
Keysight M8070A Programming Guide
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Recommended Programming Techniques
2
Reading the M8020A/M8030A/M8040A’s Status
Reading the M8020A/M8030A/M8040A’s Status - Concepts
The M8020A/M8030A/M8040A has a set of status registers that you can
use to monitor the status of the hardware, software and any running tests.
Overview of Registers
Specifically, it has the following registers:
• Status Byte
The Status Byte is a single register that stores the events occurring in
the other registers.
• Standard Event Status Register
The Standard Event Status Register monitors some non-critical errors
and basic operations.
• Questionable Data Status Register
The bits in the Questionable Data Status Register are set when certain
events occur in the M8020A/M8030A/M8040A that can lead to
questionable results.
• Operation Status Register
The Operation Status Register indicates when certain operations have
been completed.
How the M8020A/M8030A/M8040A Uses Status Registers
You can determine the state of certain instrument hardware and firmware
events and conditions by programming the status register system.
The following subsections provide you with details about the
M8020A/M8030A/M8040A's status system.
Overview of the M8020A/M8030A/M8040A’s Status System
The M8020A/M8030A/M8040A has status reporting features that give
important information about events and conditions within the instrument.
For example, a flag may be set to indicate the end of a measurement or
perhaps a command error. To access this information, it is necessary to
query a set of registers using SCPI.