Agilent Technologies Computer Hardware E1300B User Manual

75000 SERIES B

Mainframes

E1300B and E1301B

User’s Manual

Manual Part Number: E1300-90005

Microfiche Part Number: E1300-99005

Printed: February 2006

Printed in U.S.A.

Edition 3

E 0206

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Certification

Agilent Technologies certifies that this product met its published specifications at the time of shipment from the factory. Agilent Tech-

nologies further certifies that its calibration measurements are traceable to the United States National Institute of Standards and Tech-

nology (formerly National Bureau of Standards), to the extent allowed by that organization’s calibration facility, and to the calibration

facilities of other International Standards Organization members.

Warranty

This Agilent Technologies product is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of three years from date of

shipment. Duration and conditions of warranty for this product may be superseded when the product is integrated into (becomes a part

of) other Agilent products. During the warranty period, Agilent Technologies will, at its option, either repair or replace products which

prove to be defective.

For warranty service or repair, this product must be returned to a service facility designated by Agilent Technologies. Buyer shall pre-

pay shipping charges to Agilent and Agilent shall pay shipping charges to return the product to Buyer. However, Buyer shall pay all

shipping charges, duties, and taxes for products returned to Agilent from another country.

Agilent warrants that its software and firmware designated by Agilent for use with a product will execute its programming instructions

when properly installed on that product. Agilent does not warrant that the operation of the product, or software, or firmware will be un-

interrupted or error free.

Limitation Of Warranty

The foregoing warranty shall not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance by Buyer, Buyer-supplied prod-

ucts or interfacing, unauthorized modification or misuse, operation outside of the environmental specifications for the product, or im-

proper site preparation or maintenance.

The design and implementation of any circuit on this product is the sole responsibility of the Buyer. Agilent does not warrant the

Buyer’s circuitry or malfunctions of Agilent products that result from the Buyer’s circuitry. In addition, Agilent does not warrant any

damage that occurs as a result of the Buyer’s circuit or any defects that result from Buyer-supplied products.

NO OTHER WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. Agilent SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES

OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Exclusive Remedies

THE REMEDIES PROVIDED HEREIN ARE BUYER’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES. Agilent SHALL NOT BE LIABLE

FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER BASED ON CON-

TRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.

Notice

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Agilent Technologies MAKES NO WARRANTY OF

ANY KIND WITH REGARD TO THIS MATERIAL, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF

MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Agilent shall not be liable for errors contained herein or

for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance or use of this material. This document contains

proprietary information which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be photocopied, repro-

duced, or translated to another language without the prior written consent of Agilent Technologies, Inc. Agilent assumes no responsibil-

ity for the use or reliability of its software on equipment that is not furnished by Agilent.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights

The Software and Documentation have been developed entirely at private expense. They are delivered and licensed as "commercial

computer software" as defined in DFARS 252.227- 7013 (Oct 1988), DFARS 252.211-7015 (May 1991) or DFARS 252.227-7014 (Jun

1995), as a "commercial item" as defined in FAR 2.101(a), or as "Restricted computer software" as defined in FAR 52.227-19 (Jun

1987)(or any equivalent agency regulation or contract clause), whichever is applicable. You have only those rights provided for such

Software and Documentation by the applicable FAR or DFARS clause or the Agilent standard software agreement for the product in-

volved.

Agilent E1300B and E1301B Mainframes Service Manual

Edition 3 Rev 2

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Printing History

The Printing History shown below lists all Editions and Updates of this manual and the printing date(s). The first printing of the man-

ual is Edition 1. The Edition number increments by 1 whenever the manual is revised. Updates, which are issued between Editions,

contain replacement pages to correct the current Edition of the manual. Updates are numbered sequentially starting with Update 1.

When a new Edition is created, it contains all the Update information for the previous Edition. Each new Edition or Update also in-

cludes a revised copy of this printing history page. Many product updates or revisions do not require manual changes and, conversely,

manual corrections may be done without accompanying product changes. Therefore, do not expect a one-to-one correspondence be-

tween product updates and manual updates.

Edition 1 (Part Number E1300-90001). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 1989

Edition 2 (Part Number E1300-90002). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 1990

Edition 3 (Part Number E1300-90005). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 1991

Edition 3 Rev 2 (Part Number E1300-90005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 2006

Trademark Information

Microsoft® and MS-DOS® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM® and PC-DOS® are U.S. registered trade-

marks of International Business Machines Corporation. DEC® , VT100® , and VT220® are registered trademarks of Digital Equip-

ment Corporation. WYSE® is a registered trademark or Wyse Technology. WY-30 is a trademark of Wyse Technology.

Macintosh® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.

Safety Symbols

Instruction manual symbol affixed to prod-

uct. Indicates that the user must refer to the

manual for specific WARNING or CAU-

TION information to avoid personal injury

or damage to the product.

Alternating current (AC).

Direct current (DC).

Indicates hazardous voltages.

Indicates the field wiring terminal that must

be connected to earth ground before operat-

ing the equipment—protects against electri-

cal shock in case of fault.

Calls attention to a procedure, practice, or

condition that could cause bodily injury or

death.

WARNING

CAUTION

Calls attention to a procedure, practice, or con-

dition that could possibly cause damage to

equipment or permanent loss of data.

Frame or chassis ground terminal—typi-

cally connects to the equipment’s metal

frame.

WARNINGS

The following general safety precautions must be observed during all phases of operation, service, and repair of this product.

Failure to comply with these precautions or with specific warnings elsewhere in this manual violates safety standards of design,

manufacture, and intended use of the product. Agilent Technologies assumes no liability for the customer’s failure to comply

with these requirements.

Ground the equipment: For Safety Class 1 equipment (equipment having a protective earth terminal), an uninterruptible safety earth

ground must be provided from the mains power source to the product input wiring terminals or supplied power cable.

DO NOT operate the product in an explosive atmosphere or in the presence of flammable gases or fumes.

For continued protection against fire, replace the line fuse(s) only with fuse(s) of the same voltage and current rating and type.

DO NOT use repaired fuses or short-circuited fuse holders.

Keep away from live circuits: Operating personnel must not remove equipment covers or shields. Procedures involving the removal

of covers or shields are for use by service-trained personnel only. Under certain conditions, dangerous voltages may exist even with the

equipment switched off. To avoid dangerous electrical shock, DO NOT perform procedures involving cover or shield removal unless

you are qualified to do so.

DO NOT operate damaged equipment: Whenever it is possible that the safety protection features built into this product have been im-

paired, either through physical damage, excessive moisture, or any other reason, REMOVE POWER and do not use the product until

safe operation can be verified by service-trained personnel. If necessary, return the product to an Agilent Technologies Sales and Serv-

ice Office for service and repair to ensure that safety features are maintained.

DO NOT service or adjust alone: Do not attempt internal service or adjustment unless another person, capable of rendering first aid

and resuscitation, is present.

DO NOT substitute parts or modify equipment: Because of the danger of introducing additional hazards, do not install substitute

parts or perform any unauthorized modification to the product. Return the product to an Agilent Technologies Sales and Service Office

for service and repair to ensure that safety features are maintained.

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Declaration of Conformity

according to ISO/IEC Guide 22 and EN 45014

Manufacturer’s Name:

Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Loveland Manufacturing Center

Manufacturer’s Address:

815 14th Street S.W.

Loveland, Colorado 80537

declares, that the product:

Product Name:

Model Number:

Product Options:

75000 Series B VXI Mainframe

Agilent E1300B/E1301B

All

conforms to the following Product Standards:

Safety:

IEC 1010-1:1990+A2:1996/EN61010-1:1993

Canada: CSA 556B

UL 3111

EMC:

CISPR 11:1990/EN55011:1991: Group 1, Class A

EN61000-3-2:1995: Class A

EN50082-1:1992

IEC 801-2:1991: 4kV CD, 8kV AD

IEC 801-3:1984: 3V/m

IEC 801-4:1988: 0.5kV Signal Lines, 1kV Power Line

ENV50141:1993/prEN50082-1:1995: 3Vrms

ENV50142:1994/prEN50082-1:1995: 1kV CM, .5kV DM

EN61000--4-8:1993/prEN50082-1:1995: 3A/m

EN61000-4-11:1994/prEN50082-1:1995: 30%, 10ms:60%, 100ms

Conforms with the following European Directives: The product herewith complies with the requirements of the

Low Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC and the EMC Directive 89/336/EEC and carries the "CE" marking accordingly.

May 7, 2001

Ray Corson, Product Regulations Program Manager

European contact: Your local Agilent Technologies Sales and Service Office or Agilent Technologies GmbH,

Department HQ-TRE, Herrenberger Straße 130, D-71034 Böblingen, Germany (FAX +49-7031-14-3143).

iii

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Agilent 75000 Series B Documentation

Manual Descriptions

Installation and Getting Started Guide. Contains step-by-step instructions for

all aspects of plug-in module and mainframe installation. This guide also

contains introductory programming information and examples.

Agilent E1300B/E1301B Mainframe User’s Manual. Contains programming

information for the mainframe, front panel operation information (for the

Agilent E1301B mainframe), and general programming information for

instruments installed in the mainframe.

Plug-In Module User’s Manuals. Contains plug-in module programming and

configuration information. These manuals contains examples for the most-used

module functions, and a complete TMSL command reference for the plug-in

module.

Installation and Getting

Started Guide

Instrument Applications*

Using the Mainframe front panel or pacer

Plug-in Module User’s

Manuals

Mainframe User’s

Manuals

* For Scanning Voltmeter Applications, refer to the Agilent E1326A/E1411A 5 1/2 Digit

Multimeter User’s Manual.

Suggested Sequence for Using the Manuals

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Related Documents

Agilent Instrument BASIC User’s Handbook. Includes three books: Agilent

Instrument BASIC ProgrammingTechniques , Agilent Instrument BASIC

Interfacing Techniques, and Agilent Instrument BASIC Language Reference.

Using Agilent Instrument BASIC with the E1405. Contains information on the

version of Agilent Instrument Basic which can be installed in ROM in your

E1405B Command Module.

Beginner’s Guide to SCPI. Explains the fundamentals of programming

instruments with Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI).

We recommend this guide to anyone who is programming with TMSL for the

first time.

Tutorial Description of the General Purpose Interface Bus. Describes the

technical fundamentals of the General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB). This

book also includes general information on IEEE 488.2 Common Commands.

We recommend this book to anyone who is programming with IEEE 488.2 for

the first time.

IEEE Standard 488.2-1987, IEEE Standard Codes, Formats, Protocols, and

Common Commands. Describes the underlying message formats and data types

used in TMSL and defines Common Commands. You may find this document

useful if you need to know the precise definition of certain message formats,

data types, or Common Commands. Available from: The Institute of Electrical

and Electronic Engineers, Inc.; 345 East 47th Street;

New York, NY 10017; USA

VXIbus System Specifications. Agilent part number E1400-90006.

The VMEbus Specification. Available from: VMEbus International Trade

Association; 10229 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite E; Scottsdale, AZ 85253; U.S.A.

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About this Manual

Manual Content

This manual shows how to use the Agilent E1300/E1301 Mainframe and how to

operate and program instruments within the mainframe using SCPI (Standard

Commands for Programmable Instruments) commands and IEEE 488.2

Common Commands. For installation and configuration information refer to the

"Agilent 75000 Series B Installation and Getting Started Guide".

Chapter 1: This chapter contains a mainframe description, discusses the instrument

Getting Started

concept, and contains introductory programming examples.

Chapter 2: Using the This chapter describes how to use the Agilent E1301 mainframe’s front panel

Front Panel

keyboard and display to operate instruments in the mainframe.

Chapter 3: Using the Display This chapter describes how to use a display terminal to operate instruments in

Terminal Interface

the mainframe.

Chapter 4: Using the This chapter shows how to use the mainframe’s Pacer, how to change the

Mainframe

primary GPIB address, and how to synchronize internal and external

instruments using the mainframe’s Trigger In and Event Out ports.

Chapter 5: Downloading This chapter contains information on downloading device drivers into

Device Drivers

non-volatile memory using both GPIB and RS-232 connections.

Chapter 6: Controlling This chapter shows some general concepts for operating instruments in the

Instruments using GPIB

mainframe using IEEE 488.2 Common Commands and the GPIB interface.

Chapter 7: The command reference contains a detailed description of each System

Command Reference

Instrument command. It includes information on the choice of settings and

examples showing the context in which the command is used. It also contains

command references for the supported IEEE 488.2 Common Commands and

IEEE 488.1 GPIB Messages.

Appendix A: Specification This appendix contains a list of the Mainframe’s operating specifications.

Appendix B: This appendix lists SCPI error codes and messages for the System Instrument,

Error Messages

and possible causes.

Appendix C: Connecting & This appendix shows how to set-up a terminal for use with the Display Terminal

Configuring a Terminal

Interface described in Chapter 3.

Appendix D: Sending Binary This Appendix contains information on transferring binary files over an RS-232

Data Over RS-232

interface. It includes information on how these files are coded for transmission.

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Table of Contents

1. Getting Started

Using This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Mainframe Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Optional Mainframe Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Instrument Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Instrument Logical Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Instrument Secondary Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Unassigned Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Introductory Programming Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

2. Using the Front Panel

Using this Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Front Panel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Using Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

A 60-Second Menu Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Using the System Instrument Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3

Using the Other Instrument Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Monitor Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8

Executing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9

Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9

Key Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10

Menu Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10

Display Control & Editing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10

Instrument Control Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11

Other Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11

In Case of Difficulty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12

Instrument Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13

3. Using the Display Terminal Interface

Using this Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

Terminal Interface Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Using Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

A 60-Second Menu Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

Using the System Instrument Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5

Using the Other Instrument Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8

3-11

Monitor Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11

Executing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13

Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13

General Key Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14

Menu and Menu Control Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14

Editing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14

Instrument Control Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15

Other Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15

Table of Contents - 1

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Using Supported Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16

The Supported Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16

Using the HP 700/22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17

Using the WYSEØ WY-30œ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19

Using Other Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19

What “Not Supported” Means . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20

Testing Terminals for Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20

Using a Terminal Without Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21

In Case of Difficulty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23

Instrument Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25

4. Using the Mainframe

Using this Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Using the Pacer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Changing the Primary GPIB Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

Synchronizing Internal and External Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

Mainframe Data Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6

Using Mainframe Data Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6

Non-Volatile User Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7

Allocating a User Memory Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7

Locating the NRAM segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7

Using :DOWNload and :UPload? to Access Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9

Data Formats for :DOWNload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9

5. Downloading Device Drivers

About this Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

What You Will Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

Memory Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3

Download Program Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4

Editing the Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4

Downloading Drivers in MS-DOS Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6

Downloading Drivers in GPIB Systems with IBASIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7

Downloading Drivers in GPIB Systems with BASIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8

Downloading Multiple Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9

Checking Driver Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9

Manually Downloading a Driverdown manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10

Preparing Memory for Manual Downloading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10

Manually Downloading Over GPIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11

Manually Downloading Over RS-232 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11

6. Controlling Instruments Using GPIB

About this Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

Programming Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

Status System Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2

The Status Byte Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3

Reading the Status Byte Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4

Service Request Enable Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5

2 - Table of Contents

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The Service Request Bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5

Clearing the Service Request Enable Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5

Standard Event Status Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6

Unmasking Standard Event Status Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6

Reading the Standard Event Status Enable Register Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7

Reading the Standard Event Status Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7

Operation Status Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7

Reading the Condition Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8

Unmasking the Operation Event Register Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8

Clearing the Operation Event Register Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9

Using the Operation Status Group Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9

Clearing Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10

Interrupting an External Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10

Synchronizing an External Computer and Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12

7. System Instrument Command Reference

About This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

Command Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

Common Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

SCPI Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

Linking Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3

SCPI Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4

ABORt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4

DIAGnostic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5

INITiate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29

[SOURce] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-30

STATus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-32

SYSTem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35

TRIGger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-51

VXI 7-54

Common Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-65

*CLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-66

*DMC < name_string> , < command_block> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-66

*EMC < enable> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-66

*EMC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-66

*ESE < mask> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-66

*ESE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-67

*ESR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-67

*GMC? < name_string> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-67

*IDN? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-68

*LMC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-68

*LRN? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-68

*OPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-69

*OPC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-69

*PMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-69

*PSC < flag> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-69

*PSC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-69

*RCL < state number> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-70

*RMC < name_string> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-70

*RST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-70

*SAV < state number> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-70

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*SRE < mask> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-70

*SRE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-71

*STB? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-71

*TRG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-71

*TST? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-71

*WAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-71

GPIB Message Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-72

Go To Local (GTL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-72

Group Execute Trigger (GET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-72

Interface Clear (IFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-72

Device Clear (DCL) or Selected Device Clear (SDC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-73

Local Lockout (LLO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-73

Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-74

Serial Poll (SPOLL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-74

Command Quick Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-75

A. Specifications

Mainframe Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Pacer (50% duty cycle): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Real-time Clock: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Trigger Input: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Non-volatile added memory storage lifetime: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Slots: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

EMC, RFI, Safety: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Size: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Weight: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Power: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Cooling: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Humidity: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Operating temperature: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Storage temperature: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

SCPI Conformance Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3

Switchbox Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3

Multimeter Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4

Counter Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6

D/A Converter Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8

Digital I/O Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9

System Instrument Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

B. Error Messages

Using This Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1

Reading an Instrument’s Error Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1

Error Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2

Command Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2

Execution Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2

Device-Specific Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2

Query Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2

Start-up Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-5

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C. Connecting and Configuring a Display Terminal

Using this Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1

Connecting a Terminal to the Mainframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1

Configuring a Terminal for the Mainframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3

Starting with Default Mainframe Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3

Restoring the Default Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3

Configuring the Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3

Trying it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4

Configuring the Mainframe with Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4

D. Sending Binary Data Over RS-232

About this Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1

Formatting Binary Data for RS-232 Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1

Sending Binary Data Over RS-232 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-2

Setting Up the Mainframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-2

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Chapter 1

Getting Started

Using This Chapter

This chapter describes the Agilent E1300B/E1301B Mainframe, defines the

instrument concept, and explains how plug-in modules are designated as

instruments in the mainframe. This chapter also contains introductory

programming examples showing how to read and set the mainframe’s clock and

calendar. This chapter contains the following sections:

•

Mainframe Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Instrument Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Introductory Programming Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Mainframe

Description

The Agilent E1301B mainframe contains a front panel keyboard and display; the

Agilent E1300B has no keyboard or display. Otherwise, there is no conceptual

difference between the two mainframes. Both models provide a terminal based

user interface (Display Terminal Interface) through the built-in, or optional

plug-in serial interfaces. The front panel keyboard and display are discussed in

Chapter 2 of this manual. The Display Terminal Interface is discussed in

Chapter 3.

