Remote Operation 11-21
The serial poll automatically resets RQS of the Status Byte Register. This allows subsequent
serial polls to monitor bit B6 for an SRQ occurrence generated by other event types. After a
serial poll, the same event can cause another SRQ, even if the event register that caused the first
SRQ has not been cleared.
A serial poll clears RQS but does not clear MSS. The MSS bit stays set until all Status Byte
event summary bits are cleared.
Programming syntax
The following paragraphs cover syntax for both common commands and SCPI commands.
For more information, see the IEEE- 488.2 and SCPI standards.
Command words
Program messages are made up of one or more command words.
Commands and command parameters
Common commands and SCPI commands may or may not use a parameter. The following
are some examples:
*SAV <NRf> Parameter (NRf) required.
*RST No parameter used.
:INITiate:CONTinuous <b> Parameter <b> required.
:SYSTem:PRESet No parameter used.
Put at least one space between the command word and the parameter.
• Brackets [ ] – Some command words are enclosed in brackets ([ ]). These brackets are
used to denote an optional command word that does not need to be included in the
program message. For example:
:INITiate[:IMMediate]
These brackets indicate that :IMMediate is implied (optional) and does not have to used.
Thus, the above command can be sent in one of two ways:
:INITiate or :INITiate:IMMediate
Notice that the optional command is used without the brackets. When using optional
command words in your program, do not include the brackets.