Chapter 6, COMPUTER OPERATION 
6-8 
while in the binary dump mode it needs to know exactly how many bytes to read, 
since the data itself can contain null characters. Only by doing this can the program 
be prevented from requesting more data from the socket than the lock-in has actually 
sent. 
6.5.06 Delimiters 
Most response transmissions consist of one or two numbers (expressed as ASCII 
text) followed by a response terminator. Where the response of the lock-in amplifier 
consists of two numbers in succession, they are separated by a byte called a 
delimiter. This delimiter can be one of several ASCII characters and is common to 
all interfaces; it is set via the DD command 6.6 Command Format 
The simple commands listed in section 6.7 have one of five forms: 
  CMDNAME terminator 
  CMDNAME n terminator 
  CMDNAME [n] terminator 
  CMDNAME [n
1
 [n
2
]] terminator 
  CMDNAME n
1
 [n
2
] terminator 
where CMDNAME is an alphanumeric string that defines the command, and n, n
1
, n
2
 
are parameters separated by spaces. When n is not enclosed in square brackets it 
must be supplied. [n] means that n is optional. [n
1
 [n
2
]] means that n
1
 is optional and 
if present may optionally be followed by n
2
. Upper-case and lower-case characters 
are equivalent. Terminator bytes are defined in section 6.3.09. 
Where the command syntax includes optional parameters and the command is 
sent without the optional parameters, the response consists of a transmission of 
the present values of the parameter(s). 
Any response transmission consists of one or more numbers followed by a response 
terminator. Where the response consists of two or more numbers in succession, they 
are separated by a delimiter (sections 6.3.09, 6.3.04, and 6.5.05). 
Some commands have an optional floating point mode which is invoked by 
appending a . (full stop) character to the end of the command and before the 
parameters. This allows some parameters to be entered or read in floating point 
format. The floating point output format is given below. 
  ±1.234E±01 
The number of digits between the decimal point and the exponent varies depending 
on the number but is a minimum of one and a maximum of eight. The input format is 
not as strict but if a decimal point is used there must be a digit before it. An exponent 
is optional. The following are all legal commands for setting the oscillator frequency 
to 100.1 Hz:- 
  OF.  100.1 
  OF.  1.001E2 
  OF.  +1.001E+02 
  OF.  1001E-1