9 - Remote Operation
38
QPX750 Instruction Manual
9.8
SCPI Commands
9.8.1
SCPI Overview
This instrument uses SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) commands for
remote control. The commands are based on SCPI Version 1999 and follow the syntax and rules
including commands that are not taken from the SCPI standard. These commands are separated into
two groups: common and subsystem.
Common commands are defined by the IEEE 488.2 standard to perform common instrument functions
such as querying the status or resetting to default parameters.
Subsystem commands perform instrument specific functions and allow all operating parameters to be
configured and queried. They are arranged in groups which correspond to particular functionality of
the instrument. A tree structure is used extending to one or more levels below the root.
Square brackets ([ ]) are used to represent a keyword that is optional for the command. Uppercase
letters are used to differentiate between the short and long form version of keywords.
EXAMPLE
The following command is used to set the Voltage of DC Output to 10V:
[:SOURce]:VOLTage[:LEVel][:IMMediate][AMPLitude] 10
The above command can also be executed in below listed formats and they all will set the
volts to 10 in this case.
[:SOUR]:VOLT[:LEV][:IMM][:AMPL] 10
[:SOUR]:VOLT[:LEV][:IMM] 10
[:SOUR]:VOLT[:LEV] 10
[:SOUR]:VOLT 10
:VOLT 10
Multiple SCPI commands can be combined into a single message using a semicolon as separator.
EXAMPLE
The combined message below will set the volts to 10 and will also switch DC output ON.
[:SOURce]:VOLTage[:LEVel][:IMMediate][:AMPLitude] 10;:OUTPut[:STATe] 1
The colon : character after ; in the above example is used to reset the SCPI parser to the
root level. If the multiple commands in a single message are from the same SCPI
subsystem then the colon may be omitted.
A message terminator (typically a ‘new line’ character) completes the message and resets
the current path to the root.
9.8.2
Query commands
All commands (with the exception of any set in
Orange
) can be presented as a query command by
adding ‘?’ at the end, this will return the current set value or parameter as <…>
Commands set in
Blue
are query only.
