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Sending SCPI command messages
Types and structure of commands
The SCPI commands available for the E4981A are classified into two groups as follows.
E4981A commands
Commands specific to the E4981A. They cover all measurement functions that the
E4981A has and some general-purpose functions. The commands in this group are
arranged in a hierarchical structure called the command tree (see
E4981A SCPI command tree." on page
(mnemonics) indicating each hierarchical level and colon (:) separators between
hierarchical levels.
IEEE common commands
Commands to cover general-purpose functions defined in IEEE488.2 that are commonly
available to instruments that support this standard. The commands in this group have an
asterisk (*) at the beginning. There is no hierarchical structure for the commands in this
group.
Concepts of the command tree
The commands at the top of the command tree are called "root commands" or simply
"roots." To access lower-level commands in the tree, you need to specify a specific path
like a directory path in the DOS file system. After turning the power on or resetting your
PC, the current path is set to the root. Special characters in messages change the path
setting as described below.
Message terminator A message terminator such as the
<new line> character sets the current path to the root.
Colon (:)
A colon between two command mnemonics lowers the level of the
current path in the command tree. A colon used as the first character of
a command specifies the command mnemonic that follows as the
root-level command.
Semicolon (;)
A semicolon does not change the current path but separates two
commands in the same message.
Figure 2-13
shows an example of how to use colons and semicolons to efficiently access
commands in the command tree.
Chapter 2
Overview of Remote Control
Sending SCPI command messages
"Table 10-3 shows the
324). Each command consists of character strings
39
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