Specifications

Chapter 1 17
To Make Effective Use of This Manual
How To Use This Manual
1. To Make the Effective Use
of This Manual
How To Use This Manual
Chapters 3 to 11 provide task-based descriptions of GPIB commands that are useful for
programming and explain how you can utilize them. These chapters contain explanations
and sample program listings that you can use to develop your custom programs. For more
information on individual commands, see Chapter 16 “Command Reference.”
Looking up GPIB commands
Chapter 16, “Command Reference,” contains a complete reference of GPIB commands.
You can look up a particular GPIB command in any of the following ways:
Lookup by Abbreviated Command Name
The command reference is organized alphabetically according to the
abbreviated name used as the title of each command.
Lookup by Full Command Name
You can use the index at the end of the manual to find full command
names along with the page numbers where they appear.
Lookup by Command Function
Appendix C , “GPIB Command Table,” provides a complete list of
commands by function and indicates the page numbers where the
commands appear in the command reference.
NOTE Some GPIB commands supported by the 4287A have optional syntax elements. In the
command reference conventions, these elements are enclosed between square brackets ([ ])
or printed in lowercase letters. See “Syntax” on page 202 for more information.
Using sample programs
This manual comes with a sample program disk, which contains the source files of sample
programs used in the manual. The disk is DOS-formatted and the files are saved in the
ASCII format.
Loading a sample program
To load a sample program into the HP BASIC interpreter, use the GET command. For
example, you can load setup.bas, one of the sample programs, by the following procedure:
In the HP BASIC screen, type the following command and press the Return key.
GET "setup.bas"
Looking up a sample program
To look up the description of a sample program you are interested in, see “Sample
program” in the index.