Agilent Technologies 5000 Series Common Command Headers, Program Data Syntax Rules

534 Agilent InfiniiVision 5000 Series Oscilloscopes Programmer's Reference

8More About Oscilloscope Commands

For example, :CHANnel1:BWLimit ON

Common Command Headers

Common command headers control IEEE 488.2 functions within the

instrument (such as clear status). Their syntax is:

*<command header><terminator>

No space or separator is allowed between the asterisk (*) and the

command header. *CLS is an example of a common command header.

Program data is used to convey a parameter information related to the

command header. At least one space must separate the command header

or query header from the program data.

When a program mnemonic or query has multiple program data, a comma

separates sequential program data.

For example, :MEASure:DELay CHANnel1,CHANnel2 has two program data:

CHANnel1 and CHANnel2.

Two main types of program data are used in commands: character and

numeric.

Character

Program Data

Character program data is used to convey parameter information as alpha

or alphanumeric strings. For example, the :TIMebase:MODE command can

be set to normal, delayed, XY, or ROLL. The character program data in

this case may be MAIN, WINDow, XY, or ROLL. The command

:TIMebase:MODE WINDow sets the time base mode to delayed.

The available mnemonics for character program data are always included

with the commands's syntax definition.

When sending commands, you may either the long form or short form (if

one exists). Uppercase and lowercase letters may be mixed freely.

When receiving query responses, uppercase letters are used exclusively.

Numeric Program

Data

Some command headers require program data to be expressed numerically.

For example, :TIMebase:RANGe requires the desired full scale range to be

expressed numerically.

For numeric program data, you have the option of using exponential

notation or using suffix multipliers to indicate the numeric value. The

following numbers are all equal:

28 = 0.28E2 = 280e-1 = 28000m = 0.028K = 28e-3K.