3: Functions and features  Series 2600B System SourceMeter® Instrument 
 
3-14  2600BS-901-01 Rev. B / May 2013 
 
Buffer read-only attributes 
The following table contains buffer read-only attributes. 
 
Buffer read-only attributes: Read-only attributes used to access buffer parameters 
Storage attribute  Description 
The timestamp of when the reading at rb[1] was stored, in seconds from 
midnight January 1, 1970 GMT. See Time and date values (on page 7-3) for 
The total number of readings that can be stored in the reading buffer. 
The number of readings in the reading buffer. 
This attribute indicates where the next element that will be added to the reading 
buffer will be stored. 
 
 
Buffer storage control programming examples 
The programming examples below illustrate the use of buffer storage control attributes. 
 
Buffer control programming examples:  
Command  Description 
smua.nvbuffer1.collectsourcevalues = 1 
Enable source value storage. 
smua.nvbuffer1.appendmode = 1 
Enable buffer append mode. 
smua.nvbuffer1.collecttimestamps = 0 
Disable timestamp storage. 
smua.nvbuffer1.timestampresolution = 
0.001 
Set timestamp resolution to 0.001024 s. 
smua.nvbuffer1.fillcount = 50 
Set 50 as the number of readings the 
buffer will take before restarting at index 
1. 
smua.nvbuffer1.fillmode = 0 
Set the reading buffer to fill once (do 
not overwrite old data). 
 
 
Buffer read-only attribute programming examples 
The follow programming examples illustrate use of buffer read-only attributes. 
 
Buffer read-only attribute programming examples: 
Command  Description 
number = smua.nvbuffer1.n 
Request the number of readings in the 
buffer. 
buffer_size = smua.nvbuffer1.capacity