Format Subsystem - Anritsu LMR Master S412E Programming Manual

Spectrum Analyzer Commands
4-6

:FORMat Subsystem

This subsystem contains commands that determine the formatting of numeric data when it is
transferred.
The format setting affects data in specific commands only. If a command is affected, it is
noted in the command description.
:FORMat[:READings][:DATA] ASCii|INTeger,32|REAL,[<length>]
:FORMat[:READings][:DATA]?
Title: Numeric Data Format
Description: This command specifies the format in which data is returned in certain
Parameter: ASCii|INTeger,32|REAL,[<length>]
Parameter Type: <char>
Default Value: ASCii
Related Command: :TRACe[:DATA]
S412E PM
commands. The optional <length> parameter is needed for REAL
format only. It defines the length of the floating point number in bits.
Valid values are 32 and 64. If no length is specified, the default length of
REAL data is set to 64 bits.
ASCii format returns the data in comma-separated ASCII format. The
units are the current instrument units. This format requires many more
bytes so it is the slowest format. INTeger, 32 values are signed 32-bit
integers in little-endian byte order. This format returns the data in
4-byte blocks. The units are always mdBm. For example, if the
measured result was -12.345 dBm, that value would be sent as -12345.
REAL,32 values are 32-bit floating point numbers conforming to the
IEEE 754 standard in little-endian byte order. This format returns the
data in 4-byte binary format. The units are the current instrument
units. REAL,64 values are 64-bit floating point numbers conforming to
the IEEE 754 standard in little-endian byte order. This format returns
the data in 8-byte binary format. The units are the current instrument
units. For a more precise reading, REAL,64 should be used instead of
REAL,32 when the current instrument unit is set to Volt or Watt.
Both INTeger and REAL formats return a definite block length. Each
transfer begins with an ASCII header such as #42204 for INTeger,32
and REAL,32 and #44408 for REAL,64. The first digit represents the
number of following digits in the header (in this example, 4). The
remainder of the header indicates the number of bytes that follow the
header (in this example, 2204 for INT,32 and REAL,32 and 4408 for
REAL,64). You then divide the number of following bytes by the number
of bytes in the data format you've chosen (4 for both INTeger,32 and
REAL,32, and 8 for REAL,64) to get the number of data points (in this
example, 551).
PN: 10580-00319 Rev. N
4-6 :FORMat Subsystem
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