Agilent Technologies E3631-90002, User Manual, Page: 97 / 166

Chapter 4 Remote Interface Reference
The SCPI Status Registers
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C a u t i o n The IEEE-488 standard does not ensure synchronization between your
bus controller program and the instrument. Use the
*OPC?
command to
guarantee that commands previously sent to the instrument have
completed. Executing a serial poll before a
*RST
,
*CLS
, or other
commands have completed can cause previous conditions to be reported.
Using *STB? to Read the Status Byte
The
*STB?
(Status Byte query) command is similar to a serial poll but it is
processed like any other instrument command. The
*STB?
command
returns the same result as a serial poll but the “request service” bit (bit 6) is
not cleared.
The
*STB?
command is not handled automatically by the IEEE-488 bus
interface hardware and will be executed only after previous commands have
completed. Polling is not possible using the
*STB?
command. Executing the
*STB?
command does not clear the Status Byte summary register.
Using the Message Available Bit (MAV)
You can use the Status Byte “message available” bit (bit 4) to determine
when data is available to read into your bus controller. The power supply
subsequently clears bit 4
only after all messages have been read from the
output buffer.
To Interrupt Your Bus Controller Using SRQ
1
Send a device clear message to clear the power supply's output buffer (e.g.,
CLEAR 705
).
2 Clear the event registers with the
*CLS
(clear status) command.
3
Set up the enable register masks. Execute the
*ESE
command to set up the
Standard Event register and the
*SRE
command for the Status Byte.
4 Send the
*OPC?
(operation complete query) command and enter the result
to ensure synchronization.
5
Enable your bus controller's IEEE-488 SRQ interrupt.