dSPACE: ControlDesk

Legacy/internal identifier: CONTROLDESKNG

Vendor information

Vendor	Web page	Product name	Version
dSPACE	http://www.dspace.com	ControlDesk Next Generation	dSPACE Release 2019-A - 2025-A

Categories

MDL 🛈	APL 🛈	BAN 🛈	BMA 🛈	SVC 🛈	DGN 🛈	FIU 🛈	EES 🛈	FCT 🛈	DBG 🛈	IMG 🛈	AUDIO 🛈	ENVSIM 🛈	ENVCOM 🛈
✓	✓		✓	✓		✓	✓

Data sources

File format	Comment
*.sdf, *.trc	dSPACE variable description

Signal recordings 🛈

File format	Comment
*.mf4, *.mdf, *.mat, *.csv, *.idf	MDF4 (.mf4) is recommended for use in trace analysis. Created CSV and IDF files cannot be analyzed.

Platform

Operating system	Support
Windows	✓
Linux

Ports

• Port BUSACCESS - GENERIC 🛈
• Port BUSACCESS - GENERIC_MAPPINGFILE 🛈
• Port BUSACCESS - GENERIC_SOCKETADAPTOR 🛈
• Port BUSACCESS - BUS_MANAGER 🛈
• Port SERVICEACCESS - SERVICE_MANAGER 🛈
• Port MODELACCESS - DEFAULT 🛈
• Port MODELACCESS - NO_HILAPI 🛈
• Port ELECTRICERRORSIM - DEFAULT 🛈
• Port FAILURESIM - DEFAULT 🛈
• Port FAILURESIM - CANWAY 🛈
• Port FAILURESIM - CANWAY BUSMANAGER 🛈
• Port APPLICATION 🛈

Specifics

• By default ecu.test utilizes both the XIL api and the ControlDesk api.

• The port NO_HILAPI uses only the ControlDesk API. ControlDesk 32 bit can only be connected via the NO_HILAPI port.

• To control a dSPACE model only via the ASAM:XIL interface, the tool “dSPACE XIL API” must be added to the test bench configuration.

• The BUS ports can only be used if at least 1 model port is configured.

• By default, all enabled platforms of the experiment are connected. Please note that for older ControlDesk versions the enabled or disabled state may not be available. In that case, the tool property “Tolerate disabled platforms” can be set.

Configuration

To connect to an already opened ControlDesk, the ControlDesk experiment and ControlDesk project should remain at their default values. The ControlDesk model directory must be set to enable ecu.test to automatically search for fitting sdf files within the test configuration. All other settings are optional.

Properties 🛈

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
ControlDesk version		‘<auto>’	[‘25.1’, ‘24.2’, ‘24.1’, ‘23.2’, ‘23.1’, ‘22.2’, ‘7.6’, ‘7.5’, ‘7.4’, ‘7.3’, ‘7.2’, ‘7.1’, ‘7.0’, ‘6.4’, ‘6.3’, ‘6.2’, ‘6.1’, ‘6.0’, ‘5.6’, ‘5.5’, ‘5.4’, ‘5.3’, ‘<auto>’]	string	Product version of ControlDesk.
Tool state after loading experiment		‘offline’	[‘offline’, ‘online’, ‘measurement started’] Display values: ‘offline’: ‘Offline’ ‘online’: ‘Online’ ‘measurement started’: ‘Measurement started’	string	Leaves ControlDesk offline, starts Online Calibration or starts Measurement.
Recording format		‘MF4’	[‘MF4’, ‘MDF’, ‘MAT’, ‘CSV’, ‘IDF’]	string	File format for recording
Failure simulation directory		<n/a>		uri	Base path to search failure simulation description files. Optional. Only has to be set if a FIU or EES port is used.
Start simulation on all platforms		☐		bool	Start simulation on all platforms registered in the experiment
Disable duration triggers		☐		bool	All duration triggers of the measurement configuration will be deactivated.
Tolerate disabled platforms		☐		bool	If set, the ports will also start up when a platform is disabled. Otherwise, an exception is thrown on port start.
ControlDesk model directory				uri	Root directory for searching model files (*.sdf) and ControlDesk project files (*.cdp) on the tool host. Path can be absolute or relative to the tool host base path.
ControlDesk project file		Use prior deployed project.		uri	ControlDesk project file (*.cdp) to be loaded (relative to the model directory or absolute path) Placeholder “&lt;ModelFileDir&gt;” can be used to define the path relative to the selected model file.
ControlDesk Experiment		‘Use prior deployed experiment.’		string	Name of the ControlDesk experiment (without file extension) to be activated in the given ControlDesk project.
Exit tool		☐		bool	Closes ControlDesk when unloading the configuration
Timeout for tool call ❲in sec.❳		‘600’		string	Timeout after which a tool call is aborted.

