Tektronix FCA3000 Series, Programmer'S Manual

Page: 22 / 191

Command Syntax
Block Several instrument commands use a block argument form, as de fi ned in the
following table:
Table 2-4: Block argument
Symbol Meaning
<NZDig> A nonzero digit character in the range of 1-9
<Dig>
A digit character, in the range of 0-9
<DChar> A character with the hexadecimal equivalent of 00 through FF (0
through 255 decimal)
<Block> A block of data bytes de fi ned as: <Block>::=
{#<NZDig><Dig>[<Dig>...][<DChar>...] |#0[<DChar>...]<terminator>}
<NZDig> speci fi es the number of <Dig> elements that follow. Taken together,
the <NZDig> and <Dig> elements form a decimal integer that speci fi es how
many <DChar> elements follow.
Macros
A macro is a single command, that represents one or several other commands,
depending on your de
fi nition. You can de fi ne 25 macros of 40 characters in the
instrument. One macro can address other macros, but you cannot call a macro
from within itself (recursion). You can use variable parameters that modify the
macro.
Use macros to do the following:
Provide a shorthand for complex commands.
Cut down on bus traf fi c.
Macro Names You can use both commands and queries as macro labels. The label cannot be
the same as common commands or queries. If a macro label is the same as an
instrument command, the instrument will execute the macro when macros are
enabled ( *EMC 1), and it will execute the instrument command when macros
are disabled (*EMC 0).
Data Types Within Macros The commands to be performed by the macro can be sent both as block and string
data.
String data is the easiest to use since you don’t have to count the number of
characters in the macro. However, there are some things you must keep in mind:
Both double quote (“) and single quote (‘) can be used to identify the string data.
If you use a controller language that uses double quotation marks to de
fi ne strings
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