1- 6 Keysight B2961A/B2962A SCPI Command Reference, Edition 6
Programming Basics
SCPI Messages
SCPI Messages
There are two types of SCPI messages, program and response.
• A program message consists of one or more properly formatted SCPI commands
sent from the controller to the instrument. The message, which may be sent at
any time, requests the instrument to perform some action.
• A response message consists of data in a specific SCPI format sent from the
instrument to the controller. The instrument sends the message only when
commanded by a program message “query.”
The following figure illustrates the SCPI message structure.
Headers
Headers, also referred to as keywords, are instructions recognized by the instrument.
Headers may take a long form or a short form. In the long form, the header is
completely spelled out, such as VOLTAGE, STATUS, and DELAY. In the short
form, the header includes only the first three or four letters, such as VOLT, STAT,
and DEL.
When the long form notation is used in this document, the capital letters indicate the
corresponding short form. For example, when MEASure is the long form, MEAS
will be the short form equivalent.
Message Unit
The simplest form of an SCPI command is a single message unit consisting of a
command header (or keyword) followed by a message terminator such as a newline.
The message unit may include a parameter after the header. The parameter can be a
numeric value or a string.
SOUR1:VOLT 10;WAIT OFF;:MEAS? (@1)<NL>
Keyword
Space
Keyword separator
Data
Message unit
Message unit separator
Root specifier
Query indicator
Message terminator
Numeric suffix
Channel list
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