The mainframe handles such high level operations as language translation of

IEEE-488.2 Common Commands and SCPI (Standard Commands for

Programmable Instruments) commands; module-to-module synchronization;

and memory management. When installed in the mainframe, SCPI-compatible

under control of SCPI commands and Common Commands. Plug-in modules

that are not SCPI-compatible must be programmed at a register level (see the

VXI:REG:WRITE and VXI:REG:READ? commands in Chapter 5 of this

manual for more information). Figure 1-2 shows the E1300B/E1301B

Mainframe’s A- and B-size plug-in module slots, GPIB^*connector, RS-232 port,

and input/output ports.

Optional Mainframe The mainframe comes from the factory with 256 kBytes of non-volatile memory

(RAM) for reading storage. You can install up to 2 MBytes of optional RAM.

Memory

The E1320A provides 500 kBytes while the E1321A provides 1 MByte of

memory. Optional RAM replaces the standard memory and is not in addition to

it (e.g. the mainframe with an optional 1 Mbyte module has 1Mbyte available).

GPIB is the implementation of IEEE Std 488.1-1978.

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GPIB

Trig Out: Allows an instrument to output a negative-going pulse to indicate the

occurrence of some event such as closing a channel on a Switchbox Instrument.

The signal levels are standard TTL (0V to 5V). This pulse can be used to

synchronize external equipment to the instrument (see Chapter 5 for examples).

You direct the pulse from the appropriate instrument to the Trig Out port using

the OUTP:STAT ON command.

Pacer Out: Allows you to output a square wave signal to trigger or pace external

equipment such as scanners or voltmeters. You can control the period of the

square wave signal and the number of periods output. The signal levels are

standard TTL (0V to 5V). Refer to Chapters 4 and 5 for more information on

the Pacer.

Event In: Allows an instrument to be armed or triggered from an external

negative-going signal. The signal levels are standard TTL (0V to 5V). Use an

instrument’s ARM:SOUR:EXT command or the TRIG:SOUR:EXT command

to direct the Event In port to that instrument.

RS-232: Serial interface provides a user interface using a terminal or a

computer running terminal emulator software. The user interface provides the

functionality of the E1301’s keyboard and display. If present, the optional

IBASIC interpreter can be configured to control the RS-232 port.

Figure 1-1. Mainframe Features

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Instrument

Definition

SCPI-compatible plug-in modules installed in the mainframe are treated as

independent instruments each having a unique secondary GPIB address. As

shown in Figure 1-3, each instrument is assigned a dedicated error queue, input

and output buffers, status registers and, if applicable, dedicated mainframe

memory space for readings or data. An instrument may be composed of a single

plug-in module (such as a counter) or multiple plug-in modules (for a Switchbox

or Scanning Voltmeter Instrument). In addition, the mainframe contains a

built-in instrument called the System Instrument which has a Pacer for timing

external devices. The System Instrument also can control the built-in RS-232, as

well as up to seven optional Agilent E1324A plug-in serial interfaces.

Figure 1-2. Instrument Concept

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Instrument Logical Instruments are identified by a logical address which directly relates to its GPIB

secondary address. Instruments come from the factory with a preset logical

address. You can change the factory setting during installation (see the "Agilent

75000 Series B Installation and Getting Started Guide" for instructions).

Addresses

A single-module instrument must have its logical address set to an integer

multiple of 8 (0, 8, 16, 24, ... 240). In a multiple-module instrument, only one of

the modules has a logical address that is an integer multiple of 8. The other

modules in the multiple-module instrument must have consecutive logical

addresses. For example, in a Scanning Voltmeter, if the voltmeter module has a

logical address of 16, the other modules in that instrument must have logical

addresses of 17, 18, 19 and so on. The same applies to the System Instrument

who’s logical address fixed at 0. An E1324A plug-in serial interface controlled

by the System Instrument would be set to logical address 1. A second E1324A

would be set to logical address 2 and so on.

Instrument Secondary An instrument’s GPIB secondary address is simply the logical address divided

by 8 (for a multiple-module instrument, the lowest logical address divided by 8).

Addresses

For example, an instrument with a logical address of 16 has a secondary address

of 02. The secondary address allows access to a particular instrument when

programming via GPIB. (The System Instrument’s secondary address is 00 and

is the only address that cannot be changed).

Unassigned Modules

An unassigned module in an E1300B/E1301B Mainframe is one that does not

have a logical address that is a multiple of 8 (8, 16, 24...240) and is not part of a

Scanning Voltmeter or Switchbox configuration. You can only program these

modules at the register level using the VXI:WRITE and VXI:READ?

commands (see Chapter 5 of this manual for more information on these

commands).

Introductory

Programming

Examples

This section shows how to send SCPI and Common Commands to the

mainframe’s System Instrument and how to read data back. The following

assumes that you send the commands or read the data over GPIB. To send SCPI

commands or to read data, specify the:

•

Computer’s GPIB interface address

Mainframe’s GPIB primary address

Instrument’s GPIB secondary address

SCPI command string or Common Command

For instruments in the mainframe, the primary address is the same as the

mainframe address (i.e., the factory setting is 09). The instrument’s secondary

address is simply the logical address divided by 8 (e.g., logical addresses of 8, 16,

24, or 32, result in secondary addresses of 01, 02, 03, or 04, respectively).

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Example: Reading the Time This program reads and prints the time from the System Instrument’s internal

clock. The computer used in the example is an Agilent Series 200/300 computer

with Agilent BASIC as the program language. The computer interfaces to the

mainframe using the General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB). The GPIB

interface select code is 7, the GPIB primary address is 09, and the GPIB

secondary address is 00 (System Instrument). Resulting in a combined address

of 70900.

10 OUTPUT 70900;"*RST"

20 OUTPUT 70900;"SYST:TIME?"

30 ENTER 70900; H,M,S

Reset System Instrument using

Common Command

Send SCPI query command to

return time

Place hour in H, minutes in M,

seconds in S

40 PRINT H,M,S

50 END

Print time

Typical response: + 16, + 15, + 30 (4:15:30 PM)

Example: Setting the Time Set the clock using the 24 hour hour,minute,second format. Execute the

following line to set the time to 14,00,00 (i.e., 2:00:00 PM).

SYST:TIME 14,00,00

Example: Reading the Date This program reads and prints the date stored in the mainframe’s internal

calendar.

10 OUTPUT 70900;"SYST:DATE?"

20 ENTER 70900; Y,M,D

Send SCPI query command to

return date

Place year in Y, month in M,

day in D

30 PRINT Y,M,D

40 END

Print date

Typical response: + 1989, + 9, + 16 (September 16, 1989)

Example: Setting the Date

Set the date using the YYYY,MM,DD format. Executing the following line sets

the date to 1990,1,13 (January 13, 1990).

SYST:DATE 1990,1,13

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Chapter 2

Using the Front Panel

Using this Chapter

This chapter shows you how to use the Agilent E1301B Mainframe’s front panel

keyboard and display to operate instruments in the mainframe. It contains the

following sections:

•

Front Panel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Using Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Executing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9

Key Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10

In Case of Difficulty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12

Instrument Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13

Front Panel

Features

Figure 2-1 shows the front panel’s QWERTY keyboard and the dedicated key

groupings. The tutorials in this chapter show how to use most of the dedicated

keys. See “Key Descriptions” near the end of this chapter for a complete

description of each dedicated key.

Display Control and

2-Line X 40 Character Display

Menu Keys

Editing Keys

Agilent

Instrument

Control Keys

QWERTY Keyboard

Figure 2-1. Front Panel Features

Using the Front Panel 2-1

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Using Menus

You can access a System Instrument menu and a variety of other instrument

menus (depending on installed instruments) from the front panel. These menus

incorporate the most used functions but do not provide access to all of the

instrument commands. If a particular function is not available from a menu, you

can type the corresponding command string and execute it from the front panel.

See “Executing Commands” later in this chapter for more information.

When you select an instrument, you are assigning the keyboard and display to

that instrument. This means that any menu operations, commands executed or

recalled, errors displayed, etc. pertain only to that instrument. Front panel

operation of an instrument is independent from other instruments and

independent from the remote operation of the instrument. To operate another

instrument from the front panel, you must select that instrument.

Note: Typical instruments shown. Actual choices depend on installed instruments

Figure 2-2. Select an Instrument Menu

A 60-Second Menu Following the power-on sequence or a system reset the display shows the Select

an instrument menu (see Figure 2-2) which lets you select one of the instruments

listed.

Tutorial

The menu keys are located directly below the display. To select a displayed

menu choice, press the function key (f1 - f5) directly below the choice. This

chapter shows key labels in bold text.

•

When there are more than five menu choices, an arrow appears on the

right side of the display. Press More to display the next group of choices.

By repeatedly pressing More you can display all groups of choices. After

you have displayed all groups of choices, pressing More again returns to

the first group of choices.

•

When the display is requesting information (input prompt) such as Enter

the device’s logical address, just type the information and press Return.

If you press the wrong menu key and do not want to enter the

requested information, you can escape the input prompt and stay at

the same menu level by pressing ESC or Prev Menu.

If you make an incorrect entry in response to an input prompt, the

top line of the display will show an error message. When this

happens, just select that menu choice again (f1 - f5 keys), re-type the

correct information, and press Return.

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•

Press Prev Menu to return to the previous menu within an instrument

menu or escape from an input prompt. Press Select Instr to return to the

Select an Instrument menu. Note that when you leave an instrument and

return later, you return to the same menu location you were when you

left. In addition, any other displayed information (instrument responses

or commands being entered) will also be displayed when you return.

In addition to the menu keys, Clear Instr and Reset Instr are helpful

when operating an instrument. Clear Instr clears the instrument’s front

panel input and output buffers (remote buffers are not cleared) and

returns to the top level of the instrument menu. Press Clear Instr

whenever an instrument is busy, is not responding to front panel control,

or to abort a command being entered from the front panel. Reset Instr

clears all front panel and remote input and output buffers and resets the

instrument.

Using the System The System Instrument menu allows you to:

Instrument Menu

•

Set or read the system GPIB address

Reset (reboot) the mainframe

Display the logical addresses of installed instruments

Display information about installed instruments

How to Set or Read the System GPIB Address

GPIB

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How to Reset the System

GPIB

Note: The RESET menu selection is equivalent to the DIAG:BOOT command which has the same effect as cycling power to the mainframe.

Pressing Reset Instr from the System Instrument menu is equivalent to executing the *RST command which resets the System Instrument.

How to Display Logical Addresses or Instrument Information

GPIB

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Using the Other The instrument menus allow you to access the most-used instrument functions

or to monitor an instrument (monitor mode) while it is being controlled from

Instrument Menus

remote. We’ll use the Switchbox menu to show you how to use the instrument

menus. Menus are available for many but not all instruments. See “Instrument

Menus”, later in this chapter, for more information on a particular instrument’s

menu. The Switchbox menu allows you to:

•

Open and Close Channels

Scan Channels

Display Module Type and Description

Monitor a Switchbox

Reset a selected switch module

Selecting the Switchbox To select the Switchbox, press the function key (f1 - f5) directly below the word

SWITCH in the “Select an instrument” menu. (If the “Select an instrument”

menu is not being displayed press Select Instr.)

Note

After you press the function key below the word SWITCH, the top line of the

display may show: “Select SWITCH at logical address:_” while the bottom line of

the display lists two or more logical addresses. This means more than one

Switchbox is installed in the mainframe. To select one of the Switchboxes, press

the function key directly below the corresponding logical address.

The charts on the following pages show how to use the Switchbox menu. Keep

the following points in mind when using the menu:

•

The card number identifies a module within the Switchbox. The module

with the lowest logical address is always card number 01. The module

with the next successive logical address is card number 02 and so on.

The @ character is required preceding a channel list when executing a

Switchbox command from the front panel or remote. When entering a

channel list in response to a menu prompt however, do not precede it

with the @ character. Doing so causes a syntax error.

•

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How to Open/Close Channels

How to Scan Channels

2-6 Using the Front Panel

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How to Display Monitor Type, Description, or Reset Module

How to Select Monitor Mode

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Monitor Mode Monitor mode displays the status of an instrument while it is being controlled

from remote. Monitor mode is useful for debugging programs. You can place an

instrument in monitor mode using front panel menus, or by executing the

DISP:MON:STAT ON command from the front panel or by remote. (Executing

the remote DISP:MON:STAT ON command is the only way to assign the

display/keyboard to an instrument from remote.) Pressing most front panel keys

will automatically exit monitor mode and return to the instrument menu.

However, you can use the left and right arrow keys in monitor mode to view long

displays.

Note

Enabling monitor mode slows instrument operations. If the timing or speed of

instrument operations is critical (such as making multimeter readings at a

precise time interval), you should not use monitor mode.

Table 2-8 shows the status annunciators that may appear in the bottom line of

the display in monitor mode. Some instruments also have device-specific

annunciators (see the plug-in module manual for more information).

Table 2-1. Monitor Mode Display Annunciators

Annunciator

Description

mon

bsy

err

The instrument is in monitor mode

The instrument is executing a command

An error has occurred (see “Reading Error

Messages” below)

srq

A service request has occurred

Reading Error Messages Whenever the display is showing the err annunciator, an error has occurred for

the instrument being monitored. You can read the error message, although

doing so cancels monitor mode. To read an error message, press the following

keys:

The error message will be displayed in the top line of the display. To see if

another error was logged, repeat the above keystrokes or press:

After you have read all the error messages, executing the SYST:ERR?

command causes the display to show: + 0 No error. After reading the error

message(s), press f1 to return to monitor mode.

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Executing

Commands

From the front panel, you can type and execute IEEE 488.2 Common

Commands and SCPI Commands for the instrument presently selected by the

Select an instrument menu. (However, you cannot execute a command when the

display is requesting that you input information.) This is particularly useful for

accessing functions not available in an instrument’s menu. For example, the

System Instrument contains a Pacer that can be programmed to output a square

wave signal on the mainframe’s Pacer Out port. From the System Instrument

menu, you can program the Pacer to output 10 square wave cycles with a period

of 1 second each by typing the following commands and pressing Return after

each command (see Chapter 3 for more information on the Pacer).

SOUR:PULS:COUN 10

SOUR:PULS:PER 1

INIT:IMM

TRIG:SOUR IMM

As another example, after selecting the Switchbox, suppose you must set up and

execute a scan list with automatic advance (automatic advance is not available

from the menu). You can do this by typing the following command string and

pressing Return (notice that by linking the commands together with a semicolon

and colon you need press Return only once).

TRIG:SOUR IMM;:SCAN (@100:105);:INIT

Editing The display editing keys (shown on the following page) allow you to edit

user-entered data or commands. When editing, the display is in insert mode.

That is, typed characters will be inserted into the string at the present cursor

position.

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Key Descriptions

This section explains the function of each of the front panel’s dedicated keys. If

a key is not functional in a particular situation, pressing that key does nothing

except to cause a beep. Users of the optional IBASIC interpreter should refer to

their IBASIC manual set for additional editing functions.

Menu Keys

Selects the menu choice displayed directly above each key.

Returns to the Select an instrument menu.

Returns to the previous menu level within an instrument menu or escapes from

an input prompt. When you reach the top of an instrument’s menu, pressing

Prev Menu does nothing except to cause a beep.

The display can show a maximum of five menu choices at a time. When there are

more than five menu choices, an arrow appears on the right side of the display.

Press More to display the next group of choices. By repeatedly pressing More

you can display all groups of choices. After you have displayed all groups of

choices, pressing More again returns to the first group of choices.

Recalls the last command entered from the front panel. After recalling a

command, it can be edited or re-executed. You can recall from a stack of

previously executed commands by repeatedly pressing Recall Prev. When you

reach the bottom of the stack (the last line in the buffer), pressing Recall Prev

does nothing except to cause a beep. Pressing Shift with Recall Prev recalls the

last SCPI command generated by a menu operation. For example, reading the

time using the menus (SYSTEM, TIME, READ) generates and executes the

SCPI command SYST:TIME?. A recalled command can be executed by

pressing the Return key. You can also edit a recalled command before you

execute it.

Accesses commands in the opposite order to that of Recall Prev. Pressing Recall

Next does nothing until you have pressed Recall Prev at least twice.

Performs the same function as Prev Menu.

Display Control &

Editing Keys

(Right arrow key.) Moves the cursor one character space to the right while

leaving characters intact. Use the right arrow key to scroll displays that are

longer than the display size. Pressing Shift followed by the right arrow key

moves the cursor to the end of the line. Pressing CTRL followed by the right

arrow key moves the cursor 4 character spaces to the right.

(Left arrow key.) Moves the cursor one character space to the left while leaving

characters intact. Use the left and right arrow keys to scroll displays that are

longer than the display size. Pressing Shift followed by the left arrow key moves

2-10 Using the Front Panel

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the cursor to the beginning of the line. Pressing CTRL followed by the left

arrow key moves the cursor 4 character spaces to the left.

Erases the character at the present cursor position (for user-entered data only).

Erases the character to the left of the cursor (for user-entered data only).

