Agilent Technologies InfiniiVision 7000A Series, Programmer'S Manual

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46 Agilent InfiniiVision 7000A Series Oscilloscopes Programmer's Guide
3
Getting Started
Basic Oscilloscope Program Structure
The following figure shows the basic structure of every program you will
write for the oscilloscope.
Initializing
To ensure consistent, repeatable performance, you need to start the
program, controller, and oscilloscope in a known state. Without correct
initialization, your program may run correctly in one instance and not in
another. This might be due to changes made in configuration by previous
program runs or from the front panel of the oscilloscope.
• Program initialization defines and initializes variables, allocates
memory, or tests system configuration.
• Controller initialization ensures that the interface to the oscilloscope is
properly set up and ready for data transfer.
• Oscilloscope initialization sets the channel configuration, channel labels,
threshold voltages, trigger specification, trigger mode, timebase, and
acquisition type.
Capturing Data
Once you initialize the oscilloscope, you can begin capturing data for
analysis. Remember that while the oscilloscope is responding to commands
from the controller, it is not performing acquisitions. Also, when you
change the oscilloscope configuration, any data already captured will most
likely be rendered.