Specifications

8-3
SCPI Messages
Command Errors [-199, -100]
Command Errors [-199, -100]
An <error/event number> in the range [-199, -100] indicates that an IEEE 488.2 syntax
error has been detected by the instrument’s parser. The occurrence of any error in this
class should cause the command error bit (bit 5) in the event status register (IEEE 488.2,
section 11.5.1) to be set. One of the following events has occurred:
•AnIEEE 488.2 system error has been detected by the parser. That is, a controller-to-
device message was received which is in violation of the IEEE 488.2 standard.
Possible violations include a data element which violates the device listening formats
or whose type is unacceptable to the device.
• An unrecognized header was received. Unrecognized headers include incorrect device-
specific headers and incorrect or unimplemented IEEE 488.2 common commands.
• A Group Execute Trigger (GET) was entered into the input buffer inside of an IEEE
488.2 <PROGRAM MESSAGE>.
Events that generate command errors shall not generate execution errors, device-specific
errors, or query errors.
-100 Command error
This is the generic syntax error for devices that cannot detect more specific errors. This
code indicates only that a Command Error as defined in IEEE 488.2, 11.5.1.1.4 has
occurred.
-101 Invalid character
A syntactic element contains a character which is invalid for that type; for example, a
header containing an ampersand, SETUP&. This error might be used in place of errors
-114, -121, -141, and perhaps some others.
-102 Syntax error
An unrecognized command or data type was encountered; for example, a string was
received when the device does not accept strings.
-103 Invalid separator
The parser was expecting a separator and encountered an illegal character; for example,
the semicolon was omitted after a program message unit, *EMC 1:CH1:VOLTS 5.
-104 Data type error
The parser recognized a data element different than one allowed; for example, numeric or
string data was expected but block data was encountered.