(Clear-to-end key.) Erases all characters from the present cursor position to the

end of the input line (for user-entered data only). Pressing Shift followed by the

clear-to-end key erases the entire line and moves the cursor to the beginning of

the line.

Selects the upper-case alphabetic characters or the character shown on the top

half of a key. You can either hold down Shift while pressing another key or press

and release Shift and then press another key.

Sets all alphabetic keys to uppercase (capitals); does not affect the other keys.

To return to lowercase, press Caps Lock again.

Instrument Control

Keys

Resets only the selected instrument (equivalent of executing *RST). Reset Instr

also clears the instrument’s front panel and remote input and output buffers.

Reset Instr is the only front panel key that can affect an instrument being

operated from remote.

Clears the front panel input and output buffers (remote buffers are not cleared)

of the selected instrument and returns to the top level of the instrument menu.

Press Clear Instr whenever an instrument is busy, is not responding to front

panel control, or to abort a command being entered from the front panel.

Other Keys

End of line. Enters your responses to menu prompts. Executes commands

entered from the front panel keyboard.

Selects alternate key definitions. You can either hold down CTRL while pressing

another key or press and release CTRL and then press another key. These

CTRL key sequences provide short-cuts for some menu key sequences as well as

additional functions not directly available from dedicated front panel keys. For

a complete list of all CTRL key sequences see table 3-3 in the next chapter.

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In Case of Difficulty

Problem:

Problem Cause/Solution:

Error -113 undefined header error occurs after entering For some commands used by the menus, the data

data in response to a menu prompt.

entered is appended to a command header. For

example, if you enter "1"as the port number for a digital

I/O module, the command used is

DIG:HAND1:MODE NONE where HAND1 indicates

the port number. If your entry was invalid or incorrect,

error -113 occurs.

Following the power-on sequence or system reset the

display shows:

An unnassigned device (incorrect logical address) was

detected, or the contents of non-volatile memory may

have been lost, If you cycle power or perform system

reset, the display will show the logical address of the

unassigned device. You can also check the logical

addresses using the CONFIG? -- LADDS branch of the

System Instrument menu. Refer to Chapter 1 of this

manual for a discussion of logical addresses and

unassigned devices.

Configuration errors. Select SYSTEM

Press any key to continue_

The display shows: "instrument in local lockout".

The front panel has been locked-out (GPIB local

Menus seem to work but nothing happens when I reach lockout). You can re-enable menu operation by

the bottom level or try to execute a command.

cancelling local lockout (from remote) or by cycling

mainframe power.

Display cannot be removed from monitor mode.

Monitor mode was entered from remote

(DISP:MON:STAT ON command) and the front panel

has also been locked out (GPIB local lockout). Either

cancel the local lockout or execute

DISP:MON:STAT OFF (from remote).

Display shows:

A hardware or software problem has occured in the

instrument preventing it from responding to front panel

control.

Can not connect to instrument

Press any key to continue_

After selecting an instrument the display shows:

The instrument is busy performing an operation. Press

Clear Instr to abort the instrument operations and

allow the front panel to access the instrument.

busy.

Display shows:

The instrument has already been selected from the

Display Terminal Interface. An instrument can only be

“attached” to one display at a time. At the terminal,

return to the “Select instrument” menu. The instrument

can now be selected from the Front Panel.

Instrument in use by another display.

Press any key to continue_

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Instrument Menus

This section contains charts showing the structure and content for all front panel

instrument menus. Also shown in the charts are the SCPI or Common

Commands used and descriptions of menu-controlled instrument operations.

This section contains the following charts:

•

System Instrument Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14

Switchbox Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16

Scanning Voltmeter Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18

Agilent E1326A 5 1/2 Digit Multimeter Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20

Agilent E1328A 4-Channel D/A Converter Menu. . . . . . . . . . 2-21

Agilent E1330A Quad 8-Bit Digital I/O Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Agilent E1332A 4-Channel Counter/Totalizer Menu . . . . . . . 2-24

Agilent E1333A 3-Channel Universal Counter Menu. . . . . . . 2-26

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2-14 Using the Display Terminal Interface

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Using the Display Terminal Interface 2-15

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2-16 Using the Display Terminal Interface

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Notes

Using the Front Panel 2-17

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2-18 Using the Display Terminal Interface

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Using the Display Terminal Interface 2-19

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Using the Display Terminal Interface 2-21

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2-22 Using the Display Terminal Interface

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Notes

Using the Front Panel 2-23

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2-24 Using the Display Terminal Interface

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Using the Display Terminal Interface 2-25

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2-26 Using the Display Terminal Interface

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Using the Display Terminal Interface 2-27

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Notes

2-28 Using the Front Panel

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Chapter 3

Using the Display Terminal Interface

Using this Chapter

This chapter shows you how to use the Agilent E1300B and Agilent E1301B

Mainframes’Display Terminal Interface (terminal interface) to operate

instruments in the mainframe. The terminal interface uses the built-in RS-232

and/or the optional Agilent E1324A Datacomm Module to provide all of the

features of the Agilent E1301B’s front panel, plus comfortable keyboard

position and full screen display. It contains the following sections:

•

Terminal Interface Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Using Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

Executing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13

General Key Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14

Using Supported Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16

Using Other Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19

In Case of Difficulty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23

Instrument Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25

Note

This chapter discusses usingthe display terminal interface. It assumes that you

have already connected your terminal and configured it to communicate with

your mainframe. For information on connecting and configuring your terminal,

refer to Appendix C in this manual.

Using the Display Terminal Interface 3-1

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Terminal Interface

Features

Figure 3-2 shows a typical terminal interface display with its function labels

across the bottom of the screen. The first five function keys (f1 through f5) select

instrument menu choices. Function keys f6 through f8 provide menu control and

access to utility functions. The tutorials in this chapter show how to use most of

the menu control and utility function keys. See “General Key Descriptions” near

the end of this chapter for a complete description of each of these key functions.

Instrument Label

Text Output Area

Command Entry Line

Input Line

Prompt Line

Notes: 1. Example screens are from HP AdvanceLink terminal emulator.

2. Later screen examples are shown compressed (only 4 lines tall)

and may show only part of the screen width.

Figure 3-1. Typical Terminal Interface Display

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Using Menus

A System Instrument menu and a variety of other instrument menus (depending

on installed instruments) are available from the terminal interface. These menus

incorporate the most used functions but do not provide access to the complete

functionality of an instrument. If a particular function is not available from a

menu, you can type the corresponding Common Command or SCPI command

string and execute it from the terminal interface. See “Executing Commands”

later in this chapter for more information.

When you select an instrument, you are assigning the terminal interface to that

instrument. This means that any menu operations, commands executed or

recalled, errors displayed, etc. pertain only to that instrument. Terminal

interface operation of an instrument is independent from other instruments and

independent from the remote operation of the instrument. To operate another

instrument from the terminal interface, you must select that instrument.

Note: Typical instruments shown. Actual choices depend on installed instrument

Figure 3-2. "Select an instrument"Menu

A 60-Second Menu Following the power-on sequence or a system reset, the screen shows the Select

an instrument menu (see Figure 3-2). This menu allows you to select one of the

instruments listed.

Tutorial

The menu select and menu control function keys (usually labeled f1 - f8 on their

key caps) are defined by eight function labels located across the bottom of the

terminal screen. Once you learn how these keys operate, using the menus is easy

(key labels are shown in bold text in this chapter):

To select a displayed menu choice, press the function key (f1 - f5) which

corresponds to the function key label.

•

When there are more than five menu choices, function key f6 becomes

labeled MORE. Press MORE to display the next group of choices. By

repeatedly pressing MORE you can display all groups of choices. After

you have displayed all groups of choices, pressing MORE again returns to

the first group of choices.

Whenever the screen is requesting information (input prompt) such as

Enter the device’s logical address, just type the information and press

Return (may be Enter on a terminal emulator).

If you pressed the wrong menu key and do not want to enter the

requested information, you can escape the input prompt and stay at the

same menu level by pressing ESC or PRV_MENU.

Using the Display Terminal Interface 3-3

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If you make an incorrect entry in response to an input prompt, the

bottom line of the Text Output Area will show an error message. When

this happens, just select that menu choice again (f1 - f5 keys), re-type the

correct information, and press Return.

•

Press PRV_MENU or ESC to return to the previous menu within an

instrument menu or escape from an input prompt. Press SEL_INST to

return to the Select an Instrument menu (see next item). Note that when

you leave an instrument and return later, you return to the same menu

location you were when you left. In addition, any information below the

Text Output Area will also be re-displayed when you return.

In addition to the instrument menu keys, CLR_INST, RST_INST and

SEL_INST are helpful when operating instruments. These and other

utility keys are accessed by pressing the UTILS key. See “Executing

Commands” for information on the RCL_.... keys in this menu.

CLR_INST clears the instrument’s terminal interface input and output

buffers (remote buffers are not cleared) and returns to the top level of

the instrument menu. Press CLR_INST whenever an instrument is busy,

is not responding to terminal interface control, or to abort a command

being entered from the terminal interface.

RST_INST clears all terminal interface and remote input and output

buffers and resets the instrument.

SEL_INST returns you to the Select an Instrument menu. Note that

SEL_INST is the key “under” the UTILS key. You can easily return to

the Select an Instrument menu by pressing f8 twice.

How to Access the Utility Keys

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Using the System The System Instrument menu allows you to:

Instrument Menu

•

Set or read the system GPIB address

Reset (reboot) the mainframe

Display the logical addresses of installed instruments

Display information about installed instruments

How to Set or Read the System GPIB Address

Enter new GPIB address, press Return

(range= 1 through 30)

SCPI command used:

SYST:COMM:GPIB:ADDR < addr>

Typical GPIB address

SCPI command used:

SYST:COMM:GPIB:ADDR?

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How to Reset the System

Press f1 to Reset

Note: The RESET menu selection is equivalent to executing the DIAG:BOOT command which has the same

effect as cycling the mainframe’s power. Pressing RST_INST from the System Instrument menu is the

equivalent to sending the *RST command to the System Instrument.

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How to Display Logical Addresses and Instrument Information

Enter device’s logical address and press Return for individual

instrument information, or just enter one space and Return, for

information on all intruments.

(In this case, 8 was entered)

Instrument name

Logical address of selected device

GPIB secondary address

Note:For a description of each field of the instrument information, see

VXI:CONF:DLIS? in the SCPI Command Reference section.

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Using the Other The instrument menus allow you to access the most-used instrument functions

or to monitor an instrument (monitor mode) while it is being controlled from

Instrument Menus

remote. We’ll use the Switchbox menu to show you how to use the instrument

menus. Menus are available for many but not all instruments. See “Instrument

Menus”, later in this chapter, for more information on a particular instrument’s

menu. The Switchbox menu allows you to:

•

Open and Close Channels

Scan Channels

Display Module Type and Description

Monitor a Switchbox

Reset a selected switch module

Selecting the Switchbox To select the Switchbox, press the function key (f1 - f5) corresponds to the label

SWITCH in the “Select an instrument” menu. (If the “Select an instrument” menu

is not being displayed press UTILS then SEL_INST.)

Note

After you press the function key for SWITCH, the screen may show: “Select

SWITCH at logical address:_” while the screen labels show two or more logical

addresses. This means more than one Switchbox is installed in the mainframe.

To select one of the Switchboxes, press the function key for the logical address

key label.

The charts on the following pages show how to use the Switchbox menu. Keep

the following points in mind when using the menu:

•

The card number identifies a module within the Switchbox. The module

with the lowest logical address is always card number 01. The module

with the next successive logical address is card number 02 and so on.

The @ character is required preceding a channel list when executing a

Switchbox command from the terminal interface or remote. When

entering a channel list in response to a menu prompt however, do not

precede it with the @ character. Doing so causes a syntax error.

•

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How to Open/Close Channels

Switchbox instrument at logical address 32

(secondary address = 04)

SCPI command used:

Enter Channel List and press Return

SCPI command used:

OPEN < channel_list>

(e.g., 102 for channel 2 on card # 1)

CLOSE < channel_list>

How to Scan Channels

Press f2 to advance to the next channel in

the Scan List (i.e. to trigger the instrument.)

Enter Channel List and press Return

(e.g., 100:115 to scan channels 00 to 15 on cardd # 1)

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How to Display Module Type , Description, or Reset Module

Enter Card Number and press Return

SCPI command used:

SYST:CPON < card_number>

SCPI command used:

SYST:CTYP? < card_number>

Enter Card Number and press Return

SCPI command used:

SYST:CDES? < card_number>

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How to Select Monitor Mode

Enter Card Number or type

AUTO and press Return

SCPI commands used:

DISP:MON:CARD < card_number>

DISP:MON:STAT ON

Monitor Mode Monitor mode displays the status of an instrument while it is being controlled

from remote. Monitor mode is useful for debugging programs. You can place an

instrument in monitor mode using terminal interface menus, or by executing the

DISP:MON:STAT ON command from the terminal interface. Pressing most

terminal interface keys will automatically exit monitor mode and return to the

instrument menu. However, you can use the left and right arrow keys in monitor

mode to view long displays.

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Note

Enabling monitor mode slows instrument operations. If the timing or speed of

instrument operations is critical (such as making multimeter readings at a

precise time interval), you should not use monitor mode.

Table 3-1 shows the status annunciators that may appear in the bottom line of

the screen in monitor mode. Some instruments also have device-specific

annunciators (see the plug-in module manual for more information).

Table 3-1. Monitor Mode Display Annunciators

Annunciator

Description

mon

bsy

err

The instrument is in monitor mode

The instrument is executing a command

An error has occurred (see “Reading Error

Messages” below)

srq

A service request has occurred

Reading Error Messages Whenever the screen is showing the err annunciator, an error has occurred for

the instrument being monitored. You can read the error message, although

doing so cancels monitor mode. To read an error message, type the following

SCPI command (followed by the Return key):

SYST:ERR?

The error message will be displayed in the bottom line of the Text Ouput Area.

To see if another error was logged, repeat the above command by pressing

UTILS, RCL_PREV, then Return.

After you have read all the error messages, executing the SYST:ERR?

command causes the screen to show: + 0 No error. After reading the error

message(s), press f1 to return to monitor mode.

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Executing

Commands

From the terminal interface, you can type and execute IEEE 488.2 Common

Commands and SCPI Commands for the instrument presently selected by the

Select an instrument menu. (However, you cannot execute a command when the

screen is requesting that you input information.) This is particularly useful for

accessing functions not available in an instrument’s menu. For example, the

System Instrument contains a Pacer that can be programmed to output a square

wave signal on the mainframe’s Pacer Out port. From the System Instrument

menu, you can program the Pacer to output 10 square wave cycles with a period

of 1 second each by typing the following commands and pressing Return after

each command (see Chapter 3 for more information on the Pacer).

SOUR:PULS:COUN 10

SOUR:PULS:PER 1

TRIG:SOUR IMM

INIT:IMM

As another example, after selecting the Switchbox, suppose you must set up and

execute a scan list with automatic advance (automatic advance is not available

from the menu). You can do this by typing the following command string and

pressing Return (notice that by linking the commands together with a semicolon

and colon you need press Return only once).

TRIG:SOUR IMM;:SCAN (@100:105);:INIT

Editing The screen editing keys (shown on the following page) allow you to edit

user-entered data or commands. When editing, the screen is in insert mode.

That is, typed characters will be inserted into the string at the present cursor

position.

Note

The key labels shown are found on all HP terminals (except HP terminals

supporting ANSI terminal protocol). See “Using Supported Terminals” for

equivalent key functions on your terminal.

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General Key

Descriptions

This section explains the function of each of the terminal interface’s menu, menu

control, and editing keys. If a key is not functional in a particular situation,

pressing that key does nothing except to cause a beep.

Menu and Menu

Control Keys

through

Label menu choices for corresponding function keys.

UTILS

SEL_INST

Returns to the Select an instrument menu.

PRV_MENU

Returns to the previous menu level within an instrument menu or escapes from

an input prompt. When you reach the top of an instrument’s menu, the

PRV_MENU label disappears.

The screen can show a maximum of five menu choices at a time. When there are

more than five menu choices, function key f6 becomes labeled MORE. Press

MORE to display the next group of choices. By repeatedly pressing MORE you

can display all groups of choices. After you have displayed all groups of choices,

pressing MORE again returns to the first group of choices.

UTILS

RCL_PREV

Recalls the last command entered from the terminal interface. After recalling a

command, it can be edited or re-executed. You can recall from a stack of

previously executed commands by repeatedly pressing RCL_PREV. When you

reach the bottom of the stack (the last line in the buffer), pressing RCL_PREV

does nothing except to cause a beep.

UTILS

RCL_NEXT

RCL_MENU

Accesses commands in the opposite order to that of RCL_PREV. Pressing

RCL_NEXT does nothing until you have pressed RCL_PREV at least twice.

Recalls the last SCPI command generated by a menu operation. For example,

reading the time using the menus (SYSTEM, TIME, READ) generates and

executes the SCPI command SYST:TIME?. A recalled command can be

executed by pressing the Return key. You can also edit a recalled command

before you execute it.

Performs the same function as PRV_MENU.

Editing Keys

(Right arrow key.) Moves the cursor one character space to the right while

leaving characters intact.

(Left arrow key.) Moves the cursor one character space to the left while leaving

characters intact.

Erases the character at the present cursor position (for user-entered data only).

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Erases the character to the left of the cursor (for user-entered data only).

(Clear-to-end key.) Erases all characters from the present cursor position to the

end of the input line (for user-entered data only).

Selects the upper-case alphabetic characters or the character shown on the top

half of a key.

Sets all alphabetic keys to uppercase (capitals); does not affect the other keys.

To return to lowercase, press Caps Lock again.

Instrument Control

Keys

UTILS

RST_INST

Resets only the selected instrument (equivalent of executing *RST). RST_INST

also clears the instrument’s terminal interface and remote input and output

buffers. RST_INST is the only terminal interface key that can affect an

instrument being operated from remote.

