Objects.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

See Also

Functions

Objects

Topics