Copy SimBiology Blocks

When building models in the Diagram tab of the SimBiology Model Builder app, you can copy and paste blocks using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V. You can also use the context (right-click) menu. The Copy Options from the context menu lets you decide whether to copy the connected states (or quantities) when copying a reaction, rule, event, or observable. The default copy options are set to false, which means that the app does not create copies of the connected states. You can also access the copy options from Preferences > Model Building > Copy Options.

You can specify the paste location by clicking anywhere in the diagram or by right-clicking the mouse to open a context menu. The app uses the last click location to place the new block. Using Ctrl + V increases the compartment size if there is not enough space for what you are pasting.

Note

On macOS, use the command key instead of Ctrl.

Compartment Blocks

If you select a compartment and copy it, the app copies the compartment block and any blocks that are inside the compartment, even if they are not visible or selected explicitly. The app does not copy any blocks that lie outside the compartment, even if they are connected to the blocks within it.

When you copy and paste compartments using keyboard shortcuts (such as using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V in succession), the pasted compartment is a sibling, instead of a child, of the copied compartment. If you click somewhere else in the Browser or Diagram and then paste (using the context menu or Ctrl+V), the clicked location becomes the paste location for the compartment.

Species Blocks

If you copy a species block that is dosed, the associated dose is not copied. You can add a dose to the copied species manually in the Doses tab.

Reaction Blocks

If you select a reaction block, the app copies the reaction block, the reaction string, and the reaction rate. The app does not create copies of the associated species and reaction rate parameters of the reaction.

You can change the default behavior as follows. Right-click the block. Select Copy Options > Model Building. In the Copy Options section, set When copying a reaction copy all of its states to true.

Parameter Blocks

You can copy a parameter block. However, the block shows up in the diagram only if the parameter is the left-hand-side of a repeated assignment rule, rate rule, or event function. For reaction rate parameters, see Reaction Blocks.

Rule Blocks

Only repeated assignment and rate rules show up in the diagram as blocks.

If you copy a rule block, the app uses the original rule string for the copied block. In other words, the copied rule block has the connections to the same blocks as the original rule block. The app does not create copies of the associated model components.

You can change the default behavior as follows. Right-click the block. Select Copy Options > Model Building. In the Copy Options section, set When copying a rule copy all of its states to true.

Note

In the Browser tables, you can copy any model component, including the ones that do not show up as blocks in the Diagram tab.