4-3
IM 701730-17E
Before Programming
4
When Concatenating Commands
Command Group
A command group is a group of commands which have
the same compound header. A command group may
contain sub-groups.
Example Commands relating to acquisition settings
:ACQuire:AVERage:COUNt
:ACQuire:MODE
:ACQuire:AVERage:EWEight
:ACQuire:REPetitive
:ACQuire:CLOCK
:ACQuire:RLENgth
:ACQuire:COUNt
When Concatenating Commands of the Same
Group
This instrument stores the hierarchical level of the
command which is currently being executed, and
performs analysis on the assumption that the next
command to be sent will also belong to the same level.
Therefore, it is possible to omit the header if the
commands belong to the same group.
Example
:ACQuire:MODE NORMal;
COUNt 1<PMT>
When Concatenating Commands of Different
Groups
A colon (
:
) must be included before the header of a
command, if the command does not belong to the
same group as the preceding command. It is
impossible to omit a colon (
:
).
Example
:ACQuire:MODE NORMal;:DISPlay:
FORMat SINGle<PMT>
When Concatenating Simple Headers
When you type in a simple header after another
command, you must include a colon (
:
) before the
simple header. It is impossible to omit a colon (
:
).
Example
:ACQuire:MODE NORMal;:STARt<PMT>
When Concatenating Common Commands
Common commands defined in IEEE 488.2-1987 are
independent of hierarchical level. Thus, it is not
necessary to add a colon (
:
) before a common
command.
Example
:ACQuire:MODE NORMal;*CLS;
COUNt 1<PMT>
4.2
Commands
There are three types of command (program header)
which can be sent from the controller to this
instrument. They differ in the format of their program
headers.
They are
• Common command header
• Compound header
• Simple header
Common Command Header
Commands defined in IEEE 488.2-1987 are called
common commands. The header format of a common
command is shown below. An asterisk (
*
) must
always be attached to the beginning of a command.
*
<Mnemonic>
?
An example of a common command
*CLS
Compound Header
Commands designed to be used only with this
instrument are classified and arranged in a hierarchy
according to their function. The format of a compound
header is illustrated below. A colon (
:
) must be used
when specifying a lower-level header.
:
<Mnemonic>
?
:
An example of a compound header
:ACQuire:MODE
Simple Header
These commands (headers) are functionally
independent of each other and are not arranged
hierarchically. The format of a simple header is shown
below.
<Mnemonic>
?
:
An example of a simple header
:STARt
Note
A mnemonic is a character string made up of alphanumeric
characters.
4.2 Commands
