Remote Control 
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SCPI format sent from the electronic load to the controller. The electronic 
load sends the message only when commanded by a program message 
called a "query." 
The next figure illustrates SCPI message structure: 
 
 
The Message Unit 
The simplest SCPI command is a single message unit consisting of a command 
header (or keyword) followed by a message terminator. The message unit may 
include  a  parameter  after  the  header.  The  parameter  can  be  numeric  or  a 
string. 
VOLTage 20<NL> 
Headers 
Headers,  also  referred  to  as  keywords,  are  instructions  recognized  by  the 
electronic load. Headers may be either in the long form or the short form. In the 
long form, the header is completely spelled out, such as VOLTAGE, STATUS, 
and DELAY. In the short form, the header has only the first three or four letters, 
such as VOLT, STAT, and DEL. 
Query Indicator 
Following  a  header  with  a  question  mark  turns  it  into  a  query  (VOLTage?, 
VOLTage:PROTection?).  If  a  query  contains  a  parameter,  place  the  query 
indicator at the end of the last header(VOLTage:PROTection?MAX). 
Message Unit Separator 
When two or more message units are combined into a compound message, 
separate the units with a semicolon (STATus:OPERation?;QUEStionable?). 
Root Specifier 
When it precedes the first header of a message unit, the colon becomes the 
root specifier. It tells the command parser that this is the root or the top node of 
the command tree. 
Message Terminator 
A terminator informs SCPI that it has reached the end of a message. Three 
permitted message terminators are: 
  newline (<NL>),decimal 10 or hexadecimal 0X0A in ASCII.