Tektronix DSA8300, Programmer'S Manual

Page: 17 / 455

Command Syntax
You can control the operations and functions of the instrument through the
GPIB interface using commands and queries. The related topics listed below
describe the syntax of these commands and queries. The topics also describe the
conventions that the instrument uses to process them. See the Command Groups
topic in the table of contents for a listing of the commands by command group, or
use the index to locate a speci
fi c command.
Backus-Naur Form
Notation
This documentation describes the commands and queries using Backus-Naur
Form (BNF) notation. Refer to the following table for the symbols that are used.
Table 2-1: Symbols for Backus-Naur Form
Symbol Meaning
< >
De fi ned element
::=
Is de fi ned as
| Exclusive OR
{ } Group; one element is required
[ ] Optional; can be omitted
. . .
Previous element(s) may be repeated
( ) Comment
Command and Query Structure
Commands consist of set commands and query commands (usually called
commands and queries). Commands modify instrument settings or tell the
instrument to perform a speci
fi c action. Queries cause the instrument to return
data and status information.
Most commands have both a set form and a query form. The query form of the
command differs from the set form by its question mark on the end. For example,
the set command
ACQuire:MODe
has a query form
ACQuire:MODe?
. Not all
commands have both a set and a query form. Some commands have set only and
some have query only.
Messages
A command message is a command or query name followed by any information
the instrument needs to execute the command or query. Command messages may
contain
fi ve element types, de fi ned in the following table.
DSA8300 Programmer Manual 2-1