Keysight Technologies 34450A Programmer's Reference Manual page 11

Command Separators
A colon ( : ) is used to separate a command keyword from a lower-level keyword. You must insert a blank
space to separate a parameter from a command keyword. If a command requires more than one
parameter, you must separate adjacent parameters using a comma as shown below:
CONF:VOLT:DC 10,3.0E-05
A semicolon ( ; ) is used to separate commands within the same subsystem, and can also minimize typing.
For example, sending the following command string:
CALCULATE:FUNC DB ; FUNC?
... is the same as sending the following two commands:
CALCULATE:FUNC DB
CALCULATE:FUNC?
Use a colon and a semicolon to link commands from different subsystems. For example, in the following
command string, an error is generated if you do not use both the colon and semicolon:
CONF:VOLT:DC;:INIT;:FETC?
Using the MIN, MAX, and DEF Parameters
For many commands, you can substitute "MIN" or "MAX" in place of a parameter. In some cases you may
also substitute "DEF". For example, consider the following command:
VOLTage:DC:RANGe {< range >|MIN|MAX|DEF}
Instead of selecting a specific value for the <range> parameter, you can substitute MIN to set the range to
its minimum value, MAX to set the range to its maximum value, or DEF to set the range to its default value.
Querying Parameter Settings
You can query the current value of most parameters by adding a question mark ( ? ) to the command. For
example, the following command sets the beeper to ON :
SYStem:BEEPer:STATe ON
You can then query the beeper state by sending:
SYStem:BEEPer:STATe?
SCPI Command Terminators
A command string sent to the instrument must terminate with a <new line> (<NL>) character. The IEEE-
488 EOI (End-Or-Identify) message is interpreted as a <NL> character and can be used to terminate a
command string in place of a <NL> character. A <carriage return> followed by a <NL> is also accepted.
Command string termination will always reset the current SCPI command path to the root level.
Keysight 34450A Programmer's Reference
1 34450A Remote Operation
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