User manual

Series 3700 System Switch/Multimeter Reference Manual Section 2: TSP Programming Fundamentals
3700S-901-01 Rev. C / July 2008 2-7
Script defined
The Series 3700 utilizes a Test Script Processor (TSP) to process and run
individual chunks or scripts. A script is a collection of instrument control
commands and programming statements. The TSP test script example (on page
2-7) shows an example of how to create and load a script. When this script
(named "test") is run, the message "This is a test" will be displayed on the Series
3700 and sent to the computer.
As shown, a script consists of a chunk of programming code framed by shell
commands. The first shell command in the TSP script example loads the script
named "test." The last shell command marks the end of the script. The chunk in
the TSP script example consists of three lines of code. When the chunk is
executed, the test messages are sent and displayed. The following command
executes the chunk test().
NOTE It is common practice to say that a script is run. In actuality, it is the
chunk in the script that is being run (executed).
Figure 2-1: TSP test script example
A script is loaded into the Series 3700, where it can be run. Running a script
using this method is faster than running a test program from the control
computer because it eliminates the piecemeal transmission process from the
control computer.
A user script is created using your own program or the Test Script Builder
Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which is a supplied software tool
(see Using Test Script Builder (TSB) (on page 2-13)). The user script is loaded
into the Series 3700 and can be saved in nonvolatile memory. These are the
scripts referenced as a "user script" throughout the manual.