def _createDataElementVariable(self, component, port, data_element):
      data_element_map = self.partition.data_element_map
      variable_name = '_'.join([component.name, port.name, data_element.name])
      if variable_name not in data_element_map:
         data_element.symbol = variable_name
         data_element_map[variable_name] = data_element
      return variable_name