C. remote interface reference, C.1 an introduction to the scpi language – BNC 1201 - 6 1/2 Digit Digital Multimeter User Manual

Page 136

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C. Remote Interface Reference

C.1 An Introduction to the SCPI Language

SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) is an

ASCII-based instrument command language designed for test and

measurement

instruments.

Refer

to

“Simplified

Programming

Overview,” for an introduction to the basic techniques used to program

the multimeter over the remote interface.

SCPI commands are based on a hierarchical structure, also known as a

tree system. In this system, associated commands are grouped together

under a common node or root, thus forming subsystems. A portion of the

SENSe subsystem is shown below to illustrate the tree system.

[SENSe:]

VOLTage:

DC:RANGe {<range>|MINimum|MAXimum}

VOLTage:

DC:RANGe? [MINimum|MAXimum]

FREQuency:

VOLTage:RANGe {<range>|MINimum|MAXimum}

FREQuency:

VOLTage:RANGe? [MINimum|MAXimum]

DETector:

BANDwidth {3|20|200|MINimum|MAXimum}

DETector:

BANDwidth? [MINimum|MAXimum]

ZERO:

AUTO {OFF|ONCE|ON}

ZERO:

AUTO?

SENSe is the root keyword of the command, VOLTage and FREQuency

are second-level keywords, and DC and VOLTage are third-level

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