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70 Agilent E1441A SCPI Command Reference
Chapter 3
Command Fundamentals
Commands are separated into two types: IEEE 488.2 Common Commands and SCPI
Commands.
Common
Command
Format
The IEEE 488.2 standard defines the Common commands that perform functions
like reset, self-test, status byte query, etc. Common commands are four or five
characters in length, always begin with the asterisk character (*), and may include
one or more parameters. The command keyword is separated from the first
parameter by a space character. Some examples of common commands are shown
below:
*RST *ESR 32 *STB?
SCPI
Command
Format
The SCPI commands perform functions such as making measurements, querying
instrument states, or retrieving data. A command subsystem structure is a
hierarchical structure that usually consists of a top level (or root) command, one or
more low-level commands, and their parameters. The following example shows the
root command CALibration and its lower-level subsystem commands:
CALibration
:COUNt?
:SECure:CODe < new code>
:SECure:STATe OFF | ON, <code>
:SECure:STATe?
:SETup < 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | . . . | 84
:SETup?
:STRing < quoted string>
:STRing?
:VALue < value>
:VALue?
CALibration is the root command, COUNt?, SECure, SETup, SETup?, STRing and
STRing? are second level commands, and CODE, STATe and STATe? are third
level commands.
Command
Separator
A colon (:) always separates one command from the next lower level command as
shown below:
CALibration:SECure:STATe?
Colons separate the root command from the second level command
(CALibration:SECure) and the second level from the third level (SECure:STATe?).
Abbreviated
Commands
The command syntax shows most commands as a mixture of upper and lower case
letters. The upper case letters indicate the abbreviated spelling for the command.
For shorter program lines, send the abbreviated form. For better program
readability, you may send the entire command. The instrument will accept either the
abbreviated form or the entire command.
For example, if the command syntax shows FREQuency, then FREQ and
FREQUENCY are both acceptable forms. Other forms of FREQuency, such as
FREQU or FREQUEN will generate an error. You may use upper or lower case
letters. Therefore, FREQUENCY, frequency, and FrEqUeNcY are all acceptable.