Chapter 2

Programming the Status System

About this Chapter

This chapter discusses the structure of the status system used in SCPI instruments and explains how to program status registers. An important feature of SCPI instruments is that they all implement status registers in the same way. The status system is explained in the following sections:

•General Status Register Model

This section explains the way that status registers are structured in SCPI instruments. It also contains an example of how bits in the various registers change with different input conditions.

•Required Status Groups

This section describes the minimum required status registers present in SCPI instruments. These status registers cover the most frequently used functions.

General Status Register Model

The generalized status register model shown in Figure 2-1is the building block of the SCPI status system. This model consists of a condition register, transition filter, an event register, and an enable register. A set of these registers is called a status group.

When a status group is implemented in an instrument, it always contains all of the component registers. However, there is not always a corresponding command to read or write to every register.

Figure 2-1. Generalized Status Register Model

Chapter 2

Programming the Status System 7