R&S AFQ100A
SCPI Command Structure and Syntax
1401.3084.32 5.18
E-3
Structure of a Command Line
A command line may consist of one or several commands. It is terminated by an EOI together with the
last data byte.
Several commands in a command line must be separated by a semicolon ";". If the next command
belongs to a different command system, the semicolon is followed by a colon. A colon ":" at the
beginning of a command marks the root node of the command tree.
Example:
MMEM:MSIS 'c.\user';:SOURce:WAV:LOAD 'gsm_test'
This command line contains two commands. The first command is part of the
MMEMory system and is used to specify the default directory for file
operations. The second command is part of the SOURce system and loads
the waveform file gsm_test.wv
If the successive commands belong to the same system, having one or several levels in common, the
command line can be abbreviated. To this end, the second command after the semicolon starts with the
level that lies below the common levels. The colon following the semicolon must be omitted in this case.
Example:
SOURce:OUTPut:STATe ON;:SOURce:OUTPut:ANALog:TYPE
BALanced
This command line is represented in its full length and contains two
commands separated from each other by the semicolon. Both commands are
part of the SOURce command system, subsystem OUTPut, i.e. they have
two common levels.
When abbreviating the command line, the second command begins with the
level below SOURce:OUTPut. The colon after the semicolon is omitted.
The abbreviated form of the command line reads as follows:
SOURce:OUTPut:STATe ON;ANALog:TYPE BALanced
A new command line always begins with the complete path.
Example:
SOURce:OUTPut:STATe
ON
SOURce:OUTPut:ANALog:TYPE BALanced