Dealing With Semicolon Separated Response Data Lists; Description - Agilent Technologies 8960 Series Reference Manual

Dealing With Semicolon Separated Response Data Lists

Dealing With Semicolon Separated Response Data Lists

Description

In accordance with IEEE 488.2-1992 Section 8.4.1 the test set uses the semicolon (;) as the response message
unit separator (RMUS). The RMUS separates sequential response message unit elements from one another
when multiple response message unit elements are sent in a response message. This condition would occur
when combining multiple queries into a single GPIB transaction.
Query Response Data Types Used By Test Set
The test set can return the following data types in response to queries:
• character data (char): ASCII characters A-Z (65-90 decimal), underscore (95 decimal), digits (48-57
decimal).
• string data: ASCII characters enclosed in quotes (for example, "5551212" or "PGSM")
• numeric response data (nr1): numeric data in the form +/- dddddddd
• numeric response data (nr3): numeric data in the form +/- ddd.ddd E +/- dddd
Semicolon Separated Response Data Lists Containing Mixed Data Types
Problems can occur when trying to enter semicolon separated response data lists containing mixed data types.
For example: If the following command string is sent to the test set, the test set will respond by constructing a
response message which contains multiple response message unit elements (that is, one response message
unit element for each query item contained in the command string). Some response message unit elements are
string data type, some are character data type and some are nr3 data type.
OUTPUT 714;"CALL:MS:REP:IMSI?;PCL?;REV?;SBAN?;ONUM?;MCC?;MNC?;LAC?"
An example response message generated by the test set in response to the above OUTPUT statement would
be:
"001012345678901";+4.00000000E+000;PHAS1;"PGSM";"5551212";9.91E37;9.91E37;9.91E37
Constructing the following data entry statement will account for multiple responses from the query:
ENTER 714;Imsi$,Pcl,Rev$,Sban$,Onum$,Mcc,Mnc,Lac
In the Basic programming environment the above ENTER statement will fail with an 'Insufficient data for
ENTER' error. Some programming languages, Basic for example, cannot use the semicolon character as a data
item terminator for string variables. In this example Basic will attempt to enter data into Imsi$ until it sees a
LF (line feed) data item terminator. The test set does not send the LF until all the data has been sent.
Consequently when Basic sees the LF it terminates entry of data into Imsi$ and starts to look for data to enter
into Pcl. Since the test set is no longer sending any data the error message 'Insufficient data for ENTER' is
generated.
One possible workaround is to enter all the data into a single string variable, replace all semicolons with line
feeds and then enter the data from the string into the individual data items. For example:
195
S:\Hp8960\E1963A WCDMA\4.0 release\Reference Guide\Chapters\wcdma_prog_gen_compound.fm