Section 12: SCPI command reference
2470 High Voltage SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual
12-36
2470-901-01 Rev. A /
May
2019
:FORMat[:DATA]
This command selects the data format that is used when transferring readings over the remote interface.
Type
Affected by
Where saved
Default value
Command and query
Recall settings
Instrument reset
Power cycle
Save settings
ASC
Usage
:FORMat[:DATA] <type>
:FORMat[:DATA]?
<type>
The data format, which can be one of the following:
ASCII format:
ASCii
IEEE Std. 754 double-precision format:
REAL
IEEE Std. 754 single-precision format:
SREal
Details
This command affects the output of
READ?
,
FETCh?
,
MEASure:<function>?
, and
TRACe:DATA?
queries over a remote interface. All other queries are returned in the ASCII format.
The 2470 only responds to input commands using the ASCII format, regardless of the data format
that is selected for output strings.
The IEEE Std 754 binary formats use four bytes for single-precision values and eight bytes for
double-precision values.
When data is written with any of the binary formats, the response message starts with
#0
and ends
with a new line. When data is written with the ASCII format, elements are separated with a comma
and space.
If you set this to
REAL
or
SREAL
, you have fewer options for buffer elements with the
TRACe:DATA?
,
READ?
,
MEASURE:<function>?
, and
FETCh?
commands. The only buffer elements available are
READing
,
RELative
,
SOURce
, and
EXTRa
. If you request a buffer element that is not available, you
see the event code 1133, "Parameter 4, Syntax error, expected valid name parameter."
Example
FORM REAL
Set the format to double-precision format.
Also see
(on page 12-120)
