Specifications

Chapter 2 29
Outline of Remote Control
Outline of GPIB remote control system
2. Outline of Remote Control
Sending GPIB command messages
Learning about GPIB commands
To find information on a particular GPIB command, refer to the following sections in this
book.
• The procedures used to write basic programs for the E4991A are explained from
Chapter 2 to Chapter 11. Program examples using HTBasic are also given.
• Appendix C, “GPIB Command List By Function,” on page 569 provides a convenient
list of GPIB commands according to the measurement or general-purpose functions
they perform.
• “List of Functions by Menu” in the Operation Manual shows the correspondence of
GPIB Commands to the front panel operation of the E4991A.
• Chapter 16, “Application Programs,” on page 253 shows E4991A application
examples produced by using HTBasic.
• Chapter 17, “GPIB Command Reference,” on page 275 lists all of the GPIB commands
used with the E4991A in alphabetical order.
Type and structure of commands
The GPIB commands that can be used with the E4991A are classified into the following
two groups.
E4991A commands
These commands are unique to the E4991A. They cover all of the instrument’s
measurement functions and some of its general-purpose functions. The commands in this
group have a hierarchical structure called a command tree. Each command is structured by
a character string (mnemonic) to indicate the hierarchy and uses a colon (:) as a divisional
marker between hierarchical levels.
IEEE common commands
These are the commands used to cover the general purpose functions defined by
IEEE488.2. These can be commonly used by measurement equipment that support this
standard. The commands in this group always start with an asterisk (*). The commands in
this group do not have a hierarchical structure.