Expression Elements

Expression elements are probably the most common function element that you will use in your models.

The properties dialog for an Expression element looks like this:

The properties dialog for an Expression is very simple, and is almost identical to that of the Data element. Other than the ID and Description, there is only a single input field. Typically, you will enter a mathematical expression into this field. (You could, of course, just enter a number. In such a case, however, it would be clearer to someone viewing your model if you used a Data element for this).

Note that the input field for an Expression (the "Equation") is always expanded to several lines to better accommodate and display large equations.

Expression elements have a single output, which can be a value or a condition, and can be specified as a scalar, a vector or a matrix. You can specify these attributes by pressing the Type… button. By default, a new Expression element is a scalar, dimensionless value.

The browser view of an Expression element shows a single input (referred to as the Definition), and a single output:

Note: Element inputs and outputs are only shown in the browser if you choose to Show element subitems (accessed via the browser context menu by right-clicking in the browser).

An example model which uses Expression elements (Expression.gsm) can be found in the General Examples folder in your GoldSim directory (accessed by selecting File | Open Example... from the main menu).