GW Instek GDS-800 Series Programming Manual User Manual
Page 8

GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
7
The GPIB connection testing
If you want to test the GPIB connection is whether working or not, use the National
Instrument’s “Interactive Control utility” for instance, you communicate with the
GPIB devices through calls you interactively type in at the keyboard.
The Interactive Control can help you to learn about the instrument and to
troubleshoot problems by displaying the following information on your screen after
you enter a command:
z Results of the status word (ibsta) in hexadecimal notation
z Mnemonic constant of each bit set in ibsta
z Mnemonic value of the error variable (iberr) if an error exists (the ERR bit is
set in ibsta)
z Count value for each read, write, or command function
z Data received from your instrument
You can access online help in Interactive Control by entering help at the prompt, or
you can get help on a specific function by entering help
where
To start Interactive Control within National Instrument’s “Measurement &
Automation Explorer”, complete the following steps:
1.
Select Tools→I-488.2 Utilities→Interactive Control.
2.
Open either a board handle or device handle to use for further NI-488.2 calls.
Use ibdev to open a device handle, ibfind to open a board handle, or the set
488.2 command to switch to a 488.2 prompt.