Jobs 🛈

ActivateDCMFileAsWorkingPage

Uploads a DCM or CDFX file on the ControlDesk host and activates it as working page.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
DCMFile				string	Absolute path of the DCM or CDFX file to be loaded in ControlDesk as active WorkingPage.
Platform			[ONLINE]	string	Name of the platform. Sub-platforms are specified in the representation <master>:<sub>.

CallPyFunc

Execution of python functions in the ControlDesk`s Interpreter. Result is True, if the function could be called, otherwise False.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
arg0				int	Argument 0 of python function (optional)
arg1				int	Argument 1 of python function (optional)
arg2				int	Argument 2 of python function (optional)
arg3				int	Argument 3 of python function (optional)
arg4				int	Argument 4 of python function (optional)
arg5				int	Argument 5 of python function (optional)
arg6				int	Argument 6 of python function (optional)
FilePath				string	Absolute path of python file
FuncName				string	Python function name
RunInThread		False	[False, True]	bool	Optional - set to True for execution in a separate thread

ExecPyFile

Execution of a python script in the ControlDesk`s Interpreter. Result is True, if the script could be called, otherwise False.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
FilePath				uri	Absolute path of python file
RunInThread		False	[False, True]	bool	Optional - set to True for execution in a separate thread
WorkingDirectory				string	Optional - directory where the Python file shall be executed

FinishRecording

Transfers the recording and deletes it from the project directory if desired.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
DownloadFile		☑		bool	Determines whether the recording is copied from the project directory.
RecorderName				string	The recorders name in ControlDesk
RemoveFile		☐		bool	Defines if the recording should be deleted from the project directory.
TargetDir				string	Defines the destination of the transferred recording. Absolute path or empty to be stored in the report directory.

ImportDCMFile

Loads a DCM or CDFX file on the ControlDesk host and imports it as a new data set.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
BehaviorIfFileExists		‘error’	[‘nothing’, ‘replace’, ‘error’] Display values: ‘nothing’: ‘nothing’ ‘replace’: ‘replace’ ‘error’: ‘error’	string	If the file already exists as a data set in ControlDesk NG this job does either nothing, replaces the data set or throws an error.
DCMFile				string	Absolute path of the DCM or CDFX file that should be imported in ControlDesk.
DownloadOnCalibStart		☑		bool	If this property is set to “True”, the option “Download on Calibration Start” will be set for the imported data set.
Platform			[ONLINE]	string	Name of the platform. Sub-platforms are specified in the representation <master>:<sub>.
WriteToWorkingDataSet		☐		bool	If set “True” the method “WriteToWorkingDataSet” will be called for the imported File.

RemoveDataSet

Removes DataSet(s) from the current project.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
DataSetPattern				string	Filename of DataSet. (’*’ and ‘?’ can be used as wildcards) If expression matches multiple entries, all will be removed
Platform			[ONLINE]	string	Name of the platform. Sub-platforms are specified in the representation <master>:<sub>.
removeFromDisk		☑		bool	If this property is “True”, the file will also be deleted from the hard disk. Else it is only removed from the project.

StartBusNavigatorLogger

Starts a logger inside the BusNavigator.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
FileExtension		‘asc’	[‘asc’, ‘csv’, ‘pcapng’]	string	File extension for the resulting recording file. Needs to match with the type of logger, e.g. asc for CAN or pcapng for Ethernet.
LoggerName				string	Name of the logger
SystemName				string	Name of the system that contains the logger.

StartMeasurement

Starts the measurement

StartOnlineCalibration

Starts the online Calibration

StartRecorder

Starts the recording on the desired recorder.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
RecorderName				string	The recorders name in ControlDesk

StartSimulation

Starts the simulation running on the passed platform

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
PlatformName				string	Name of the platform according to the ControlDesk platform manager. “ALL” for all platforms registered in the experiment.

StopBusNavigatorLogger

Stops a logger inside the BusNavigator. Returns the path to the recorded file, or None if the logger wasn’t active.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
LoggerName				string	Name of the logger
SystemName				string	Name of the system that contains the logger.

StopMeasurement

Stops the measurement

StopOnlineCalibration

Stops the online Calibration

StopRecorder

Stops the recording of the desired recorder.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
RecorderName				string	The recorders name in ControlDesk

StopSimulation

Stops the simulation running on the passed platform.

Parameterization

Parameter

Name	Available if	Default value	Valid values	Type	Description
PlatformName				string	Name of the platform according to the ControlDesk platform manager. “ALL” for all platforms registered in the experiment.

2025-12-05