Variant Inline Components

Implement structural variations in a single layer

With inline variant blocks, you can represent all design alternatives of a system in a single model. Each design choice is incorporated into the model as a variant choice in a single layer. Such models have a fixed common structure and a finite set of variable components that are activated or deactivated depending on the variant control. You can activate the components automatically or manually.

For example, suppose you want to simulate a model to control the speed of a car windshield wiper by using different rain sensors. You can provide the rain sensor models as inputs to a Variant Source block and then switch between the sensors based on the variant control you select. For more information, see Introduction to Variant Controls.

The code that you generate for the inline variant blocks can contain all the variant choices of a system. You can switch between the choices prior to code compile or at model startup as described in Activate Variant During Different Stages of Simulation and Code Generation Workflow. For information on generating code with inline variant blocks, see Variant Structures (Simulink Coder).

Blocks

Variant Source	Route among multiple inputs using variants
Variant Sink	Route amongst multiple outputs using variants
Variant Start	Define start of bounded region (Since R2024a)
Variant End	Define end of bounded region (Since R2024a)
Manual Variant Source	Switch between multiple variant choices at input
Manual Variant Sink	Switch between multiple variant choices at output

Classes

`Simulink.VariantControl`	Create a variant control variable object (Since R2021a)
`Simulink.Parameter`	Store, share, and configure parameter values
`Simulink.Variant`	Specify conditions that control variant selection
`Simulink.VariantUtils`	Utility methods to work with variant elements (Since R2023b)

Functions

enumeration Class enumeration members and names

Objects

struct Structure array

Topics

Automatically Select Variant Source and Destination Signals

Define and Configure Variant Sources and Sinks
Represent variant choices using Inline Variants.
Visualize Variant Implementations in a Single Layer
View the variant choices in a model containing Inline Variants.
Variant Control Modes in Variant Blocks
Learn how to control variant blocks.
Propagate Variant Conditions to Define Variant Regions with Variant Blocks
Determine active model components by propagating variant conditions using variant blocks.
Propagate Variant Conditions to Define Variant Regions Using Variant Source and Variant Sink Blocks
Propagate variant conditions from the Variant Source and Variant Sink blocks.
Propagate Variant Conditions to Control Execution of Conditional Subsystems
Understand how to use Variant Subsystem blocks with conditionally executed systems as variant choices.
Control Variant Condition Propagation using Variant Start and Variant End Blocks
Confine variations to a set of blocks and control their activation collectively using Variant Start and Variant End blocks.

Manually Specify Variant Source and Destination Signal

Provide Variation in Signal Source and Destination Using Manual Variant Source and Manual Variant Sink Blocks
This example shows how to use the inline variant blocks Manual Variant Source and Manual Variant Sink.

Troubleshooting

Transform Model to Variant System (Simulink Check)

Use the Model Transformer tool to transform a model into a variant system.

Featured Examples

Create a Simple Variant Model

Create a simple model with variant blocks.

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Approaches to Control Active Variant Choice of a Variant Block Using Mask or Model Workspace

Different approaches to control the active choice of inline variant and Variant Subsystem blocks from a mask or a model workspace. For more information on Variant blocks, see What Are Variants and When to Use Them.

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