MCS260 
CORNERSTONE 260 MONOCHROMATORS 
50 
 
 
 
16.3 STANDARD MODE 
 
Most normal communication with the  Cornerstone, especially communication handled inside 
closed application software, is done in Standard Mode. This mode follows all of the rules on the 
previous page, plus there are some additional features for error handling. 
 
The Cornerstone stores errors internally in a status byte and an error byte, where each bit has a 
specific meaning. Details of the status and error bytes can be found in this manual under  Error 
Codes.  
 
In all cases, Statements must be terminated properly with [lf] for Cornerstone to take any action. 
Statements that are not understood or parameters that are unacceptable generate an error code in 
the status byte, i.e. status byte not equal to 0. Moreover, the status byte must be explicitly read.  It 
is not returned after general Statements.  
 
Correct Statements are handled as follows: 
 
Commands 
Under RS-232, Statements are echoed back to the PC. Thus, after sending a Command you 
should read back this echo. There is no further response to a Command. 
 
Example:     
Send: GOWAVE 500[lf]     Response: GOWAVE 500[lf] 
 
Under IEEE-488 and USB, there is no echo. There is no automatic response to a Command. 
 
Example:     
Send: GOWAVE 500[lf]     Response: {none} 
 
Queries 
Under RS232, Statements are echoed back to the PC. Additionally, there will be an explicit 
response to that query. Thus, after sending a Query the echo and the answer should be read back 
together. 
 
Example:   
Send : WAVE?[lf]      Response: WAVE?[lf]500[cr][lf] 
 
Under IEEE-488 and USB, there is no echo. Thus, the Response can be read back by itself. 
 
Example:   
Send : WAVE?[lf]      Response: 500[cr][lf]