UTILS

CLR_INST

Clears the terminal interface input and output buffers (remote buffers are not

cleared) of the selected instrument and returns to the top level of the instrument

menu. Press CLR_INST whenever an instrument is busy, is not responding to

terminal interface control, or to abort a command being entered from the

terminal interface.

Other Keys

End of line. Enters your responses to menu prompts. Executes commands

entered from the terminal keyboard (may be labeled Enter on your terminal

emulator).

Selects alternate key definitions. These CTRL key sequences provide short-cuts

to some of the menu sequences and also provide some functions not directly

available from dedicated terminal keys. Some alternate key definitions are:

CTRL R = Instrument Reset

CTRL C = Clear Instrument

CTRL D = Select an instrument menu.

For a complete list of all CTRL Sequences, see Table 3-3 in this chapter. Users

of the optional IBASIC interpreter should refer to their IBASIC manual set for

additional editing functions.

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Using Supported

Terminals

The Display Terminal Interface supports several popular terminal brands and

models. This chapter will show you how to access all of the terminal interface

functions described previously using your supported terminal.

The Supported The following list names the supported terminals and shows where to go for

more information. If your terminal isn’t named in this list, see “Using Other

Terminals” in the next section.

Terminals

•

HP 700/92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Menu tutorial

HP 700/94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Menu tutorial

HP 700/22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See page 3-17

HP 700/43 and WYSE WY-30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See page 3-19

The keyboard guides provided for the listed terminals may be removed or

copied, and placed near your keyboard while you go through the menu tutorial

sections.

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Using the HP 700/22 The HP 700/22 terminal emulates the DEC^®VT100^®or VT220^®terminals.

Some functions of the Display Terminal Interface have been mapped into keys

with other labels. A keyboard map is provided for each of the emulation models.

Use these keyboard maps to help locate the terminal interface functions.

VT100^®Key Map The symbols shown in the upper left corner of key each are now mapped with

the function labeled in the center of each key.

Selecting VT100^®Mode To use the HP 700/22 in VT100^®mode, press the Set-Up key and set the

following configuration:

Fields

Terminal Mode

Value

EM100, 7 bit Ctrls

Columns

EM100 ID

EM100

YES

Inhibit Auto Wrap

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VT220^®Key Map The function keys that are normally labeled f6 through f14 are now labeled:

Note

Because the HP 700/22 keyboard has nine function keys in the center of the

keyboard, f4 is mapped twice

The symbols shown in the upper left corner of key each are now mapped with

the function labeled in the center of each key.

Selecting VT220^®Mode To use the HP 700/22 in VT220^®mode, press the Set-Up key and set the

following configuration:

Fields

Terminal Mode

Value

EM200, 7 bit Ctrls

Columns

EM100 ID

EM220

YES

Inhibit Auto Wrap

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Using the WYSE

WY-30

With the WYSE WY-30 terminal, some functions of the Display Terminal

Interface have been assigned to keys with other labels. Use this keyboard map to

help locate these functions.

The symbols shown in the upper left corner of key each are now mapped with

the function labeled in the center of each key.

Where two function key labels are shown, the one following the "/"character is

accessed by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the desired

function key (e.g. to access the f6 function, press CTRL-f2/f6).

Using Other

Terminals

This section discusses using terminals which are not on the Supported Terminals

list. Primarily this section is to help you use terminals which do not provide

programmable soft keys (function keys). Without this capability, a terminal can

not access the Display Terminal Interface’s menus. Instead, the terminal

interface provides a set of Terminal Interface Commands which allow you to

select instruments by name or logical address. Once selected, you can type

Common Commands or SCPI commands to the instrument. In addition,

keyboard accessible control codes provide display control for terminals which

may not have keys dedicated to those functions.

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What “Not Supported” Strictly speaking, a terminal is not supported if it has not been rigorously tested

with the Display Terminal Interface. There are several HP terminals which may

Means

be compatible with the terminal interface. Terminals such as the

DEC^®VT100^®, DEC^®VT220^®, and WYSE^®WY-50 , or emulations of these

may also work properly with the terminal interface. If you have one of these

terminals, try it. Here is a list of terminals you should try.

HP 2392A

HP 2394A

DEC^®VT100^®

DEC^®VT220^®

WYSE^®WY-50

HP AdvanceLink terminal emulation software (configure as HP 2392A)

Testing Terminals for Here is how you test an unsupported terminal for compatibility with the Display

Terminal Interface:

Compatibility

1. Connect your terminal and configure its communication parameters to

match the mainframe’s serial interface (see Appendix C)

2. With your terminal turned on and set to “remote mode”, turn on the

mainframe. After the mainframe power-on self-test, the display interface

sends sequences of characters to your terminal which should cause it to

return its identification. If the terminal ID matches one in a list kept by

the terminal interface, it will send character sequences to program the

function keys and their labels.

3. If you now see the “Select an instrument” prompt and the “Select an

instrument” menu labels, your terminal is ready to try. Go to the

beginning of this chapter and try the menus.

4. If you see only the “Select an instrument” prompt without the “Select an

instrument” menu labels, your terminal did not return a recognized ID.

To set the terminal type manually, type the Terminal Interface Command:

ST HP (followed by Return for HP terminals)

ST VT100 (followed by Return for VT100^®emulators)

ST VT220 (followed by Return for VT220^®emulators)

ST WYSE30 (followed by Return for WY-30^®emulators)

ST WYSE50 (followed by Return for WY-50 emulators)

NOTE

You can type "ST"without arguments at the "Select an Instrument"menu. The

display terminal will attempt to identify the terminal that is connected. This is

particularly useful if you are hooking a terminal to a system which already has

power, since you do not need to cycle power and wait for the system to reboot.

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If you now see the “Select an instrument” menu labels:

Go to the beginning of this chapter and try the menus.

Turn the mainframe off and then on again.

Using a Terminal You can still control instruments installed in your mainframe without using the

terminal interface menus. In this case you will send Common Commands and

SCPI commands to your instruments by typing them on your terminal keyboard,

or through a computer interface.

Without Menus

Selecting Instruments To send commands to, and receive responses from an instrument, you must first

select that instrument. Two commands are provided to select instruments. They

are; SI (Select Instrument), and SA (Select Address). These commands only

work from the “Select an instrument” prompt. The commands can be typed in

upper case or lower case.

SI selects an instrument by its name, exactly as it would appear in the “Select an

instrument” menu (see Table 3-2). If your mainframe has more than one

instrument with the same name, follow the name with a comma (,) and the

desired instrument’s logical address. Here are some examples of SI commands:

si voltmtr (selects a voltmeter instrument)

si switch (selects a switchbox instrument)

SI SWITCH (same as above)

si switch,16 (selects switchbox at logical address 16)

Table 3-2. Instrument Names for the SI Command

Menu Name

SYSTEM

Instrument

The System Instrument (built-in to the mainframe)

VOLTMTR

Agilent E1326A Standalone, or Agilent E1326A

Scanning Voltmeter Modules

SWITCH

DIG_I/O

Switchbox composed of one or more Agilent

Multiplexer Modules

Agilent E1330A Quad 8-Bit Digital Input/Output

Module

IBASIC

Optional IBASIC interpreter

COUNTER

Agilent E1332A 4-Channel Counter/Totalizer, or

Agilent E1333A Universal Counter Modules

D/A

Agilent E1328A Digital to Analog Converter

Module

SA SA selects an instrument by its logical address. For multiple module

instruments, use the logical address of the first module in the instrument. For

example; SA 8 selects the instrument at logical address 8. When you have

selected an instrument, the terminal interface will respond with an instrument

prompt which is the instrument’s menu name followed by its logical address

(e.g. VOLTMTR_8:).

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To get a list of the logical addresses used in your mainframe, send the SCPI

command VXI:CONF:DLAD? to the System Instrument. Then to determine

what instrument is at each logical address, send the command

VXI:CONF:DLIS? n for each logical address in the list (where n is a logical

address).

Returning to the “Select an To return to the “Select an instrument” prompt, press and hold the CTRL key

Instrument” Prompt

then press D.

Control Sequences for The terminal interface provides the keyboard control sequences listed in Table

Terminal Interface Functions

3-3. These can be thought of as keyboard short-cuts for compatible terminals

(those which provide menu capability). Only those functions in the table which

are shaded, operate for “UNKNOWN” terminal types (those which do not

support menus). An “UNKNOWN” terminal type has very limited editing

capability. It will not support the EDIT mode for the optional IBASIC

interpreter. In the following table, † = IBASIC only, ‡ = Front Panel only.

Table 3-3. Control Sequence Functions

Del char

Delete character at the cursor position

Clears line from cursor position to end of line

Clears line regardless of cursor position

Inserts a blank line at the cursor position

CTRL-X

CTRL-L

CTRL-U

CTRL-O

Clr →end

Clear line

Insert line †

Delete line † ‡ Deletes the line at the current cursor position CTRL-DEL

End of line

Start of line

Return

Move cursor to the end of current line

Move cursor to the beginning of current line

Terminates user entry

CTRL-Z

CTRL-A

CTRL-M

CTRL-W

RCL_MENU Recalls the last command executed via the

menu keys

RCL_PREV

Recalls the last several commands executed

via user input

CTRL-F

CTRL-B

RCL_NEXT

After RCL_PREV, RCL_NEXT may be

used to move forward through the recalled

commands

SEL_INST

CLR_INST

RST_INST

Return to “Select an instrument” menu

Clear instrument’s input and output buffers

Like CLR_INST plus clears

CTRL-D

CTRL-C

CTRL-R

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In Case of Difficulty

Problem:

Problem Cause/Solution:

Error -113 undefined header error occurs after

entering data in response to a menu prompt.

For some commands used by the menus, the data

entered is appended to a command header. For

example, if you enter "1"as the port number for a digital

I/O module, the command used is

DIG:HAND1:MODE NONE where HAND1 indicates

the port number. If your entry was invalid or incorrect,

error -113 occurs.

Following the power-on sequence or system reset the

display shows:

An unnassigned device (incorrect logical address) was

detected, or the contents of non-volatile memory may

have been lost, If you cycle power or perform system

reset, the display will show the logical address of the

unassigned device. You can also check the logical

addresses using the CONFIG? -- LADDS branch of the

System Instrument menu. Refer to Chapter 1 of this

manual for a discussion of logical addresses and

unassigned devices.

Configuration errors. Select SYSTEM

Press any key to continue_

The display shows: "instrument in local lockout".

The terminal interface has been locked-out (GPIB local

Menus seem to work but nothing happens when I reach lockout). You can re-enable menu operation by

the bottom level or try to execute a command.

cancelling local lockout (from remote) or by cycling

mainframe power.

Display cannot be removed from monitor mode.

Monitor mode was entered from remote

(DISP:MON:STAT ON command) and the terminal

interface has also been locked out (GPIB local

lockout). Either cancel the local lockout or execute

DISP:MON:STAT OFF (from remote).

Display shows:

A hardware or software problem has occured in the

instrument preventing it from responding to terminal

interface control.

Can not connect to instrument

Press any key to continue._

After selecting an instrument the display shows:

The instrument is busy performing an operation. Press

Clear Instr to abort the instrument operations and

allow the terminal interface to access the instrument.

"busy".

Display shows:

The instrument has already been selected from the

Front Panel. An instrument can only be “attached” to

one display at a time. At the Front Panel, press Select

Instr. The instrument can now be selected from the

terminal interface.

Instrument in use by another display.

Press any key to continue_

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Notes

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Instrument Menus

This section contains charts showing the structure and content for all terminal

interface instrument menus. Also shown in the charts are the SCPI or Common

Commands used and descriptions of menu-controlled instrument operations.

This section contains the following charts:

•

System Instrument Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-26

Switchbox Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-28

Scanning Voltmeter Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-30

Agilent E1326A 5 1/2 Digit Multimeter Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-32

Agilent E1328A 4-Channel D/A Converter Menu. . . . . . . . . . 3-33

Agilent E1330A Quad 8-Bit Digital I/O Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-34

Agilent E1332A 4-Channel Counter/Totalizer Menu . . . . . . . 3-36

Agilent E1333A 3-Channel Universal Counter Menu. . . . . . . 3-38

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Notes

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Notes

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Notes

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Chapter 4

Using the Mainframe

Using this Chapter

This chapter shows how to use the mainframe’s Pacer function, how to change

the primary GPIB address, and how to synchronize internal and external

instruments using the mainframe’s Event In and Trigger Out ports. This chapter

also discusses how mainframe memory is used by installed instruments. Where

possible, examples show only the command string sent to the instrument (no

information about a computer language or interface is shown). Examples that

require showing a computer language are written for HP 9000 Series 200/300

Computers using BASIC language and the GPIB interface. This chapter

contains the following sections:

•

Using the Pacer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Changing the Primary GPIB Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

Synchronizing Internal and External Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

Mainframe Data Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6

Using the Pacer

The Pacer generates a square wave signal on the mainframe’s rear panel Pacer

Out connecter. The signal levels are standard TTL levels (0V to 5V). The Pacer

signal can be used to trigger or pace external equipment such as scanners or

voltmeters. Figure 4-1 shows a single cycle of the Pacer output with a specified

period of 1 second.

The following SCPI commands control the Pacer:

Figure 4-1. Pacer Out Square Wave

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•

SOUR:PULS:COUN sets the number of Pacer cycles. Specify from 1 to

8388607 cycles or specify INF for a continuous output.

SOUR:PULS:PER sets the period of each Pacer cycle. You can specify

periods from 500ns to 8.3 seconds.

TRIG:SOUR sets the trigger source. The Pacer signal is output whenever

the trigger event occurs (specified by the TRIG:SOUR command) and

the INIT:IMM command has been executed.

Example: Pacing an External Scanner This example paces an external scanner

connected to the mainframe’s Pacer Out port. Each negative-going transition of

the square wave advances to the next channel in the scanner’s channel list. In

this example, the Pacer outputs 10 periods of 1 second each.

ABORT

Set Pacer trigger system to Idle

State

SOUR:PULS:COUN 10

SOUR:PULS:PER 1

TRIG:SOUR IMM

Configure Pacer for 10 cycles

Square wave period = 1 second

Trigger Pacer (when INIT is

executed)

INIT:IMM

Place Pacer in Wait for Trigger

State

Example: Continuous Pacer Out Signal This example generates a continuous

signal with a period of 250ms. The signal will begin when the trigger event

(EXT) occurs (a negative-going transition on the mainframe’s Event In

connector).

ABORT

Set Pacer trigger system to Idle

State

SOUR:PULS:COUN INF

SOUR:PULS:PER 250E-3

Configure Pacer for continuous

output

Square wave period = 250

milliseconds

TRIG:SOUR EXT

INIT:IMM

Trigger Pacer on external signal

Place Pacer in Wait for Trigger

State

Pacer Trigger States Figure 4-2 shows that the Pacer’s trigger system has an Idle State, a Wait for

Trigger State, and a Pacer Action State. When you apply power, reset the

system, or execute the ABORT command, the trigger system goes to the Idle

State. You can configure the Pacer (SOURce subsystem) and specify the trigger

source (TRIG:SOUR command) while in the Idle State. Executing the

INIT:IMM command places the Pacer in the Wait for Trigger State. Now when

the trigger event occurs, the Pacer will move to the Pacer Action State and begin

outputting the specified number of square wave cycles. Once the Pacer has

begun outputting, the trigger system returns to the Idle State.

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Figure 4-2. Pacer Trigger States

Changing the

Primary GPIB

Address

You can set the mainframe’s primary GPIB address to any integer value

between 0 and 30. The address is set to 9 at the factory. (See Chapter 2 for

instructions on setting/reading the GPIB address from the front panel.) The

following command sets the mainframe’s primary GPIB address to 12.

SYST:COMM:GPIB:ADDR 12

Synchronizing

Internal and

External

The mainframe’s Trig Out and Event In ports allow you to synchronize external

equipment to instruments operating within the mainframe. The Trig Out port

allows an instrument in the mainframe to output a negative-going pulse to

indicate the occurrence of some event such as a multiplexer channel closure.

The signal levels are standard TTL (0V to 5V). You direct the pulse from the

appropriate instrument to the Trig Out port by sending the OUTP:STAT ON

command to that instrument.

Instruments

The Event In port allows an instrument in the mainframe to be armed or

triggered from an external negative-going signal. The signal levels are standard

TTL (0V to 5V). Send the ARM:SOUR:EXT command or the

TRIG:SOUR:EXT command to an instrument to direct the signal on the Event

In port to that instrument.

The following examples use an external Agilent 3457A Multimeter and an

internal Agilent E1345A 16-Channel Multiplexer to demonstrate the use of the

Trig Out and Event In ports.

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Example: Synchronizing an Internal Instrument to an External Instrument

This example uses the mainframe’s Trig Out and Event In ports to synchronize

an external multimeter to a multiplexer installed in the mainframe. Connections

are shown in Figure 4-3. The multimeter’s Voltmeter Complete port outputs a

pulse whenever the multimeter has finished a reading. The multimeter’s

External Trigger port allows the multimeter to be triggered by a negative going

TTL pulse. Since the synchronization is independent of the GPIB bus and the

computer, readings must be stored in the multimeter’s reading memory. The

sequence of operation is:

1. INIT (line 50) closes channel number 100.

2. The channel closure causes a pulse on Trig Out which triggers the

multimeter to take a reading.

3. When the reading is complete it is stored in multimeter memory and the

multimeter outputs a pulse on its Voltmeter Complete port. This signals

the multiplexer to advance to the next channel in the scan list.

4. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated until all channels have been scanned and

readings taken.

