Get references and check for shadowed files before opening a model

If I open a model with load_system() I eventually get a lot of warnings caused by referenced dictionaries, libraries, etc. that have shadowed files on the path.

How do I find all those shadowed files before using load_system() so that I can take care of those shadowed files and eventually remove them or from the path?

(Clearing the whole path is not acceptable!)

Thanks for your suggestions.

Answer 1

[Soumya]

Hi Marcus,

I understand you're seeing warnings from shadowed files when using load_system() due to multiple versions of referenced models, libraries, or data dictionaries on your MATLAB path. This is a common issue, and MATLAB provides documented tools to help you detect and resolve these conflicts before loading your model.

You can refer to the following troubleshooting steps:

• Use 'find_mdlrefs' to retrieve all referenced models in your top-level Simulink model — the function temporarily loads referenced models and returns 'refModels' (names of referenced models) and 'modelBlocks' (paths to Model blocks referencing them):

load_system('yourModelName');
[refModels, modelBlocks] = find_mdlrefs('yourModelName');

• Use matlab.codetools.requiredFilesAndProducts to list all files and products needed to run or simulate your model:

[files, products] = matlab.codetools.requiredFilesAndProducts('yourModelName');

• Use the documented which function with the -all flag to detect multiple instances of the same file on your path:

for i = 1:length(files)
    [~, name, ext] = fileparts(files{i});
    locations = which([name, ext], '-all');
    if numel(locations) > 1
        fprintf('Shadowed file detected: %s\n', [name, ext]);
        disp(locations);
    end
end

You can refer to the following documentations for more information:

• https://www.mathworks.com/help/simulink/slref/find_mdlrefs.html
• https://www.mathworks.com/help/simulink/ug/manage-shadowed-and-dirty-model-files.html
• https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/which.html
• https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matlab.codetools.requiredfilesandproducts.html

I hope this helps!