String Variables - HP 1650B Programming Reference Manual

String Variables

HP 1650B/HP 1651B
Programming Reference
Since there are so many ways to code numbers, the HP 1650B/XB
handles almost all data as ASCII strings. Depending on your host
language, you may be able to use other types when reading in responses.
Sometimes it is helpful to use string variables in place of constants to send
instructions to the HP 1650B/51B. The example below combines variables
and constants in order to make it easier to switch from MACHINE1 to
MACHINE2 In BASIC, the & operator is used for string concatenation.
10 LET Machine$ = ":MACHINE2"
20 OUTPUT XXX;
30 !Assign all labels to be positive
40 OUTPUT XXX; Machine$ & ":SFORMAT:LABEL
50 OUTPUT XXX;
60 OUTPUT XXX;
99 END
If you want to observe the headers for queries, you must bring the
returned data into a string variable. Reading queries into string variables
requires little attention to formatting. For example:
ENTER XXX;Result$
places the output of the query in the string variable Result%
case sensitive and must be expressed exactly the same each time they are
used.
The output of the instrument may be numeric or character data
depending on what is queried. Refer to the specific commands for the
formats and types of data returned from queries.
'CHAN 2'. POS"
'OUT', POS"
Introduction to Programming an Instrument
1-15