10 OUTPUT 722;"TRIG EXT;DCV;MEM FIFO"

Set multimeter to external trigger, DC volts, enable reading

memory

20 OUTPUT 70914;"OUTP ON"

Enable TrigOut port

30 OUTPUT 70914;"TRIG:SOUR EXT"

Set multiplexer to advance scan

on external signal

40 OUTPUT 70914;"SCAN (@100:115)" Specify scan list (channels 100

to 115)

50 OUTPUT 70914;"INIT"

60 END

Close first channel (starts

scanning cycle)

Example: Synchronizing Internal/External Instruments and the Computer This

example uses the mainframe’s Trig Out port to synchronize an external

Figure 4-3. Synchronizing Internal/External Instruments

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multimeter to an internal multiplexer. Connections are shown in Figure 4-4. This

method synchronizes the computer to the instruments and relies on the

computer to enter each reading and advance to the next channel in the scan list.

The sequence of operation is:

1. INIT (line 50) closes channel number 100.

2. The channel closure causes a pulse on Trig Out which triggers the

multimeter to take a reading.

3. When the reading is complete it is sent to the computer (lines 60 to 80).

4. The computer sends Group Execute Trigger to the multiplexer (line 90);

this advances to the next channel in the scan list.

5. Steps 2 through 4 are repeated until all channels have been scanned and

readings taken.

10 OUTPUT 722;"TRIG EXT;DCV"

Set multimeter to external trigger, DC voltage measurements

20 OUTPUT 70914;"OUTP ON"

Enable TrigOut port

30 OUTPUT 70914;"TRIG:SOUR BUS"

Set multiplexer to advance scan on Group Execute Trigger or

*TRG

40 OUTPUT 70914;"SCAN (@100:115)" Specify scan list (channels 100

to 115)

50 OUTPUT 70914;"INIT"

60 FOR I= 1 TO 16

70 ENTER 722;A

Close first channel (starts

scanning cycle)

Loop through followinglines

16 times

Enter reading (computer waits

until reading taken & received)

80 PRINT A

Print reading

90 TRIGGER 70914

Trigger multiplexer; advances

to next channel

100 NEXT I

110 END

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Figure 4-4. Synchronizing Internal/External Instruments and Computer

Mainframe Data

Memory

When power is applied or the system rebooted (DIAG:BOOT command),

mainframe memory is automatically configured to provide a predefined amount

of memory for any installed instruments that require memory space. For

example, each multimeter instrument within the mainframe is allocated enough

memory to store 100 readings.

Mainframe memory is also automatically re-allocated upon demand while

programming. For example, if greater than 100 readings are requested for a

multimeter, the mainframe computes the amount of memory required for these

extra readings. If enough memory space is available, an additional amount is

allocated to the multimeter and the readings are stored. If enough memory is

not available, an error message occurs and the command is aborted. The

memory allocated to an instrument above the initial power-on amount remains

dedicated to that instrument until that instrument is reset (*RST command) or

until power is cycled. Once de-allocated, the memory is available to other

instruments.

Using Mainframe Data Commands that generate data and do not have a question mark (?) in their

syntax store the data in mainframe memory. Faster instrument reading rates are

Memory

possible when using reading memory versus sending data directly to an external

computer. Storing readings in memory can also help to ensure that the period

between paced readings is maintained at a constant value. When instrument

data is stored in memory, it overwrites any data previously stored by that

instrument. You can retrieve data stored in mainframe memory using the

FETCh? command.

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Example: Storing and Retrieving Data From Mainframe Memory. This

example shows how to use mainframe memory to store 15 readings made using

an Agilent E1326A Multimeter. After the readings are stored, they are retrieved

by the computer and displayed.

10 REAL OHM_RGS(1:15)

Create computer array for 15

readings

20 OUTPUT 70903;"CONF:FRES (@105:109)"

Configure multimeter for 4-wire

resistance, scan channels 105 -

109

30 OUTPUT 70903;"RES:OCOM ON"

40 OUTPUT 70903;"TRIG:COUN 3"

50 OUTPUT 70903;"INIT"

Enable offset compensation

Cycle through scan list 3 times

Trigger multimeter, store the

readings in mainframe memory

60 OUTPUT 70903;"FETCH?"

Get readings from mainframe

memory

70 ENTER 70903;OHM_RGS(*)

80 PRINT OHM_RGS (*)

90 END

Enter readings into computer

Display readings on computer

Non-Volatile User

Memory

The System Instrument provides a way to allocate a segment of its non-volatile

memory for storage and retrieval of user data. The structure and content of the

data you store in this memory segment is up to you. The commands provided for

data access merely store or retrieve a specified number of bytes. Commands for

allocating and accessing the memory segment are implemented by the System

Instrument (logical address, and GPIB secondary address 0).

Allocating a User The SCPI command DIAGnostic:NRAM:CREate < size> is used to allocate a

segment of User non-volatile RAM. The ammount of memory allocated is

Memory Segment

controlled by the size parameter. The DIAG:NRAM:CRE command informs

the system of your request for a User RAM segment. The segment in not

allocated until the system is reset (DIAG:BOOT command, or RESET from the

front panel). Once the NRAM segment is allocated, you can consider it part of

your System Instrument’s configuration. It will remain through power

interruptions and system resets. Only the DIAG:BOOT:COLD , or

DIAG:NRAM:CRE 0 commands can de-allocate the NRAM segment.

Note:

IBASIC Users

Allocating an NRAM segment will de-allocate a previously allocated RDISk

segment. To include both types; allocate them both before a reset, or allocate

the NRAM segment, reset the system, then allocate the RDISk segment and

again reset the system.

Locating the NRAM Since the system decides where in memory to locate the NRAM segment, you

must execute the DIAG:NRAM:ADDRess? query to determine its starting

segment

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address. You will then know the starting address , and (from the

… NRAM:CRE < size> command) the length of the NRAM segment.

Example: Allocating an NRAM segment and locating it. This example shows

how to allocate a small 128 byte NRAM segment. In addition, it shows how to

determine the starting address of that segment.

define variables

10 REAL Addr,Size

128 byte NRAM segment

20 OUTPUT 70900;"DIAG:NRAM:CRE 128"

reset the system

30 OUTPUT 70900;"DIAG:BOOT"

allow time for reset to begin

40 WAIT 5

wait for self-test to complete

50 ON TIMEOUT 7,.1 GOTO Complete

60 Complete:B= SPOLL(70900)

query startingaddr

70 OUTPUT 70900;"DIAG:NRAM:ADDR?"

enter starting addr

80 ENTER 70900;Addr

print it

90 PRINT USING "31X,""Addr= "",8D";Addr

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Using :DOWNload and The command DIAG:DOWNload < address> ,< data_block> is used to store

data into the NRAM segment. The command

DIAG:UPLoad? < address> ,< byte_count> is used to retrieve data from the

NRAM segment. The address parameter in … DOWNload and … UPLoad? can

specify any address within the capability of the System Instrument’s control

processor. The system does not restrict you from storing or retrieving data which

is outside of the NRAM segment.

:UPload? to Access

Data

Caution

This capability to store (DOWNload) data to any location in mainframe memory

means that you could inadvertently change the contents of memory being used

by the mainframe control processor. This will occur if:

•

you specify a starting address for DOWNload which is outside the

NRAM segment

•

you specify a starting address for DOWNload which is inside the NRAM

segment, but the data block you send extends past the end of the NRAM

segment.

If either of these occur, operation of the mainframe will be disrupted. To restore

operation:

1. turn the mainframe off and then back on.

2. while the mainframe is “Testing ROM”, press the Reset Instr button on

the front panel or, for terminal users, press the CTRL and R keys.

This operation is the same as executing DIAG:BOOT:COLD

Data Formats for Data stored into NRAM using :DOWNload can be sent in either Definite, or

Indefinite Length Arbitrary Block Program Data formats (see Parameter Types

:DOWNload

in the beginning of Chapter 5). The Definite Length block format is

recommended since the format includes a data length count which positively

terminates the :DOWNload command when that count is reached. If the

Indefinite Length format’s termination sequence (< newline> with END) is not

received correctly, commands sent after the :DOWNload command will be

interpreted as more data and sent to memory, possibly overwriting system

memory and disrupting mainframe operation.

The following example program will use the small NRAM segment created in

the previous example. It will show how to store and retrieve:

•

64 ASCII characters

thirty-two, 8 bit data bytes

sixteen, 16 bit data words

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Example: Storing and Retrieving data using DOWNload and UPLoad.

define variables for DOWNload and UPLoad

90 DIM Chars$[64],Chars_back$[80]

100 INTEGER Words(1:16),Bytes(1:32),Words_back(1:16),

Bytes_back(1:32)

create string of characters

110 Chars$= "1234567890123456789012345678901234567890

123456789012345678901234"

create array of 16 bit data words

120 FOR I= 1 TO 16

130 Words(I)= 32700+ I

140 NEXT I

create array of 8 bit data bytes

150 FOR I= 1 TO 32

160 Bytes(I)= 63+ I

170 NEXT I

DOWNload 16 words to NRAM segment

180 OUTPUT 70900 USING """DIAG:DOWN "",8D,"",# 232"",16(W)";

Addr+ 96,Words(*)

DOWNload 32 bytes to NRAM segment

190 OUTPUT 70900 USING """DIAG:DOWN "",8D,"",# 232"",32(B)";

Addr+ 64,Bytes(*)

Download 64 characters to NRAM segment

200 OUTPUT 70900 USING """DIAG:DOWN "",8D,"",# 264"",64A";

Addr,Chars$

UPLoad 64 characters from NRAM segment

210 OUTPUT 70900 USING """DIAG:UPL? "",8D,"",64""";Addr

220 ENTER 70900 USING "4X,64A";Chars_back$

230 PRINT TAB(5);Chars_back$

UPLoad 32 data bytes from NRAM segment

240 OUTPUT 70900 USING """DIAG:UPL? "",8D,"",32""";Addr+ 64

250 ENTER 70900 USING "4X,32(B)";Bytes_back(*)

260 PRINT Bytes_back(*)

UPLoad 16 data words from NRAM segment

270 OUTPUT 70900 USING """DIAG:UPL? "",8D,"",32""";Addr+ 96

280 ENTER 70900 USING "4X,16(W)";Words_back(*)

290 PRINT Words_back(*)

300 END

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Chapter 5

Downloading Device Drivers

About this Chapter

This chapter describes the procedure for using downloadable device drivers

with the Agilent E1405 Command Module. This functionality was added so that

SCPI capability for new register based devices could be added to the Command

Module without having to update an internal set of ROMs. This chapter

contains the following sections:

•

About this Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

What You Will Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

Memory Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3

Download Program Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4

Downloading Drivers in MS-DOS systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6

Downloading Drivers in IBASIC Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7

Downloading Drivers from Other BASIC Systems . . . . . . . . . . 5-8

Downloading Multiple Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9

Checking Driver Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9

Manually Downloading Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10

What You Will Need

The downloadable device drivers and the software necessary to download the

drivers into Agilent mainframes are provided on 3.5" floppy disks which ship

with the device driver manual. Disks are provided in both LIF and DOS format

for your convenience. Drivers and appropriate downloading software are

provided for use in MS-DOS systems downloading over an RS-232 link and for

use in systems using BASIC or IBASIC (Instrument BASIC) and downloading

over an GPIB (IEEE 488.2) link. The procedures for both types of downloaders

are detailed later in this chapter.

Figure 5-1 shows the files and documents that will be needed for each type of

download supported.

For RS-232 downloads you will need appropriate cables to connect your

computer to the Command Module. If your computer has a 25 pin serial output

connector, you can use an Agilent 24542G cable to make the connection. If your

computer has a 9 pin serial output connector, you can use an Agilent 24542M

and an Agilent 24542H cable (connected end to end) to make the connection.

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GPIB bus

GPIB

Figure 5-1. Driver and Documentation Usage

5-2 Downloading Device Drivers

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Memory

Configuration

Before attempting to download any device drivers you should understand how

memory is affected when you specify a size for one or more types of RAM.

There are three types of RAM that you can allocate in the mainframe:

•

RAM disk (RDISK)

Non-volatile RAM (NRAM)

Driver RAM (DRAM)

Figure 5-2 shows the positioning of these areas in memory. User Non-volatile

RAM and RAM Disk both occupy higher memory addresses than the Driver

RAM. Because the actual size of these three areas is variable, they do not have a

fixed starting position. At creation time, the lowest unused memory address

becomes the starting address for the requested type of RAM. Memory areas set

at higher addresses can be created without affecting any previously created

lower memory areas, but creating a new memory area causes any areas above it

to be removed.

NOTE

If you wish to use RDISK or NRAM, you can modify the configuration file so

that the download program sets up the required memory segments.

FFFFFF_h

System Non-volatile

Instrument Memory

Operating System memory

RAM Disk

Non-volatile User RAM

Driver RAM

Low Memory

The Low Address depends on the amount of memory installed. It is equal to the highest address

plus 1 (1000000_h) minus the size of memory installed. The boot time messages will tell you how

much RAM you have installed in your system. In a system with 512Kbytes of memory the Low

Address is low address = 1000000_h- 80000_h= F80000_h, or 16,252,928 decimal.

Figure 5-2. Positioning of Allocatable RAM

Example If you create a RAM Disk area without creatingany User Non-volatile RAM or

Driver RAM, the starting address for the RAM Disk will be at the lowest address

(F80000_hfor a command module with 512Kbytes of memory). If you now create a

Driver RAM area, the RAM Disk area will be removed since the new area has to be

at a lower address then the RAM Disk area.

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Download Program

Configuration

If you will not be using the default configurations for downloading, you will need

to edit the configuration file to match your system configuration. If the default

values shown below are correct for your setup, you can proceed to the

appropriate downloading instructions.

The configuration defaults for MS-DOS systems are:

•

Download program searches for drivers in current directory.

Execution Log is OFF (log to screen only).

All drivers in current directory will be downloaded.

COM1 is used for output.

Baud rate is 9600.

1 stop bit is used

NRAM size is zero.

RDISK size is zero.

The configuration defaults for GPIB systems are:

•

Download program searches for drivers in current directory.

Execution Log is OFF (log to screen only).

All drivers in current directory will be downloaded.

80900 is used for the interface address when running from IBASIC. 70900

is used as the interface address when running in any BASIC environment

other than IBASIC.

•

NRAM size is zero.

RDISK size is zero.

Editing the The configuration file (VXIDLD.CFG or VXIDLD_CFG) on your driver

distribution disk is shipped with all entries commented out. In this state, the

Configuration File

download programs will use the default values shown above. To activate or

change an entry, you must edit the file manually. The file is set up so that it can

be edited either by a standard text editor or word processor, or with a Basic

language editor. Comments and instructions are included in the file.

•

The beginning of the useful information on each line is the part following

"linenumber REM" (the "linenumber REM" is ignored).

All lines beginning with "# "are comments.

Lines that start with "# # "are intended to remain comments.

Lines that start with "# "are example lines that you may wish to activate

and/or modify. These are the actual configuration statements.

Setting labels are not case sensitive, and should be separated from the

associated value by an equal sign ("= ").

•

Unrecognized settings are ignored.

If you activate more than one line for a setting that can take only one

value, the first value found for the setting will be used.

DIRECTORY= specifies the directory where you store your drivers and where

the driver programs will log information about their progress. The default is the

current directory. The directory specified must be writeable if you are doing

downloads using IBASIC or logging progress.

EXECUTION LOG = specifies the place to log information about the

program’s progress. The default location for this function is the screen. If you

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specify a file name here, the driver downloader will log to the screen and to the

specified file.

DRIVER FILE = specifies the driver file or files to download. The default is to

download all device driver files found in the directory specified by

DIRECTORY = . If the driver downloader finds one line in this format, it will

assume that you are specifying entries and will only download the listed entries.

This configuration item can have multiple lines.

ADDRESS = specifies the I/O interface that you will be using. The default

interface address when running in IBASIC over GPIB is 80900. The default

address when running over GPIB in any other BASIC environment is 70900. The

default address when running in DOS is 1 (for COM1:).

The communication interface you will be using when running from any of the

BASIC environments is the "GPIB"interface (also known as IEEE 488.1).

Selection of a specific GPIB interface consists of an address in the form "sspp00"

where:

ss is the select code of the GPIB interface card.

pp is the primary GPIB address used for the VXI mainframe.

00 is the secondary GPIB address used for the SYSTEM instrument.

The communication interface you will be using when running from DOS is the

"RS-232" interface. When Using the RS-232 interface the serial cable must be

connected to either the built-in RS-232 connection of the VXI mainframe or an

RS-232 module (Agilent E1324A) that is set to interrupt at the default interrupt

level (level 1). Selection of the address for the RS-232 interface consists of an

address that is 1 for COM1 or 2 for COM2:.

BAUD= specifies the baud rate of the transmission if you are using RS-232. The

default is 9600 (which is also the default for the VXI mainframe after a

DIAG:BOOT:COLD command). Allowed values are 300, 1200, 2400, 4800,

7200, or 9600 (19,200 is not supported by DOS).

STOP BITS= specifies the number of stop bits per byte if you are using RS-232.

The default is 1 (which is also the default for the VXI mainframe after a

DIAG:BOOT:COLD command). Allowed values are 1 or 2.

NRAM= specifies the size in bytes of the non-volatile user RAM area you wish

to set up. The default value is zero bytes. You may change this value later

independent of the downloaded drivers, but changing it will always affect any

RAM disk (RDISK) you have specified.

RDISK = specifies the size in bytes of the RAM disk segment you wish to set

up. The default value is zero bytes. You can change this value later without

affecting either the downloaded device drivers or the user non-volatile RAM

(NRAM).

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Downloading

Drivers in MS-DOS

Systems

The device driver download program VXIDLD.EXE provided on the disk with

the driver files for use with an RS-232 interface must be run from MS-DOS. It

will set up the the required device driver memory and any other memory

partitions defined in the configuration file, reboot the system, and download the

device driver. If there are device drivers present, or you already have memory

allocated for NRAM (User Non-volatile RAM) or RDISK (RAM Disk), a

warning will be issued and the downloading process aborted. You must first

clear any existing drivers from the system, and then download all of the required

drivers together. You may redefine any NRAM or RDISK areas after

downloading the device drivers.

