Language Conventions; Command Termination; Multiple Commands; Parameters - Agilent Technologies 3458A User Manual

Introduction
Language
Conventions
Command
Termination
Note
Multiple
Commands

Parameters

Defaulting Parameters
1. GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) is Agilent Technology's implementation of IEEE Standard 488-1978
and ANSI MC1.1.
152 Chapter 6 Command Reference
The multimeter communicates with a system controller over the GPIB bus.
instrument connected to GPIB has a unique address. The examples used in this
manual are intended for Hewlett-Packard Series 200 or 300 Computers using
BASlC language. They assume an GPIB interface select code of 7 and a device
address of 22 (factory address setting) resulting in a combined GPIB address of
722. We recommend you retain this address to simplify programming.
The carriage return (cr), line feed (lf), semicolon ( ; ), or EOI sent concurrent with
the last character indicate the end of message (command terminator) to the
multimeter. When you send a command from the system controller in the standard
format (e.g., OUTPUT 722;"TEST"), the controller typically adds a cr lf to the
end of the command. With its input buffer off (off is the power-on input buffer
mode), the multimeter processes the cr immediately, but does not process the lf
until the command completes execution. This means that, because of the lf, the
bus is held and you cannot regain use of the controller until the multimeter is done
executing the command (or the GPIB CLEAR command is executed which aborts
execution of the command). You can prevent. the bus from being held by
suppressing the cr lf when sending commands or by enabling the input buffer
(INBUF ON command). The following program line shows how to use the # and
K image specifiers to suppress cr lf when sending a multimeter command.
#
OUTPUT 722 USING " ,K";"TEST;"
The # and K image specifiers apply to HP Series 200/300 computers. Refer to
your computer's operating manual for information on how your computer
suppresses cr lf. The semicolon following the TEST command indicates the
end of the command to the multimeter and must be present when you suppress
cr lf.
Multiple commands, separated by semicolons, may be sent in one command
string. For example, the following command string contains 3 multimeter
commands. .
OUTPUT 722; "TRIG HOLD;DCV 3;NPLC 10"
Numbers specified as command parameters can be either integer, floating-point,
or exponential in format. Parameters in floating-point format are rounded to the
nearest integer if the command requires an integer. For example, "SUB 2.49" is
rounded down to "SUB 2" and "SUB 2.5" is rounded up to "SUB 3".
You can default a parameter by omitting it or replacing it with -1 (minus 1). For
example, to specify 10 for the first parameter and default the second parameter
send:
OUTPUT 722;"ACV 10"
1
Each