Chapter 5 Command Basics
Introduction
The DMC-40x0 provides over 100 commands for specifying motion and machine parameters. Commands are
included to initiate action, interrogate status and configure the digital filter. These commands can be sent in ASCII
or binary.
In ASCII, the DMC-40x0 instruction set is BASIC-like and easy to use. Instructions consist of two uppercase letters
that correspond phonetically with the appropriate function. For example, the instruction BG begins motion, and ST
stops the motion. In binary, commands are represented by a binary code ranging from 80 to FF.
ASCII commands can be sent "live" over the communications port for immediate execution by the DMC-40x0, or
an entire group of commands can be downloaded into the DMC-40x0 memory for execution at a later time.
Combining commands into groups for later execution is referred to as Applications Programming and is discussed in
the following chapter. Binary commands cannot be used in Applications programming.
This section describes the DMC-40x0 instruction set and syntax. A summary of commands as well as a complete
listing of all DMC-40x0 instructions is included in the Command Reference.
Command Syntax - ASCII
DMC-40x0 instructions are represented by two ASCII upper case characters followed by applicable arguments. A
space may be inserted between the instruction and arguments. A semicolon or <return> is used to terminate the
instruction for processing by the DMC-40x0 command interpreter.
NOTE: If you are using a Galil terminal program, commands will not be processed until an <return> command is
given. This allows the user to separate many commands on a single line and not begin execution until the user gives
the <return> command.
IMPORTANT: All DMC-40x0 commands are sent in upper case.
For example, the command
PR 4000 <return> Position relative
PR is the two character instruction for position relative. 4000 is the argument which represents the required position
value in counts. The <return> terminates the instruction. The space between PR and 4000 is optional.
For specifying data for the A,B,C and D axes, commas are used to separate the axes. If no data is specified for an
axis, a comma is still needed as shown in the examples below. If no data is specified for an axis, the previous value
is maintained.
To view the current values for each command, type the command followed by a ? for each axis requested.
DMC-40x0 User Manual Chapter 5 Command Basics • 70
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