Agilent Technologies 86100A, Programmer'S Manual, Page: 50 / 366

1-46
Introduction
Error Messages
Error Numbers
The error numbers are grouped according to the type of error that is detected.
• +0 indicates no errors were detected.
• –100 to –199 indicates a command error was detected.
• –200 to –299 indicates an execution error was detected.
• –300 to –399 indicates a device-specific error was detected.
• –400 to –499 indicates a query error was detected.
• +1 to +32767 indicates an instrument-specific error has been detected.
Refer to the Agilent 86100A/B/C online Help for instrument specific errors.
Command Error
An error number in the range –100 to –199 indicates that an IEEE 488.2 syntax error has
been detected by the instrument's parser. The occurrence of any error in this class sets the
command error bit (bit 5) in the event status register and indicates that one of the following
events occurred:
• An IEEE 488.2 syntax error was detected by the parser. That is, a controller-to-instrument
message was received that is in violation of the IEEE 488.2 standard. This may be a data ele-
ment that violates the instrument's listening formats, or a data type that is unacceptable to the
instrument.
• An unrecognized header was received. Unrecognized headers include incorrect instrument-
specific headers and incorrect or unimplemented IEEE 488.2 common commands.
• A Group Execute Trigger (GET) was entered into the input buffer inside of an IEEE 488.2 pro-
gram message.
Events that generate command errors do not generate execution errors, instrument-specific
errors, or query errors.
Execution Error An error number in the range –200 to –299 indicates that an error was detected by the instru-
ment's execution control block. The occurrence of any error in this class causes the execu-
tion error bit (bit 4) in the event status register to be set. It also indicates that one of the
following events occurred:
• The program data following a header is outside the legal input range or is inconsistent with the
instrument's capabilities.
• A valid program message could not be properly executed due to some instrument condition.
Execution errors are reported by the instrument after expressions are evaluated and round-
ing operations are completed. For example, rounding a numeric data element will not be
reported as an execution error. Events that generate execution errors do not generate com-
mand errors, instrument specific errors, or query errors.
Device- or
Instrument-
Specific Error
An error number in the range of –300 to –399 or +1 to +32767 indicates that the instrument
has detected an error caused by an instrument operation that did not properly complete. This
may be due to an abnormal hardware or firmware condition. For example, this error may be
generated by a self-test response error, or a full error queue. The occurrence of any error in
this class causes the instrument-specific error bit (bit 3) in the event status register to be set.