Instruction manual

USING WHITESPACE

You must use Whitespace characters, [tab], or [space] to separate a param-

eter from a command keyword. Whitespace characters are generally ignored only in

parameter lists.

USING “?” COMMANDS

The BUS controller may send commands at any time, but an SCPI instrument

may only send responses when specifically instructed to do so. Only QUERY com

mands (commands that end with a “?”) will instruct the instrument to send a response

message. Queries return either measured values or internal instrument settings or

some ERROR messages.

CAUTION

IF YOU SEND MORE THAN ONE QUERY COMMAND WITHOUT READING

THE RESPONSE FROM THE EARLIER ONES, AND THEN ATTEMPT TO READ

THE RESPONSE FROM THE LAST QUERY, YOU MAY OR MAY NOT RECEIVE

SOME DATA FROM THE EARLIER RESPONSES. BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE

COMPLETRESPONSE FOR THE LAST QUERY. TO AVOID THIS DO NOT SEND A

NEXTQUERY COMMAND BEFORE READING THE RESPONSE FROM THE FIRST

ONE.

USING “*” COMMANDS

Commands starting with a “*” are called Common Commands (Mandatory

commands for IEEE-488.2). They are required to perform the identical function for all

instruments that are compliant with the IEEE-488.2 Interface Standard. The “*”

Commands are used to control reset, Self-Test and status operation and reporting in

the present instrument.

6.5.1 SCPI Data Types

The SCPI language defines the different data formats for use in program

messages and response messages. Instrument is flexible listeners and can accept

commands and parameters in various formats. However, SCPI instruments are

PRECISE talkers. This means that the SCPI instruments will always respond to a

particular query in a predefined, rigid format.

NUMERIC PARAMETERS:

Commands that require numeric parameters will accept all commonly used

decimal representations of numbers including optional signs, decimal points and

scientificnotation. Special values for numeric parameters like MAXimum, MINimum

and DEFault are also accepted. You can also send engineering unit suffixes (M, k, or

u) with numeric parameters. If only specific numeric values are accepted, the

instrument will automatically round the input numeric parameters.