1. Make sure that your computer can talk to the E1405 Command Module.

If you have changed the communications protocol for the Command

Module or mainframe, you must change them back to 9600 BAUD, 8

data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity before this download will work

correctly.

These are the defaults after cold boot. If necessary, you can change the

baud rate and number of stop bits in the configuration file, but since the

special formatting required for downloading over RS-232 requires all 8

data bits in each byte, you must make sure that the data bits are set to 8

and parity checking is OFF. The download program handles its own

pacing, so the setting for pacing does not matter.

2. Put the floppy disk into an appropriate drive.

3. Make sure that the floppy disk is your current drive (for example, type

"A:"and press ENTER).

4. Execute the device downloader program (type "VXIDLD"and press

ENTER).

5. The downloader program will check to make sure that there are no

device drivers already loaded, and no memory has been allocated for

NRAM or RDISK. If either condition exists, the program will issue a

warning and abort. If not, it will create the required RAM partitions,

reboot the system, and download the device driver on the supplied disk.

Any errors encountered while downloading will be reported.

6. The download program will check to make sure that the driver has been

downloaded and is in memory.

WARNING

Terminate and Stay Resident programs in your MS-DOS system may

interfere with the timing of RS-232 transfers and cause errors in the

downloading. If you encounter errors indicating that the download

program did not receive back what it expected, and the driver is not

loaded, remove all of your TSRs from memory and try the download

procedure again.

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Downloading

Drivers in GPIB

Systems with

IBASIC

The device driver download program AUTOST provided on the disk with the

driver files for use with GPIB must be run from IBASIC (Instrument Basic). It

will set up the the required device driver memory and any other memory

partitions defined in the configuration file, reboot the system, and download the

device driver. This program will issue a warning and abort if any errors are

encountered. If there are device drivers present, or if you already have memory

allocated for NRAM (User Non-volatile RAM) or RDISK (RAM Disk), you

must first clear any existing drivers from the system, and then download all of

the required drivers together. You may redefine any NRAM or RDISK areas

after downloading the device drivers.

NOTE

If you wish to see the messages that the download program generates, you need

to have a terminal connected to the IBASIC display port. If you have not

changed this from its default value of NONE, messages are sent to the built-in

RS-232 port.

1. Make sure that your Command Module (E1405) is set to System

Controller mode.

2. Put the floppy disk into an appropriate drive.

3. Make sure that the floppy disk is your current drive (for example, type

’MSI ":,700,1"’ and press ENTER).

4. Load the device download program into IBASIC (type ’GET

"AUTOST"’and press ENTER) and run the program (type "RUN"and

press ENTER).

5. The download program will check to make sure that there are no device

drivers already loaded, and no memory has been allocated for NRAM or

RDISK. If either condition exists, the program will issue a warning and

abort. If not, it will create the required RAM partitions, reboot the

system, and download the device driver on the supplied disk.

Any errors encountered while downloading will be reported and will

cause the program to abort.

6. The download program will check to make sure that the driver has been

downloaded and is in memory.

NOTE

If you are using IBASIC but controlling the system over the GPIB, you must put

all commands in quotes and prefix them with "PROG:EXEC". A typical

command would be:

PROG:EXEC ’MSI ":,700,1"’

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Downloading

Drivers in GPIB

Systems with BASIC

The device driver download program VXIDLD_GET provided on the disk with

the driver files for use with GPIB must be run from an BASIC other than

IBASIC. It will set up the the required device driver memory and any other

memory partitions defined in the configuration file, reboot the system, and

download the device driver. If there are device drivers present, or you already

have memory allocated for NRAM (User Non-volatile RAM) or RDISK (RAM

Disk), a warning will be issued and the downloading process aborted. You must

first clear any existing drivers from the system, and then download all of the

required drivers together. You may redefine any NRAM or RDISK areas after

downloading the device drivers.

1. Make sure that your Command Module (E1405) is not set to System

Controller mode.

2. Put the floppy disk into an appropriate drive.

3. Make sure that the floppy disk is your current drive (for example, type

’MSI ":,700,1"’ and press ENTER).

4. Load the device download program into BASIC (type ’GET

"VXIDLD_GET"’and press ENTER) and run the program (type "RUN"

and press ENTER).

5. The download program will check to make sure that there are no device

drivers already loaded, and no memory has been allocated for NRAM or

RDISK. If not, it will create the required RAM partitions, reboot the

system, and download the device driver on the supplied disk.

Any errors encountered while downloading will be reported and will

cause the program to abort.

6. The download program will check to make sure that the device driver was

successfully downloaded.

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Downloading

Multiple Drivers

The driver downloader software automatically checks for the existence of other

drivers when it is run. If there are device drivers present, it will abort the process

and inform you that you must first clear the other device drivers out of the

mainframe and then download all of the required drivers at once. The easiest

way to accomplish this is to place copies of all of the device drivers into a single

directory on your hard disk along with the downloader, or onto the same floppy

disk. The download program will look in its own directory first, and download

any device drivers it finds.

1. Move all of your device drivers into a single directory with the

downloaders.

2. Clear the DRAM memory in the mainframe (send

"DIAG:DRAM:CRE 0"and "DIAG:BOOT"to the System Instrument).

3. Execute or load and run the appropriate device driver software, as

described above.

All device drivers in the directory or on the same floppy disk as the driver

downloader will be downloaded automatically after the system checks to make

sure that there are no other device drivers already loaded. You can change

several aspects of the downloading procedure by editing the configuration file .

Checking Driver

Status

Once your drivers are downloaded, you can use the System Instrument

command DIAG:DRIV:LIST? to check their status. In the format shown, this

command lists all types of drivers. You can specify the type (ALL, RAM or

ROM) by using DIAG:DRIV:LIST:type?

NOTE:

•

DIAG:DRIV:LIST? lists all drivers in the system.

DIAG:DRIV:LIST:RAM? lists all drivers found in the RAM driver table

DRAM. These are the drivers which you just downloaded into the system.

•

DIAG:DRIV:LIST:ROM? lists all drivers found in the ROM driver table.

These drivers are always present in the system. If one of these is meant

for an instrument which also has a driver in RAM, the driver in RAM will

be used by the system.

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Manually

Downloading a

Driverdown manual

Download programs are supplied for use with the system setups described

earlier in this chapter. If you have a system setup that does not allow the use of

one of the supplied download programs (for instance, if you are using a

Macintosh® computer), you will need to manually download the driver. The

details of this process will be different for different system setups, but the basic

procedures are outlined below.

Preparing Memory for Before you can manually download any drivers using either RS-232 or GPIB,

you must define the DRAM (Driver RAM) into which the drivers will be

transferred. DRAM memory is non-volatile.

Manual Downloading

1. Calculate the required total DRAM size. This is the total amount of

memory required by the mainframe for all of the device drivers you are

going to download.

Typical driver size will range from 40Kbytes to 100Kbytes. If you are in

doubt about the amount of memory needed for downloading your device

drivers, use the size of the GPIB driver file (ends in "DU") on the driver

disks. Remember that you must add the amount of memory necessary for

all of the device drivers you plan to download. You can see how much

RAM is available by using the DIAG:DRAM:CRE? MAX, DEF query.

NOTE

Each driver will need additional system RAM at run time. Although this is not

part of the RAM necessary for the DRAM calculations, you should make sure

that you have enough DRAM to download the drivers, and enough system RAM

left after downloading to run the drivers. Most drivers will need less than

15Kbytes of additional RAM (per driver) at run time. If IBASIC is in the

system, it will take at least 150Kbytes to 200Kbytes of system RAM in addition

to the RAM used by the device drivers.

2. Create the appropriate DRAM partition using the DIAG:DRAM:CRE

command. Unless you have more than eight drivers to download, you do

not need to specify the second parameter.

WARNING

Creating this memory partition will delete any NRAM or RDISK

partitions that you have defined, and any data in NRAM or RDISK

memory. You must redefine any such memory blocks after you have

defined the Driver RAM.

3. Reboot the system

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Manually Downloading Manually downloading a driver over GPIB is fairly straightforward. This

discussion assumes that the downloadable device driver has been supplied by

Over GPIB

Agilent. Drivers supplied by Agilent are formatted so that you just need to

transfer the driver to command module memory. You must also have the driver

on media that is accessible to the host computer that will be controlling the

download.

You should send a *RST command and a *CLS command to the SYSTEM

instrument to put it in a known state before beginning your download.

On most computers, a program will be required for the actual download

process. Since the driver file contains the System Instrument command to start

the downloading and the actual data to download, this program just needs to

transfer the bytes in the driver file to the System Instrument, one byte at a time.

This file contains the SCPI command DIAG:DRIV:LOAD followed by the

IEEE 488.2 arbitrary definite block header, and then the actual driver. The

definite block starts with the # character, followed by a single digit that shows

how many digits are in the length field, followed in turn by the length field. For

instance, a block that is 1000 bytes long would have a block header of

# 800001000.

When your transfer program is complete you should send the SCPI query

SYST:ERR? to make sure that there were no errors during the download, and

reboot the system (send DIAG:BOOT). You can make sure that all of your

drivers have been properly loaded into Driver RAM by sending the SCPI

command DIAG:DRIV:LIST:RAM?

Manually Downloading Manually downloading a driver over RS-232 is similar in concept to

downloading over GPIB. Drivers supplied by Agilent are formatted so that you

Over RS-232

just need to transfer them to command module memory. You must also have the

driver on media that is accessible to the host computer that will be controlling

the download.

However, the RS-232 interface of the E1405 uses special control characters

(e.g., < CTRL-C> to implement the equivalent of the GPIB "device clear"

function) that would cause havoc in the download process if sent as part of the

driver. The driver file on the distribution disk that ends in "DC" is specially

formatted for RS-232 downloading to avoid this problem (see Appendix E

"Formatting Binary Data for RS-232" for more information on the data format of

these files).

Transmission Format You need to make sure that the transmission format of your computer matches

the format used at the System Instrument. The default configuration for the

System Instrument after a DIAG:BOOT:COLD command has been issued is

•

9600 BAUD

8 data bits

1 stop bit

Parity checking is OFF

XON/XOFF pacing

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If you are going to use any other setting, you must set up the appropriate settings

in the System Instrument using the following commands

COMM:SER[n]:REC:BAUD < rate>

COMM:SER[n]:REC:SBITS < bits>

DIAG:COMM STOR

sets BAUD rate

sets number of stop bits

saves settings so they will be

kept through a reboot.

NOTE

Because the special formatting for binary files uses all 8 bits, the number of data

bits must be set to 8 and parity checking must remain OFF for the driver files to

transfer properly.

Pacing the Data Since the RS-232 interface is asynchronous, it is possible for the computer that is

doing the download to overrun the System Instrument. This would cause part of

the driver to be lost. To prevent this from happening, you should enable

hardware handshake (either RTS or DTR) or software handshake

(XON/XOFF).

The default configuration for the E1405 Command Module is for software

handshake enabled and hardware handshake disabled. To make sure that

software handshake is enabled for the command module use the

SYST:COMM:SER:PACE? query. To set up software handshake you can use

the following commands:

SYST:COMM:SER:PACE:THR:STOP? MAX

to find the maximum number of characters to fill the input

buffer.

SYST:COMM:SER:PACE:THR:STOP < max-20>

to set the threshold for stopping data to the maximum size of

the input buffer minus 20 characters.

SYST:COMM:SER:PACE:THR:STAR 0

to set the start buffer level to zero. This makes sure that the

input buffer is completely flushed whenever transmissions are

stopped.

SYST:COMM:SER:PACE:XON

to enable the software handshake protocol.

The start threshold is not critical as long as it is less than the stop threshold. The

stop threshold must be set low enough to handle the maximum number of

characters that are likely to be received at the System Instrument after it sends

the XOFF signal.

Hardware handshake can be set up to use either the DTR (Data Terminal

Ready) line or the RTS (Ready to Send) line. These modes can be set with the

SYST:COMM:SER:CONT:DTR IBFULL command (to set for DTR) or

SYST:COMM:SER:CONT:RTS IBFULL command (to set for RTS). You may

wish to turn software handshake OFF using the

SYST:COMM:SER:PACE NONE command, though the system will operate

with both protocols enabled. When the input buffer of the System Instrument is

not full (number of characters in the input buffer is less than the high

threshold), the specified hardware line will be asserted. When either hardware

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handshake mode is enabled, the System Instrument will not transmit characters

when either the CTS (Clear to Send) or the DSR (Data Set Ready) lines are not

asserted. This acts to pace the System Instrument output.

NOTE

The E1405 Command Module RS-232 interface is implemented as a DTE (Data

Terminating Equipment). Since most computer RS-232 interfaces are also

implemented as DTEs, a cable that does line swapping (null modem cable) is

usually used to connect the computer to the instrument. This cable typically

swaps the receive and transmit lines. It will usually connect the DTR line of one

interface to the CTS and DSR lines of the other. It will connect the RTS line of

one interface to the DCD (Data Carrier Detect) line of the other.

CAUTION

The RS-232 interface of the E1405 Command Module will echo any characters

received with an ASCII value greater than 32 and less than 128. Carriage returns

are echoed as carriage return/linefeed. When transferring the driver file, these

echoes can fill up the RS-232 receive buffer of your computer if they are not

read. If receive pacing is enabled for your computer this could cause the

computer to send the "Stop Transmitting"signal to the System Instrument, which

could block the remaining downloaded bytes or other commands sent after the

download. Since the driver file contains command strings and many carriage

returns that will be echoed by the system, your program should read the

returning echo characters from the RS-232 line. This will also let you determine

if there are any error messages coming back.

Transmitting Using a COPY On some computers it is possible to use an RS-232 or GPIB port and the copy

Command

command to transfer the device driver. Hardware or software handshake must

be used by the copy command on the computer doing the downloading, and the

same handshake mode must be enabled on the System Instrument.

1. Set the required handshake mode and data format (e.g., on DOS systems

use the MODE command).

2. Type "COPY filename port" to transfer the file through the RS-232 port

to the System Instrument (e.g., on a DOS system you might use "COPY

/B filename.DC COM1:"). This command may be slightly different

depending on the type of computer being used.

NOTE

Since errors are echoed immediately, this method of transfer has no means of

trapping errors.

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Transmitting Using a CAT On HP-UX systems you can use the cat command to transfer the device driver.

Command

The appropriate device file must exist. All shell commands are assumed to be

executed from either the /bin/sh or /bin/ksh shell.

1. Start a process that opens the device file to be used. This process should

keep the device file open long enough for the transfer to begin. This step

is done so that the following command to set the device file

configurations will remain in effect for the transfer. A command that will

do this is:

(cat < device file > /dev/null; sleep 1000) &

2. Set the required configuration of the device file using the stty command

The following command will set the device file to work with the default

System Instrument configuration.

stty -opost 9600 ixon -ixoff cs8 -cstopb ignpar < device file

3. Transfer the file to the System instrument with the cat command.

cat filename > device file

Transmitting Using Custom If the COPY command on your computer cannot directly implement

Software

handshaking, or if you wish to trap errors and abort or otherwise modify the

transmission process, you must use a program to handle the download process.

This procedure assumes that your computer has some means of looking at data

being echoed from the System Instrument, and can check for a return character

without having to have a character returned. Since the actual driver file bytes

sent over the RS-232 interface are not echoed, the lack of ability to do this

would put the system into an infinite wait at the first byte that was not echoed.

1. Set up the appropriate handshake mode and data format on your system,

and the matching handshake mode in the System Instrument.

2. Transfer the driver file over the RS-232 interface using a program that

follows the outline in figure 5-3.

Check Driver Status Make sure that the drivers were properly downloaded by checking their status

using the DIAG:DRIV:LIST:RAM? command. This will give you a list of all the

drivers currently found in DRAM.

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Figure 5-3. Manually Downloading a Device Driver

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Chapter 6

Controlling Instruments Using GPIB

About this Chapter

This chapter shows how to control instruments in the mainframe from an

external computer using IEEE 488.2 Common Commands and the GPIB

interface. This includes how to monitor instrument status, interrupt the

computer, and synchronize one or more instruments to an external computer.

Command references for the supported IEEE 488.2 Common Commands and

IEEE 488.2 GPIB Messages are located near the end of this chapter. This

chapter contains the following sections:

•

Programming Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

Instrument Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2

Clearing Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10

Interrupting the External Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10

Synchronizing an External Computer and Instruments. . . . . . 6-12

Note

Examples that require showing a computer language are written for HP 9000

Series 200/300 Computers using BASIC language.

Programming Hints

•

Only one instrument in the mainframe can be the addressed listener (i.e.,

receiving commands) on the GPIB at any one time.

After executing a query command (any command that generates data),

do not attempt to execute another command until you have read the data

generated by the query command. Doing so causes the -410: Query

INTERRUPTED error. You can however, send a command following a

query command if they are combined in the same command string (joined

by semicolon and colon).

•

Instruments in the mainframe have 128 character input buffers. Do not

send a command string containing a query command that is longer than

128 characters. Doing so may cause a deadlock situation which can only

be resolved by setting a timeout on the computer’s enter statements and

then reading the error(s) after the timeout occurs.

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Status System

Structure

The instrument status structure monitors important events for an instrument

such as when an error occurs or when a reading is available. All instruments

have the following status groups and registers within those groups:

•

Status Byte Status Group

– status byte register

– service request enable register

Standard Event Status Group

– standard event status register

– standard event status enable register

Operation Status Group

– condition register

– event register

– enable register

•

Questionable Data Status Group

– condition register

– event register

– enable register

You read and configure the registers in the Status Byte and Standard Event

groups using Common Commands. These are the most commonly used

instrument registers. The registers in the Standard Operation Status group and

Questionable Data status group are configured using the commands in the

STATus subsystem.

