PACE Series SCPI Manual
K0472 Revision A
2-3
2.3
Program Headers
Program headers are keywords that identify a command, instruments accept both upper
and lower case characters in a program header. There are two types of program header,
common command headers and instrument control headers; each header can be a
command or a query.
Common Command and Query Headers
The common command and query program header syntax, specified in IEEE 488.2, are
defined as follows:
Command
*<PROGRAM MNEMONIC>
Query
*<PROGRAM MNEMONIC>?
Instrument Control Command and Query Headers
The instrument control command and query program header syntax controls and extracts
data from the instrument as follows:
Command
:<MNEMONIC>
:<MNEMONIC> <PARAMETER>
Query
:<MNEMONIC>?
Instrument command headers can have a numeric suffix to identify each of several cases of
the same header; the numeric suffix applies to both the long and short forms. All commands
headers without a numeric suffix assume the value 1.
e.g.,
:OUTPut:LOGic1?
is the same as
:OUTPut:LOGic:?
Queries
A query is a program header with an attached question mark character (?). On receiving a
query, the current settings are loaded in the output buffer. A query does not affect the
operation or set-up of the instrument.
When the parameter of a command contains enumerated character data, both long form
and short form are recognised. A query causes the return of data in the short form.
Querying numeric parameters causes the resulting data to be returned in the units selected
by the instrument unless specified otherwise.