Computer Interfacing; General Guidelines; Computer Interface Terminology; Delimiting Punctuation - Newport 6100 User Manual

5

Computer Interfacing

5.1

General Guidelines

The Model 6100 Laser Diode and Temperature Controller has a USB
interface to receive commands from, and send responses to, a host PC. The
commands supported by the instrument can be divided into the following two
categories: commands that cause it to take a desired action, and commands
(queries) that cause it to return a stored value.
Query commands must end with a question mark (?). It is recommended that
when a query command is sent, the response to that command from the
instrument be read before issuing any other command.
Set commands, on the other hand, are used to configure/setup the instrument
for a desired mode of operation. These commands take at least one
parameter. The subsequent sections in this chapter detail the communication
protocols supported by the instrument.
5.2

Computer Interface Terminology

Listed below are the key abbreviations and concepts used in the command
reference section of this manual.
5.2.1 <...> Delimiting Punctuation
For the purposes of this manual, any string enclosed by <...> is considered to
be a command, a string or numerical argument. The punctuation <...> is
used to symbolize the typographic limits of the command, string or argument
in question.
5.2.2 <CR> Carriage Return
The ASCII encoded byte 13 in decimal. (0D hex)
5.2.3 <LF> Line Feed
The ASCII encoded byte 10 in decimal. (0A hex)
5.2.4

(;) Semicolons

Semicolons are used to separate commands within a single transmission
(concatenation).