Event Categories - Keysight X-Series Manual

Overview of Instrument Messaging System
Event and Condition Categories

Event Categories

Errors An Event Error occurs when a requested operation is rejected. Generally this means no change is
made to the instrument settings. Examples are "Undefined header" or "Peak not found." Event
Errors also occur when an operation is accepted, but fails to complete successfully; for example
"Disc full" when attempting to store data.
Error messages are often generated during remote operation when an invalid programming
command has been entered.
In some cases, front panel activity generates an Advisory and not an Error event, even though the
equivalent SCPI activity generates an Error Event. Typically this is when a function is grayed out; a
benign advisory appears on the front panel, because nothing happened, but SCPI must treat it as an
error because something that was requested was not delivered.
Event Errors have an associated number, and are sent to both the front panel queue and the SCPI
queue for the interface that stimulated the Event.
Warnings Event Warnings advise you about a potentially unexpected condition that may influence the results
of the measurement, for example, if a value is clipped to a different value than that requested.
Another example would be the case where you requested too high a stop frequency, which causes
"Data out of range" to be displayed, and the instrument to set itself to the highest available stop
frequency.
Event Warnings have an associated number, and are sent to both the front panel queue and the
SCPI queue for the interface that stimulated the event.
Advisories Event Advisories simply provide some useful information. (For example, "File saved successfully" or
"Measuring the fundamental".)
Event Advisories do not have an associated number, and are not reported to SCPI or logged in error
queues.
Grayout messages are a special type of Advisory, which appear when you attempt to access a
function that is not available. This could be a grayed out front panel key, or an inappropriate SCPI
command. There are two types of grayout messages: Benign and Forced.
1. Benign: the requested function is not available because it does not make sense with the
2. Forced: the requested function is not available either because changing it would cause an
Instrument Messages
current instrument settings. Changing it does not affect the current measurement. (For
example, setting the number of FFTs/Span when you are not in the FFT mode.)
A benign grayout gives an Advisory type of message only when the front panel key is pressed.
The requested function cannot be changed from the front panel, but it can be changed
remotely.
invalid measurement, or because of hardware limitations, or because the selection conflicts
with other settings. (For example, selecting the electrical attenuator when the frequency span
includes frequencies above 3.6 GHz.)
A forced grayout function cannot be changed either from the front panel or remotely. It
generates a special type of Advisory message. It also only appears on the front panel when
the key is pressed. Remotely, the message will appear in the event queue as a warning "-221,
Settings conflict; <conflict description>".
27