Communication
Commands
10-1
IM 755601-01E
10
Chapter 10 Communication Commands
10.1 Before Programming
The communication commands used by this instrument are based on the IEEE488.2 Standard. However, SCPI
(Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) is not supported.
10.1.1
Messages
Messages
Messages are used to exchange information between
the controller and the instrument. Messages that are
sent from the controller to the instrument are called
program messages and messages that are sent back
from the instrument to the controller are called
response messages.
If a program message contains a message unit that
requests a response (a query), the instrument returns
a response message upon receiving the program
message. One response message is always returned
for one program message.
Program Messages
The program message format is shown below.
<PMT>
;
<Program message unit>
<Program message unit>
A program message consists of zero or more program
message units; each unit corresponds to one
command. The instrument executes the received
commands in order.
Each program message unit is separated by a
semicolon (;). For details regarding the format of the
program message unit, see the next section.
Example
Unit
Unit
:CHECk:MODE BEFore;LEVel 5<PMT>
<PMT>
PMT is a program message terminator. The following
three types of terminators are available.
NL (New Line): Same as LF (Line Feed). ASCII
code “0AH”
^END:
The END message as defined in the
IEEE488.1.
(The data byte that is sent with the
END message will be the last data of
the program message.)
NL^END:
NL with an END message attached.
(NL is not included in the program
message.)
Program message unit format
The program message unit format is shown below.
,
<Program header>
<Program data>
Space
<Program header>
The program header indicates the command type. For
details, see page 10-3.
<Program data>
If certain conditions are required in executing a
command, program data are added. A space (ASCII
code “20H”) separates the program data from the
header. If there are multiple sets of program data, they
are separated by commas (,). For details, see page
10-5.
Header
Data
:CHECk:MODE BEFore<PMT>