Using Maschine Studio in Sonar - MIDI Ins and Outs Question

I've been mulling over whether or not to post this question, because I'm concerned I might feel foolish when I learn the answer. Anyway, here goes:
 
It seems that the Maschine Studio's MIDI ins and outs are backwards in Sonar, or at least in my installation. In Sonar if I click on a MIDI track's input, I see a range of choices, one of which reads "Maschine Studio In." Shouldn't I be seeing a Maschine Studio output in this list?
 
And if I click on a MIDI track's output, I see a range of choices, including "Maschine Studio Out 1", "Maschine Studio Out 2", and "Maschine Studio Out 3". Shouldn't I be seeing the MS input here instead?
 
I know that many on this forum use Maschine. Have any of you experienced this issue?
 
Thank you.

It still doesn't make sense to me.
 
In all other cases where I want to send MIDI out from Sonar into a hardware device, I click on the selector arrow on a Sonar track's MIDI output, and then appears a list of choices. Since installing Maschine, when I click a Sonar MIDI track's output selector arrow I see among the choices Maschine Studio Outs 1, 2 & 3. IOW, I can choose from among 3 MIDI outputs from Sonar going into one of 3 MIDI inputs on MS.
 
But MS has only 1 MIDI input. It has 3 MIDI outputs. So I should be seeing 3 Maschine choices in Sonar's list of inputs from other devices, not in its list of outputs to other devices.
 
Call them ins, outs, or whatever, there should be 3 of them among Sonar's choice of MIDI inputs (corresponding to the 3 MIDI outs coming from MS), and 1 of them among Sonar's choice of MIDI outputs (corresponding to the 1 MIDI input coming from MS).
 
But it's just the opposite.
 
Intuitively I feel that I have to be wrong here. How could this be installed backwards? Yet it appears that it is backwards, and it just makes no sense.
 

Do you have 3 physical actual midi outputs on MS?

Is it not connected to your computer via USB?

If this is the case, you actually probably have 4 midi outs with one of them being an unnamed return via the USB cable so that Maschine can talk to your computer and write midi info.  The outs (which in this case should almost be called thrus) mean you choose which HW midi port the midi info already written to your tracks is being output thru.
Say you have three midi files, you send one out to a Tone genrator via HW Midi out 1, send something else out to a drum machine on HW out 2 and to another midi peripheral on Midi HW out 3.

If you play a pad on Maschine, it writes to Sonar via IN 1.  Not one of the outs.

I think you are confusing how Maschine "writes" midi info to Sonar with the hardware midi outs.  You don't plug one of the Maschine  hardware midi outs back into a midi interface to go to your computer do you?

After looking at it as well, the "Input" sonar is talking about is the HW input as well.  So, if you wanted to hook a keyboard or other midi device into Maschine to manipulate it, it would take and write midi from that physical port.  Midi In and OUT to and from the DAW is handled via usb in a parallel fashion with input and output 1.  Think of the names as referring to the actual HW ports.
 

Maybe it's time for me to RTFM.