Agilent Technologies L4400 Command Separators, Using the MIN and MAX Parameters, Linking Commands

3Operating and Programming

Command Separators

A colon ( : ) is used to separate a command keyword from a lower- level key- word. A blank space separates the keyword from the first parameter. If a command has more than one parameter, the subsequent parameters are sep- arated by commas as shown below:

ROUT:CHAN:DRIV:PULS:WIDTh 0.010, (@1201,1202)

Linking Commands

A semicolon ( ; ) is used to separate IEEE- 448.2 common commands and commands at the same “node” within the same subsystem. For example:

*RST; *CLS; *IDN?;

Also, sending the following command string:

COUN:GAT:POL NORM(@1301);SOUR EXT, (@1301)

is the same as sending the following two commands:

[SENSe:]COUNter:GATe:POLarity NORM(@1301)

[SENSe:]COUNter:GATe:SOURce EXT, (@1301)

This can occur since “POLarity” and “SOURce” are at the same node within the [SENSe:]COUNter:GATe command.

A colon and a semicolon are used to link commands from different sub- systems as shown below:

INP:IMP AUTO;:ROUT:CHAN:DEL 1

Using the MIN and MAX Parameters

For many commands, "MIN" or "MAX" can be used in place of a discrete parameter value. For example:

ROUT:CHAN:DRIV:PULS:WIDTh MIN, (@1201,1202)

sets the MINimum pulse width (0.001) available for the command.

Querying Parameter Settings

Many SCPI commands have a complimentary command that allows you to query the current value of the parameters. These commands are indicated by a ‘?’ in the command syntax. For example:

ROUT:CHAN:DRIV:PULS:WIDTh? (@1201)

queries the pulse with setting for channel 1201.

54 L4400 User’s Guide