HP 8920B - Page 23

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Chapter 1, Using HP-IB
Overview of the Test Set
Writing programs for the Test Set
One of the design goals for automatic control of the Test Set was that it operate
the same way programmatically as it does manually. This is a key point to
remember when developing programs for the Test Set. The benefit of this
approach is that to automate a particular task, one need only figure out how to do
the task manually and then duplicate the same process in software. This has
several implications when designing and writing programs for the Test Set:
1. In Manual Control mode a measurement must be “active” in order to obtain a measure-
ment result or input data from the DUT. From a programming perspective this means
that before attempting to read a measurement result or to input data from the DUT, the
desired screen for the measurement result or data field must be selected using the DIS-
Play command and the field must be in the ON state.
2. In Manual Control mode instrument configuration information is not routed through the
To Screen control hardware block. From a programming perspective this means that
configuration information can be sent to any desired instrument without having to first
select the instrument’s front panel with the DISPlay command.
Keeping these points in mind during program development will minimize
program development time and reduce problems encountered when running the
program.