Visa Libraries; Messages - R&S SMB100A Operating Manual

®
R&S SMB100A
SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments)
SCPI commands - messages - are used for remote control. Commands that are not
taken from the SCPI standard follow the SCPI syntax rules. The instrument supports
the SCPI version 1999. The SCPI standard is based on standard IEEE 488.2 and aims
at the standardization of device-specific commands, error handling and the status reg-
isters. The tutorial "Automatic Measurement Control - A tutorial on SCPI and IEEE
488.2" from John M. Pieper (R&S order number 0002.3536.00) offers detailed informa-
tion on concepts and definitions of SCPI.
Tables provide a fast overview of the bit assignment in the status registers. The tables
are supplemented by a comprehensive description of the status registers.

6.1.1 VISA Libraries

VISA is a standardized software interface library providing input and output functions to
communicate with instruments. Thus, you can configure the interface and must not
adjust the application program to the used interface. The I/O channel (LAN or TCP/IP,
USB, GPIB,...) is selected at initialization time with the channel-specific address string
("VISA resource string"), or by a defined VISA alias (short name). See also
ter 6.1, "Remote Control Interfaces and
Instrument access via VXI-11 or HiSLIP protocols is achieved from high level program-
ming platforms using VISA as an intermediate abstraction layer. VISA encapsulates
the low-level VXI or GPIB function calls and thus makes the transport interface trans-
parent for the user.
A VISA installation is a prerequisite for remote control using the following interfaces:
●
LAN Interface using
●
LAN interface using
●
Chapter 6.1.4, "USB
●
Chapter 6.1.6, "GPIB Interface (IEC/IEEE Bus
●
Chapter 6.1.5, "Serial
Instrument access via the LAN socket protocol or GPIB connections can be operated
both, with or without the VISA library.
See also
"GPIB Interface (IEC/IEEE Bus
For more information about VISA, refer to the user documentation.

6.1.2 Messages

The messages transferred on the data lines are divided into the following categories:
●
Interface messages
Interface messages are transmitted to the instrument on the data lines, with the
attention line being active (LOW). They are used to communicate between the con-
troller and the instrument. Interface messages can only be sent by instruments that
have GPIB bus functionality. For details see the sections for the required interface.
Operating Manual 1407.0806.32 ─ 21
Chapter 6.1.3, "LAN
Chapter 6.1.3.2, "VXI-11
Interface",
Interface",
Chapter 6.1.3.3, "Socket
Interface)",
Remote Control Interfaces and Protocols
Protocols", on page 235 for an overview.
Interface", on page 237
Protocol",
on page 240
Interface)",
on page 241
Communication", on page 239 and
on page 241.
Remote Control Basics
Chap-
on page 239
on page 241
Chapter 6.1.6,
236