AMETEK BPS Series Programming Manual - Manual (Page 19)

BPS / MX / RS Series SCPI Programming Manual AMETEK Programmable Power
Manual P/N 7003-961 Rev. AA 19
2.4.3 Headers
Headers are instructions recognized by the AC/DC source. Headers (which are sometimes
known as "keywords") may be either in the long form or the short form.
Long Form The header is completely spelled out, such as VOLTAGE,
STATUS, and OUTPUT.
Short Form The header has only the first three or four letters, such as
VOLT, STAT, and OUTP.
The SCPI interface is not sensitive to case. It will recognize any case mixture, such as
TRIGGER, Trigger, TRIGger. Short form headers result in faster program execution.
Header Convention
In the command descriptions in Chapter 3.4 of this manual, headers are emphasized with
boldface type. The proper short form is shown in upper-case letters, such as DELay.
Header Separator
If a command has more than one header, you must separate them with a colon
(VOLT:LEVel
OUTPut:RELay ON).
Optional Headers
The use of some headers is optional. Optional headers are shown in brackets, such as
OUTPut[:STATe] ON. As previously explained under "The Effect of Optional Headers", if you
combine two or more message units into a compound message, you may need to enter the
optional header.
2.4.4 Query Indicator
Following a header with a question mark turns it into a query (VOLTage?,
VOLTage:RANGe?). If a query contains a parameter, place the query indicator at the end of
the last header (VOLTage:LEVel? MAX).
2.4.5 Message Unit Separator
When two or more message units are combined into a compound message, separate the
units with a semicolon (STATus:OPERation?;QUEStionable?).