Quantum Composers 9200 Series - Manual (Page 32)

Page 32 9200 Manual Version 1.6 | Quantum Composers
Line Termination
The pulse generator uses text-style line terminations. When a command is sent to the unit,
the firmware is programmed to read characters from a communication port until it reads the
line termination sequence.
The command string is parsed and executed after reading these characters. These
charact
ers are the “carriage return” and “linefeed”. They are ASCII character set values 13
and 10 respectively (hex 0x0D and 0x0A). All command strings need to have these
characters appended.
When the pulse generator responds to a command, whether it is a query or a parameter
change, it also appends its return strings with these characters. Coded applications could
use this behavior to know when to stop reading from the unit. However, if the “echo”
parameter is enabled, there will be two sets of line terminators, one following the echoed
command string, and one following the pulse generator’s response.
The pulse generator responds to every communication string. If the communication string is a
query, the unit responds with the queried response (or error code) followed by the line
terminators. If the communication string is a parameter change, the response is “ok” (or error
code) followed by the line terminators. For this reason, it is not recommended that multiple
commands be stacked together into single strings as is common with some other types of
instruments. It is recommended that the coded application send a single command in a string
and follow immediately by reading the response from the unit. Repeat this sequence for
multiple commands.
IEEE 488.2 Common Command Format
The IEEE 488.2 Common Commands control and manage generic system functions such as
reset, configuration storage and identification. Common commands always begin with the
asterisk (*) character and may include parameters. The parameters are separated from the
command pneumonic by a space character. For Example:
*RST
*RCL 1
*IDN?
SCPI Command Keywords
The commands are shown as a mixture of upper and lower case letters. The upper case letters
indicate the abbreviated spelling for the command. You may send either the abbreviated
version or the entire keyword. Upper and/or lower case characters are acceptable.
For example, if the command keyword is given as POLarity, then POL and POLARITY
are both acceptable forms; truncated forms such as POLAR will generate an error;
polarity, pol, and PolAriTy are all acceptable as the pulse generator is not case
sensitive.
*Note: The unit by default is not case sensitive.