NOTE

The Status Byte, Standard Event, and Operation Status groups are the only

groups covered in this chapter. The Questionable Data status group is

supported by the system instrument (Command Module) but is not used by the

system instrument. Commands affecting this status group (Chapter 5) are

accepted but have no effect.

Refer to the STATus subsystem in the Command Reference of the individual

plug-in module manuals to determine how a module uses the Operation Status

group and Questionable Data status groups. If the STAT:OPER or

STAT:QUES commands are not documented in the plug-in module manual,

that module does not use the registers.

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The Status Byte As shown in Figure 4-1, the Status Byte register is the highest-level register in

the status structure. This register contains bits which summarize information

from the other status groups.

NOTE

The bits in the other status group registers must be specifically enabled to be

reported in the Status Byte register. Refer to "Unmasking Standard Event Status

Bits"(later in this chapter) for more information.

Status Byte Register

Bit 0 Instrument Specific

Bit 1 Instrument Specific

Bit 2 Instrument Specific

Bit 3 Questionable Data Summary Bit

Bit 4 Message Available

Bit 5 Standard Event Summary Bit

Bit 6 Service Request

Bit 7 Operation Status Summary Bit

Operation Status Group

Standard Event Status Group

Questionable Data Status Group (not used)

Figure 6-1. Status Structure

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Table 4-1 shows each of the Status Byte register bits and describes the event that

will set each bit.

Table 4-1. Status Byte Register

Bit

Decimal

Number Weight Description

Instrument Specific (not used by most instruments)

Questionable Data Status Group Summary Bit. One or more events

in the Questionable Data Status group have occurred and set

bit(s) in those registers.

Message Available. The instrument’s output queue contains

information. This bit can be used to synchronize data exchange

with an external computer. For example, you can send a query

command to the instrument and then wait for this bit to be set.

The GPIB is then available for other use while the program is

waiting for the instrument to respond.

Standard Event Status Group Summary Bit. One or more enabled

events in the Standard Event Status Register have occurred and

set bit(s) in that register.

Service Request--Service is requested by the instrument and the

GPIB SRQ line is set true. This bit will be set when any other bit

of the Status Byte Register is set and has been enable to assert

SRQ by the *SRE command.

128

Operation Status Group Summary Bit. One or more events in the

Operation Status Group have occurred and set bit(s) in those

registers.

Reading the Status You can read the Status Byte register using either the *STB? command or an

GPIB serial poll. Both methods return the decimal weighted sum of all set bits in

Byte Register

the register. The difference between the two methods is that *STB? does not

clear bit 6 (Service Request); serial poll does clear bit 6. No other status register

bits are cleared by either method with the exception of the Message Available

bit (bit 4) which may be cleared as a result of reading the response to *STB?. In

addition, using an GPIB serial poll lets you read the status byte without

interrupting the instrument parser. The *STB? method requires the instrument

to process the command. This can generate interrupt query errors if the

instrument is executing another query.

The following program uses the *STB? command to read the contents of the

system instrument’s (Command Module’s) Status Byte register.

10 OUTPUT 70900;"*STB?"

20 ENTER 70900; A

30 PRINT A

Read Status Byte Register

Enter weighted sum

Print weighted sum

40 END

For example, assume bit 3 (weight = 8) and bit 7 (weight = 128) are set. The

above program returns the sum of the two weights (136).

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The following program reads the system instrument’s Status Byte register using

the GPIB Serial Poll command.

10 P= SPOLL(70900)

Read Status Byte Register using

Serial Poll, place weighted sum

in P

20 PRINT P

30 END

Print weighted sum

Service Request The Service Request Enable register is used to "unmask"bits in the Status Byte

request is sent to the computer over GPIB.

Enable Register

The command used to unmask Status Byte register bits is:

*SRE < mask>

where < mask> is the decimal weight of the bit to be unmasked, or is the sum

of the decimal weights if multiple bits are to be unmasked. For example,

executing:

*SRE 16

unmasks the message available (MAV) bit in the Status Byte register. Sending:

*SRE 48

unmasks the message available (MAV) and event status bit (ESB).

You can determine which bits in the Status Byte register are unmasked by

sending the command:

*SRE?

This command returns the decimal weighted sum of all unmasked bits.

The Service Note that the Service Request bit (bit 6) in the Status Byte register does not

have a mask. Bit 6 is set any time another Status Byte register bit is set. If the

other bit which is set is unmasked, a service request is generated.

Request Bit

Clearing the Service The Service Request Enable register mask is cleared (each bit masked except

bit 6) by sending the command:

Request Enable

*SRE 0

If *PSC 1 has been executed, the Service Request Enable register mask is

cleared when power is cycled. If *PSC 0 has been executed, the mask is

unchanged when power is cycled. (*PSC? queries the setting.)

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Standard Event Status The Standard Event Status Register in the Standard Event status group

monitors the instrument status events shown in Table 4-2. When one of these

events occurs, it sets a corresponding bit in the Standard Event Status Register.

NOTE

The Standard Event Status Register bits are not reported in the Status Byte

to the section "Unmasking Standard Event Status Bits"for more information.

Table 4-2. Standard Event Status Register

Bit

Decimal

Number Weight Description

Operation Complete. The instrument has completed all pending

operations. This bit is set in response to the *OPC command.

Request Control. An instrument is requesting permission to become

the active GPIB controller.

Query Error. A problem has occurred in the instrument’s output

queue.

Device Dependent Error. An instrument operation did not

complete possibly because of an abnormal hardware or firmware

condition (overload occurred, self-test failure, loss of calibration

or configuration memory, etc.)

Execution Error. The instrument cannot do the operation(s)

requested by a command.

Command Error. The instrument cannot understand or execute the

command.

User Request. The instrument is under local (front panel) control.

128

Power-On. Power has been applied to the instrument. You must

execute the *PSC 0 command to the System Instrument to allow

this bit to remain enabled when power is cycled. See the *PSC

command later in this chapter for an example.

8-15

Reserved for future use (always return zero).

Unmasking Standard To allow any of the Standard Event Status register bits to set bit 5 (ESB) of the

Status Byte register, you must first unmask the bit(s) using the Standard Event

Status Enable register with the command:

Event Status Bits

*ESE

For example, suppose your application requires an interrupt whenever any type

of error occurs. The error related bits in the Standard Event Status register are

bits 2 through 5. The sum of the decimal weights of these bits is 60. You can

enable any one of these bits to set bit 5 in the Status Byte Register by sending:

*ESE 60

If you want to generate a service request following any one of these errors, you

can do so by unmasking bit 5 (ESB) in the Status Byte register:

*SRE 32

*ESE 60

Now, whenever an error occurs, it will set one of the bits 2 - 5 in the Standard

Event Status register which will set bit 5 in the Status Byte register. Since bit 5 is

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unmasked, an GPIB service request (SRQ) will be generated. ("Interrupting the

External Computer", later in this chapter contains an example program which

demonstrates this sequence).

Note that the Standard Event Status Register bits that are not unmasked still

respond to their corresponding conditions. They do not, however, set bit 5 in the

Status Byte Register.

Reading the Standard You can determine which bits in the Standard Event Status register are

unmasked with the command:

Event Status Enable

*ESE?

This command returns the decimal weighted sum of all unmasked bits.

The Standard Event Status Enable register is cleared (all bits masked) by

sending the command:

*ESE 0

Reading the Standard You can determine which bits in the Standard Event Status register are set using

the command:

Event Status Register

*ESR?

This command returns the decimal weighted sum of all set bits. *ESR? clears

the register. *CLS also clears the register.

Both of these commands return the decimal weighted sum of all set or enabled

bits.

Operation Status The registers in the Standard Operation Status Group provide information

about the state of measurement functions within an instrument. These functions

are represented by bits in the Condition register which is described in Table 4-3.

Group

The System Instrument (Command Module) only uses bit 8 in the Condition

DIAGnostic:INTerrupt commands has occurred and has been acknowledged.

NOTE

The registers in the Operation Status Group and the DIAGnostic:INTerrupt

commands are only used when, for a specific VXIbus interrupt line, it is

necessary to replace the operating system’s interrupt service routine with the

System Instrument’s service routine. Agilent VXIbus devices used with the

Command Module use the operating system service routine. The VXIbus

interrupt line that is used by these devices (primarily line 1), should not be used

with the DIAGnostic:INTerrupt commands.

The DIAGnostic:INTerrupt commands are covered in Chapter 5.

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Table 4-3. Operation Status Group - Condition Register

Bit

Decimal

Number Weight Description

Calibrating

Settling

Ranging

Sweeping

128

256

Measuring

Waiting for TRG

Waiting for ARM

Correcting

Interrupt acknowledged (System Instrument)

Instrument Dependent

Reserved

9-12

13-14

Always zero

Reading the When an event monitored by the Condition register has occurred or is

occurring, a corresponding bit in the register is set. The bit which is set can be

Condition Register

determined with the command:

STATus:OPERation:CONDition?

The data which is returned is the decimal weighted sum of the set bit. Since bit 8

is the only bit used by system instrument, 256 is returned if the bit is set.

Bit 8 in the Condition register is cleared with the command:

DIAGnostic:INTerrupt:RESPonse?

Unmasking the When a condition monitored by the condition register occurs, a corresponding

bit in the Operation Status Group Event register is automatically set. In order

for this condition to generate a service request, the bit in the Event register must

be unmasked using the Operation Status Group Enable register. This is done

using the command:

Operation Event

STATus:OPERation:ENABle < event>

where event is the decimal weight of the bit to be unmasked. Since the system

instrument only uses bit 8, the only useful value of event is 256.

When bit 8 is set and is unmasked, it sets bit 7 in the Status Byte register in the

Status Byte Group.

Bits in the Operation Status Group Event register which are unmasked can be

determined with the command:

STATus:OPERation:ENABle?

The command returns the decimal weighted sum of the unmasked bit(s).

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Bits in the Operation Status Group Event register which are set can be

determined with the command:

STATus:OPERation:EVENt?

This command returns the decimal weighted sum of the set bit(s).

Clearing the Operation Bits in the Operation Status Group Event register are cleared with the

command:

Event Register Bits

STATus:OPERation:EVENt?

or the bits can be cleared with the command:

*CLS

The Operation Status Group Enable register is cleared (all bits masked) by

sending the command:

STATus:OPERation:ENABle 0

Using the Operation The following example shows the sequence of commands used to setup and

respond to an interrupt using the system instrument interrupt servicing routine.

Status Group Registers

NOTE

An interrupt handler must be assigned to handle the interrupt on the VXIbus

backplane interrupt line specified. See "Interrupt Line Allocation" in Chapter 2

for more information.

!Call computer subprogram Intr_resp when a service request

! is received due to an interrupt on a VXIbus backplane

! interrupt line.

ON INTR 7 CALL Intr_resp

ENABLE INTR 7;2

!Unmask bit 7 in the Status Byte register so that a service

! request (SRQ) will occur when an interrupt occurs.

!Unmask bit 8 in the Operation Status Group Enable register

!so that when the interrupt occurs it will set bit 7 in the

!Status Byte register.

OUTPUT 70900; "*SRE 128"

OUTPUT 70900; "STAT:OPER:ENAB 256"

!Set up interrupt line 5 and enable interrupt response data

!to be generated.

OUTPUT 70900; "DIAG:INT:SETUP5 ON"

OUTPUT 70900; "DIAG:INT:ACT ON"

. (Program which executes until interrupt occurs)

!Computer service request routine which does an SPOLL

!to determine the cause of the interrupt, then reads

!(and clears) the Operation Event register to determine which

!event occurred, and then reads the interrupt acknowledge

! response (which also clears condition register bit 8).

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SUB Intr_resp

B= SPOLL(70900)

OUTPUT 70900; "STAT:OPER:EVEN?"

ENTER 70900; E

OUTPUT 70900; "DIAG:INTR:RESP?"

ENTER 70900; R

SUBEND

Clearing Status

The *CLS command clears all status registers (Standard Event Status Register,

Standard Operation Status Event Register, Questionable Data Status Event

summary bits (bits 3, 5, & 7) and the instrument-specific bits (bits 0, 1, & 2) in

the Status Byte Register. *CLS does not affect which bits are enabled to be

reflected in the Status Byte Register or enabled to assert SRQ.

Interrupting an

External Computer

When a bit in the status byte register is set and has been enabled to assert SRQ

(*SRE command), the instrument sets the GPIB SRQ line true. Interrupts can

be used to alert an external computer to suspend its present operation and find

out what service the instrument requires. (Refer to your computer/language

manuals for information on how to program the computer to respond to the

interrupt.)

To allow any of the status byte register bits to set the SRQ line true, you must

first enable the bit(s) with the *SRE command. For example, suppose your

application requires an interrupt whenever a message is available in the

instrument’s output queue (status byte register bit 4). The decimal weight of this

bit is 16. You can enable bit 4 to assert SRQ by sending:

*SRE 16

NOTE

You can determine which bits are enabled in the Status Register using *SRE?.

This command returns the decimal weighted sum of all enabled bits.

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Example: Interrupting when an Error Occurs

This program shows how to interrupt an external computer whenever an error

occurs for the instrument being programmed which, in this example, is a

multimeter at secondary address 03.

10 OPTION BASE 1

!A rray num bering starts with 1

20 ON INTR 7 CALL Errmsg

!When SRQ occurs on interface 7, call subprogram

30 ENABLE INTR 7;2

!Enable SRQ interrupt, interface 7

40 OUTPUT 70903;"*SRE 32"

!Enable bit 5 (Standard Event Status Bit) in Status Byte

50 OUTPUT 70903;"*ESE 60"

!Enable error bits (bits 2-5) in Standard Event Status Register

to be reflected

! in Status Byte Register

60 OUTPUT 70903;"MEAS:TEMP? TC,T,(@104)"

!Measure temperature with voltmeter

70 WAIT 2

80 ENTER 70903;Tmp_rdg

90 PRINT Tmp_rdg

100 END

!Enter temperature reading

!Print temperature reading

110 SUB Errmsg

120 DIM Message$[256]

130 CLEAR 70903

140 B= SPOLL(70903)

!Serial poll multimeter (clears SRQ)

150 REPEAT

!Create array for error m essage

!Clear multimeter

!Repeat next 3 lines until error number = 0

160

170

180

OUTPUT 70903;"SYST:ERR?"

!Read error from queue

ENTER 70903;Code,Message$ !Enter error num ber & m essage

PRINT Code,Message$

!Print error num ber & m essage

!Clear status structures

190 UNTIL Code= 0

200 OUTPUT 70903;"*CLS"

210 STOP

220 SUBEND

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Synchronizing an

External Computer

and Instruments

The *OPC? and *OPC commands (operation complete commands) allow you

to maintain synchronization between an external computer and an instrument.

The *OPC? query places an ASCII character 1 into the instrument’s output

queue when all pending instrument operations are finished. By requiring the

computer to read this response before continuing program execution, you can

ensure synchronization between one or more instruments and an external

computer.

The *OPC command sets bit 0 (Operation Complete Message) in the Standard

Event Status Register when all pending instrument operations are finished. By

enabling this bit to be reflected in the Status Byte Register, you can ensure

synchronization using the GPIB serial poll function.

Example: Synchronizing an External Computer and Two Instruments

using the OPC? query.

This example uses a D to A Converter module (DAC) at secondary address 09

and a Scanning Voltmeter at secondary address 03. The application requires the

DAC to output a voltage to a device under test. After the voltage is applied, the

voltmeter measures the response from the device under test. The *OPC?

command ensures that the voltage measurement will be made only after the

voltage is applied by the DAC.

10 OUTPUT 70909;"SOUR:VOLT1 5;*OPC?"

!Configure DAC to output 5 volts on channel 1; place 1 in

output

!queue when done

20 ENTER 70909;A

!Wait for *OPC? response

30 OUTPUT 70903;"MEAS:VOLT:DC? (@104)"

!Measure DC voltage on device under test

40 ENTER 70903;A

!Enter voltage reading

50 PRINT A

!Print reading

60 END

6-12 Controlling Instruments Using GPIB

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Example: Synchronizing an External Computer and Two Instruments

using the *OPC command.

This example uses the *OPC command and serial poll to synchronize an

external computer and two instruments (DAC at secondary address 09;

Scanning Voltmeter at secondary address 03). The advantage to using this

method over *OPC? query method is that the computer can do other operations

while it is waiting for the instrument(s) to complete operations. When using this

method, the Operation Complete bit (bit 0) must be the only enabled bit in the

Standard Event Status Register (*ESE 1 command). If other bits (such as error

bits) are enabled, you must make sure that bit 0 causes the interrupt.

10 OUTPUT 70909;"*CLS"

!Clear all status structures on instrument at secondary address

20 OUTPUT 70909;"*ESE 1"

!Enable Operation Complete to be reflected in bit 5 of the

Status Byte Register

30 OUTPUT 70909;"SOUR:VOLT1 5;*OPC"

!Configure instrument # 1, set Operation Complete bit when

done

40 WHILE NOT BIT(SPOLL(70909),5)

!While waiting for bit 5 in instrument’s Status Byte Register to

be set,

!computer can do other operations

50 !(Computer does other operations here)

60 END WHILE

70 OUTPUT 70903;"MEAS:VOLT:DC? (@104)"

!Measure DC voltage using instrument # 2

80 END

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Chapter 7

System Instrument Command Reference

About This Chapter

This chapter describes the Standard Commands for Programmable

Instruments (SCPI) command set and the IEEE 488.2 Common Commands for

the System Instrument. The System Instrument is part of the Agilent

E1300/E1301 Mainframe’s internal control processor and is therefore always

present in a Mainframe. This chapter contains the following sections:

•

Command Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

SCPI Command Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4

Common Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-65

GPIB Message Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-72

Command Quick Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-75

Command Types

Commands are separated into two types: IEEE 488.2 Common Commands and

SCPI Commands.

