Technical data

134 Agilent Connectivity Guide

6 Programming Your Instruments

Programming Overview

This section provides an overview of programming instruments via

LAN, USB, and GPIB interfaces. Sample programs are included to

demonstrate generating a simple sine wave on an Agilent 33220A

20 MHz Function/Arbitrary Waveform Generator using Standard

Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI).

The sample programs are written in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Visual

C++, and C# using Agilent VISA COM and VISA I/O.

NOTE

The programs in this guide are protected by copyright.

You have a royalty-free right to use, modify, reproduce and distribute

the programs listed in this guide (and/or any modified version) in any

way you find useful, provided that you agree that Agilent has no

warranty, obligations, or liability for any program content.

Agilent Technologies provides programming examples for illustration

only. All example programs assume you are familiar with the

programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create

and debug procedures. Agilent support engineers can help explain the

functionality of Agilent software components and associated

commands, but they will not modify these samples to provide added

functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs.

NOTE

If you plan to program your instruments using the Agilent 488 API, or

to run NI-488.2–compatible programs with Agilent interface hardware

(such as GPIB cards), you may need to explicitly enable the Agilent 488

library. To do this in Agilent Connection Expert click Tools > Agilent

488... and select the check box labeled Enable Agilent GPIB cards for

488 programs.