Keithley 2001 Operator's Manual page 191

4. Long-form and short-form versions: A SCPI command word can be sent in its long-form or short-
2001-900-01 Rev. K / August 2010
form version. The command subsystem tables in this section provide the commands in the long-form
version. However, the short-form version is indicated by upper case characters. Examples:
:SYSTem:PRESet
:SYST:PRES
:SYSTem:PRES
Note that each command word must be in long-form or short-form, and not something in
between. For example, :SYSTe:PRESe is illegal and will generate an error. The command
will not be executed.
There are no short-form versions for common commands.
Short-form rules: The following rules can be used to determine the short-form version of
any SCPI command:
A. If the length of the command word is four letters or less, there is no short-form version.
Examples:
:auto
:line
B. The following rules apply to command words that exceed four letters:
C. If the fourth letter of the command word is a vowel, delete it and all the letters after it. Ex-
amples:
:immediate
:timer
Rule exception – The short-form version of the following command uses only the first two
letters of the word:
:TCouple = :tc
D. If the fourth letter of the command word is a consonant, retain it but drop all the letters after
it. Examples:
:output
:asynchronous
E. If there is a question mark (?; query) or a non-optional number included in the command
word, it must be included in the short-form version. Examples:
:delay?
:layer2
F. As previously explained, command words or characters that are enclosed in brackets ([])
are optional and need not be included in the program message. Example:
:STATus:OPERation[:EVENt]?
The brackets ([]) indicate that :EVENt is optional. Thus, either of the following two com-
mand program messages are valid:
:STATus:OPERation:EVENt?=
Notice that when using the optional word or character, the brackets ([]) are not included in
the program message.
Long-form
Short-form
Long and short-form combination
=:auto
= :line
=:imm
= :tim
=:outp
= :asyn
=:del?
= :lay2
:STATus:OPERation?
IEEE-488 Reference
4-33