Common Command The IEEE 488.2 standard defines the Common commands that perform

functions like reset, self-test, status byte query, etc. Common commands are four

Format

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, *ESE < mask> , *STB?

SCPI Command Format The SCPI commands perform functions like closing switches, making

measurements, and querying instrument states or retrieving data. A subsystem

command structure is a hierarchical structure that usually consists of a top level

(or root) command, one or more lower level commands, and their parameters.

The following example shows part of a typical subsystem:

[ROUTe:]

CLOSe < channel_list>

SCAN < channel_list>

:MODE?

ROUTe: is the root command, CLOSe and SCAN are second level commands

with parameters, and :MODE? is a third level command.

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Command Separator A colon (:) always separates one command from the next lower level command

as shown below:

ROUTe:SCAN:MODE?

Colons separate the root command from the second level command

(ROUTe:SCAN) and the second level from the third level (SCAN:MODE?).

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 MEASure, then MEAS and

MEASURE are both acceptable forms. Other forms of MEASure, such as

MEASU or MEASUR will generate an error. You may use upper or lower case

letters. Therefore, MEASURE, measure, and MeAsUrE are all acceptable.

Implied Commands Implied commands appear in square brackets ([ ]) in the command syntax. (The

brackets are not part of the command, and are not sent to the instrument.)

Suppose you send a second level command but do not send the preceding

implied command. In this case, the instrument assumes you intend to use the

implied command and it responds as if you had sent it. Examine the SOURce

subsystem shown below:

[SOURce:]

PULSe

:COUNt

:COUNt?

:PERiod

:PERiod?

The root command SOURce: is an implied command. To set the instrument’s

pulse count to 25, you can send either of the following command statements:

SOUR:PULS:COUN 25

PULS:COUN 25

Variable Command Syntax Some commands have what appears to be a variable syntax. For example:

DIAG:INT:SETup[n]? and SYST:COMM:SERial[n]:BAUD?

In these commands, the "n"is replaced by a number. No space is left between

the command and the number because the number is not a parameter. The

number is part of the command syntax. The purpose of this notation is to save a

great deal of space in the command reference. In the case of … SETup[n], n

could range from 1 through 7. In … SERial[n]… , n can be from 0 through 7. You

can send the command without the [n] and a default value will be used by the

instrument. Some examples:

DIAG:INT:SETUP2?, DIAG:INT:PRI2 5, SYST:COMM:SER1:BAUD 9600

Parameters Parameter Types. The following list contains explanations and examples of

parameter types you will see later in this chapter.

•

Numeric Parameters are commonly used decimal representations of

numbers including optional signs, decimal points, and scientific notation

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(e.g., 123, 123E2, -123, -1.23E2, .123, 1.23E-2, 1.23000E- 01). Special

cases include MIN, MAX, and INFinity. The Comments section within

the Command Reference will state whether a numeric parameter can also

be specified in hex, octal, and/or binary. # H7B, # Q173, # B1111011

•

Boolean parameters represent a single binary condition that is either true

or false (e.g., ON, OFF, 1, 0). Any non-zero value is considered true.

Discreet parameters select from a finite number of values. These

parameters use mnemonics to represent each valid setting. An example is

the TRIGger:SOURce < source> command where source can be BUS,

EXT, HOLD, or IMM.

Arbitraty Block Program Data parameters are used to transfer blocks of

data in the form of bytes. The block of data bytes is preceded by a

preamble which indicates either 1) the number of data bytes which

follow, or 2) that the following data block will be terminated upon receipt

of a New Line message with the EOI signal true. The syntax is:

Definite Length Block

# < non-zero digit> < digit(s)> < data byte(s)>

Where the value of < non-zero digit> equals the number of

< digit(s)> . The value of < digit(s)> taken as a decimal integer

indicates the number of < data byte(s)> in the block.

Indefinite Length Block

# 0< data byte(s)> < NL^ END>

Examples of sending 4 data bytes:

# 14< byte> < byte> < byte> < byte>

# 3004< byte> < byte> < byte> < byte>

# 0< byte> < byte> < byte> < byte> < NL^ END>

Optional Parameters. Parameters shown within square brackets ([ ]) are

optional parameters. (Note that the brackets are not part of the command, and

are not sent to the instrument.) If you do not specify a value for an optional

parameter, the instrument chooses a default value. For example, consider the

ARM:COUNt? [< MIN| MAX> ] command. If you send the command without

specifying a parameter, the present ARM:COUNt value is returned. If you send

the MIN parameter, the command returns the minimum count available. If you

send the MAX parameter, the command returns the maximum count available.

Be sure to place a space between the command and the parameter.

Linking Commands Linking IEEE 488.2 Common Commands with SCPI Commands. Use a

semicolon between the commands. For example:

*RST;OUTP ON

TRIG:SOUR HOLD;*TRG

Linking Multiple SCPI commands. Use both a semicolon and a colon between

the commands. For example:

ARM:COUN 1;:TRIG:SOUR EXT

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ABORt

SCPI Command

Reference

This section describes the SCPI commands for the System Instrument.

Commands are listed alphabetically by subsystem and also within each

subsystem. A command guide is printed in the top margin of each page. The

guide indicates the first command listed on that page.

ABORt

The ABORT subsystem is a part of the System Instrument’s trigger system.

ABORT resets the trigger system from its Wait For Trigger state to its Idle state

and aborts any pacer pulse train in progress. ABORt performs the opposite

function of the INITiate:IMMediate command. INITiate enables the trigger

system, while ABORt disables it.

Subsystem Syntax ABORt

Comments

•

ABORt does not affect any other settings of the trigger system. When the

INITiate command is sent, the trigger system will respond just as it did

before the ABORt command was sent.

•

Related Commands: INITiate, TRIGger

*RST Condition: ABORT

Example Stopping Pacer pulses with ABORT

TRIG:SOUR HOLD

trigger source is TRIG

command

SOUR:PULS:COUN 1E3

output 1000 Pacer pulses

pulse period set to .1 second

go to Wait For Trigger state

SOUR:PULS:PER .1 S

INIT

TRIG

trigger the Pacer to output

pulses

ABORT

go to T rigger-Idle state and stop

Pacer pulses

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DIAGnostic

The DIAGnostic subsystem allows control over the System Instrument’s internal

processor system (:BOOT, and :INTerrupt), the allocation and contents of User

RAM, and, disc volume RAM (:NRAM, and :RDISk), and allocation of the

built-in serial interface (:COMM:SER:OWNer).

Subsystem Syntax DIAGnostic

:BOOT

:COLD

[:WARM]

:COMMunicate

:SERial[0]

[:OWNer] [SYSTem| IBASic| NONE]

[:OWNer]?

:SERial[n]

:STORe

:DOWNload

:CHECked

[:MADDress] < address> ,< data>

:SADDress < address> ,< data>

[:MADDress] < address> ,< data>

:SADDress < address> ,< data>

:DRAM

:AVAIlable?

:CREate < size> < num_drivers>

:CREate? < MIN| MAX> ,< MIN| MAX| DEF>

:DRIVer

:LOAD < driver_block>

:CHECked < driver_block>

:LIST

:ALL?

:RAM?

:ROM?

:INTerrupt

:ACTivate [ON| OFF| 1| 0]

:SETup[n] [ON| OFF| 1| 0]

:SETUP[n]?

:PRIority[n] [< priority> | MIN| MAX| DEF]

:PRIority[n]? [MIN| MAX| DEF]

:RESPonse?

:NRAM

:ADDRess?

:CREate < size> | MIN| MAX

:CREate? [MAX MIN]

:PEEK? < address> ,< width>

:POKE < address> ,< width> ,< data>

:RDISk

:ADDress?

:CREate < size> | MIN| MAX

:CREate? [MIN| MAX]

:UPLoad

[:MADDress]? < address> ,< byte_count>

SADDress? < address> ,< byte_count>

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DIAGnostic:BOOT:COLD

:BOOT:COLD DIAGnostic:BOOT:COLD causes the System Instrument to restart (re-boot).

Configurations stored in non-volatile memory and RS-232 configurations are

reset to their default states:

•

DRAM, NRAM, and RDISk memory segments are cleared

Serial Interface parameters set to:

– BAUD 9600

– BITS 8

– PARity NONE

– SBITs 1

– DTR ON

– RTS ON

– PACE XON

•

Serial 0 Owner = system

NOTE

Resetting the serial interface parameters takes about 0.01 seconds for the

built-in serial port and 0.75 seconds per serial plug-in card. While this is taking

place the System Instrument will still respond to serial polls. If you are using a

serial poll to determine when the cold boot cycle is complete, you should insert a

delay of 1 second per plug-in serial card (E1324) before polling the system

instrument. This will prevent incorrectly determining that the system instrument

has completed its boot cycle.

Comments

•

The System Instrument goes through its power-up self tests.

Related Commands: DIAG:BOOT:WARM

Example Re-booting the System Instrument (cold)

DIAG:BOOT:COLD

force boot

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DIAGnostic :BOOT[:WARM]

:BOOT[:WARM] DIAGnostic:BOOT[:WARM] causes the System Instrument to restart (re-boot)

using the current configuration stored in non-volatile memory. The effect is the

same as cycling power.

Comments

•

The System Instrument goes through its power-up self tests.

The non-volatile system state is used for configuration wherever

applicable.

•

Related Commands: DIAG:BOOT:COLD

Example Booting the System Instrument (warm)

DIAG:BOOT:WARM

force boot

:COMMunicate DIAGnostic:COMMunicate:SERial[0][:OWNer] < owner > Allocates the

built-in serial interface to the System Instrument, the optional IBASIC

interpreter, or to neither.

:SERial[0][:OWNer]

Parameters

Comments

Parameter

Name

Parameter

Type

Range of

Values

Default

Units

owner

discrete

SYSTem| IBASic| NONE

none

•

While the serial interface is allocated to the Command Module

(SYSTem), it can function as the mainframe user interface when

connected to a terminal or computer running terminal emulation

software.

When the built-in serial interface is allocated to IBASIC, it is controlled

only by IBASIC. The serial interface is given a select code of 9, and any

RS-232 device connected to the (Command Module) RS-232 port is

programmed accordingly.

•

If the built-in serial interface is not needed, specifying NONE will release

memory for use by other instruments.

Once the new serial interface owner has been specified

(DIAG:COMM:SER:OWN), the change will not take effect until you

re-boot (warm) the system.

•

Related Commands: DIAGnostic:COMMunicate:SERial[:OWNer]

Example Give the serial interface to IBASIC.

DIAG:COMM:SER IBAS

DIAG:BOOT:WARM

Note; :OWNer is implied

Complete the allocation

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DIAGnostic:COMMunicate :SERial[0][:OWNer]?

:COMMunicate DIAGnostic:COMMunicate:SERial[0][:OWNer]? Returns the current "owner"

of the built-in serial interface. The values returned will be; "SYST", "IBAS", or

"NO NE ".

:SERial[0][:OWNer]?

Comments

•

Related Commands: DIAGnostic:SERial[:OWNer]

Example Determine which instrument has the serial interface.

DIAG:COMM:SER?

Note; :OWNer is implied

enter statement

statement returns the string

SYST, IBAS, or NONE

:COMMunicate DIAGnostic:COMMunicate:SERial[n]:STORe Stores the serial

communications parameters (e.g. BAUD, BITS, PARity etc.) into non-volatile

storage for the serial interface specified by [n] in SERial[n].

:SERial[n]:STORe

Comments

•

Until … STORe is executed, communication parameter values are stored

in volatile memory, and a power failure will cause the settings to be lost.

DIAG:COMM:SER(1-7):STOR causes an Agilent E1324A (B-size

RS-232 card) to store its settings in an on-board EEROM. This EEROM

write cycle takes nearly one second to complete. Wait for this operation

to complete before attempting to use that serial interface.

•

The Agilent E1324A’s EEROM used to store its serial communication

settings has a finite lifetime of approximately ten thousand write cycles.

Even if your application program sent the … STORe command once

every day, the lifetime of the EEROM would still be over 27 years.

Be careful that your application program sends the … STORe command

to an Agilent E1324A no more often than is necessary.

•

Related Commands: all SYST:COMM:SER[n]… commands

Example Store the serial communications settings in the third Agilent E1324A.

DIAG:COMM:SER3:STOR

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DIAGnostic :DOWNload:CHECked [:MADDress]

:DOWNload:CHECked DIAGnostic:CHECked:DOWNload[:MADDress] < address> ,< data> writes

data into a non-volatile User RAM segment starting at address using error

correction. The User RAM segment is allocated by the DIAG:NRAM:CREate

or DIAG:DRAM:CREate command.

[:MADDress]

Parameters

Comments

Parameter

Name

Parameter

Type

Range of

Values

Default

Units

address

data

numeric

0 to 16,777,215 (# HFFFFFE)

none

arbitrary block

program data

See "Parameter Types", in the

beginning of this chapter

•

This command is typically used to send a block of data to a block of user

RAM. It is the only way to send binary data to multiple addresses over a

serial (RS232C) line.

CAUTION: Be certain that all of the data you download will be contained

entirely within the allocated NRAM segment. Writing data outside of the

NRAM segment will disrupt the operation of the Command Module.

Most computers terminate an OUTPUT, PRINT, or WRITE statement

with a carriage return or carriage return and line feed. These

End-Of-Line characters must be either accounted for (NRAM segment

sized to accommodate them), or suppressed using an appropriate

IMAGE or FORMAT statement. Some helpful methods:

– Size the NRAM segment a little larger than the expected data block

– Control the End-Of-Line characters with format statements.

– Use the Definite Length Arbitrary Block Program Data format (see

example) to send your data rather than the Indefinite Length

Arbitrary Block Program Data format.

•

Address may be specified in decimal, hex (# H), octal (# Q), or binary

(# B) formats. DOWNload is done by word (16 bit) access so address

must be even.

Be certain that address specifies a location within the User RAM

segment allocated using DIAG:NRAM:CREate if you are downloading a

configuration table. DIAG:DOWNload can change the contents of

System RAM causing unpredictable results.

•

This command can also be used to write data to a device with registers in

the A16 address space. See :DOWNload:SADDress.

Related Commands: DIAG:NRAM:CREate, DIAG:NRAM:ADDRess?,

DIAG:UPLoad?, VXI:CONF:CTABle, VXI:CONF:DCTable,

VXI:CONF:ITABle, VXI:CONF:MTABle

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DIAGnostic:DOWNload:CHECked [:MADDress]

Byte Format Each byte sent with this command is expected to be in the following format:

Bit #

Control Bit

Check Bits

Data Bits

•

Control Bit is used to indicate the serial driver information such as clear,

reset, or end of transmission. This bit is ignored by the regular 488.2

driver . The control bit should be one for regular data.

•

Check Bits are used to detect and correct a single bit error. The control

bit is not included in the check. The check bits are a Hamming single bit

error correction code, as specified by the following table:

Data Value

Check Bits

•

Data bits are the actual data being transferred (four bits at a time). Each

word to be written requires four data bytes for transmission. The

significance of the data is dependant on the order received. The first data

byte received contains the most significant nibble of the 16 bit word to be

written (bits 15-12) . The next data byte received contains the least

significant nibble of the most significant byte of the word (bits 11-8). The

third data byte received contains the most significant nibble of the least

significant byte of the word (bits 7-4). The fourth data byte received

contains the least significant nibble of the least significant byte of the

word to be written (bits 3-0). Once all four bytes have been received the

word will be written.

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DIAGnostic :DOWNload:CHECked :SADDress

:DOWNload:CHECked DIAGnostic:CHECked:DOWNload:SADDress < address> ,< data> writes data

to non-volatile User RAM at a single address specified by address using error

correction. It can also write to devices with registers in the A16 address space.

:SADDress

Parameters

Parameter

Name

Parameter

Type

Range of

Values

Default

Units

address

data

numeric

0 to 16,777,215 (# HFFFFFE)

none

arbitrary block

program data

See "Parameter Types", in the

beginning of this chapter

Comments

•

This command is typically used to send data to a device which accepts

data at a single address. It is the only way to send binary data to single

addresses over a serial (RS232C) line.

Most computers terminate an OUTPUT, PRINT, or WRITE statement

with a carriage return or carriage return and line feed. These

End-Of-Line characters must be either accounted for (NRAM segment

sized to accommodate them), or suppressed using an appropriate

IMAGE or FORMAT statement. Some helpful methods:

– Control the End-Of-Line characters with format statements.

– Use the Definite Length Arbitrary Block Program Data format (see

example) to send your data rather than the Indefinite Length

Arbitrary Block Program Data format.

•

A register address in A16 address space can be determined by:

1FC00₁₆+ (LADDR * 64) + register_number

where 1FC000₁₆is the base address in the System Instrument A16 space,

LADDR is the device logical address, 64 is the number of address bytes

per device, and register_number is the register to which the data is

written.

If the device is an A24 device, the address can be determined using the

VXI:CONF:DLISt command to find the base address in A24, and then

adding the register_number to that value. A24 memory between address

200000₁₆and address E00000₁₆is directly addressable by the Controller.

•

Address may be specified in decimal, hex (# H), octal (# Q), or binary

(# B) formats. DOWNload is done by word (16 bit) access so address

must be even.

Related Commands: DIAG:UPLoad:SADDress?

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DIAGnostic:DOWNload:CHECked :SADDress

Byte Format Each byte sent with this command is expected to be in the following format:

Bit #

Control Bit

Check Bits

Data Bits

•

Control Bit is used to indicate the serial driver information such as clear,

reset, or end of transmission. This bit is ignored by the regular 488.2

driver. The control bit should be one for regular data.