Agilent Technologies 54621A Manual

Programmer’s Guide

Publication Number 54622-97038

September 2002

For Safety information see t e pages be ind t e Index.

All Rig ts Reserved

Agilent 54621A/22A/24A/41A/42A

Oscilloscopes and

Agilent 54621D/22D/41D/42D

Mixed- ignal Oscilloscopes

Programming the Oscilloscope

W en you attac an interface module to t e rear of t e oscilloscope, it

becomes programmable. T at is, you can ook a controller (suc as a

PC or workstation) to it, and write programs on t at controller to

automate oscilloscope setup and data capture.

T e following figure s ows t e basic structure of every program you will

write for t e oscilloscope.

Initialize

To ensure consistent, repeatable performance, you need to start t e

program, controller, and oscilloscope in a known state. Wit out correct

initialization, your program may run correctly in one instance and not in

anot er. T is mig t be due to c anges made in configuration by previous

program runs or from t e front panel of t e oscilloscope.

• Program initialization defines and initializes variables, allocates

memory, or tests system configuration.

• Controller initialization ensures t at t e interface to t e oscilloscope

(eit er GPIB or RS-232) is properly set up and ready for data transfer.

• Oscilloscope initialization sets t e c annel configuration and labels,

t res old voltages, trigger specification and mode, timebase, and

acquisition type.

iii

Capture

Once you initialize t e oscilloscope, you can begin capturing data for

analysis. Remember t at w ile t e oscilloscope is responding to

commands from t e controller, it is not performing acquisitions. Also,

w en you c ange t e oscilloscope configuration, any data already

captured will most likely be rendered.

To collect data, you use t e :DIGitize command. T is command clears

t e waveform buffers and starts t e acquisition process. Acquisition

continues until acquisition memory is full, t en stops. T e acquired data

is displayed by t e oscilloscope, and t e captured data can be measured,

stored in trace memory in t e oscilloscope, or transferred to t e

controller for furt er analysis. Any additional commands sent w ile

:DIGitize is working are buffered until :DIGitize is complete.

You could also put t e oscilloscope into run mode, t en use a wait loop

in your program to ensure t at t e oscilloscope as completed at least

one acquisition before you make a measurement. Agilent does not

recommend t is because t e needed lengt of t e wait loop may vary,

causing your program to fail. :DIGitize, on t e ot er and, ensures t at

data capture is complete. Also, :DIGitize, w en complete, stops t e

acquisition process so t at all measurements are on displayed data, not

on a constantly c anging data set.

Analyze

After t e oscilloscope as completed an acquisition, you can find out

more about t e data, eit er by using t e oscilloscope measurements or

by transferring t e data to t e controller for manipulation by your

program. Built-in measurements include frequency, duty cycle, period,

and positive and negative pulse widt .

Using t e :WAVeform commands, you can transfer t e data to your

controller. You may want to display t e data, compare it to a known good

measurement, or simply c eck logic patterns at various time intervals in

t e acquisition.

In This Book

T is Programmer’s Guide is your introduction to programming t e

oscilloscope using an instrument controller. T is book, wit t e Programmer’s

Reference, provides a compre ensive description of t e oscilloscope’s

programmatic interface. T e Programmer’s Reference is supplied as a

Microsoft Windows Help file on a 3.5" diskette.

T e oscilloscope as a built-in RS-232-C port for programming. To program t e

oscilloscope over GPIB, you need t e N2757A GPIB Interface Module. You also

need an instrument controller t at supports eit er t e IEEE-488 or RS-232-C

interface standards, and a programming language capable of communicating

wit t ese interfaces.

T is book contains t e following information:

Chapter 1 Introduction to Programming, gives a general overview of

oscilloscope programming.

Chapter 2 Programming Getting Started, s ows a simple program, explains

its operation, and discusses considerations for data types.

Chapter 3 GPIB, discusses t e general considerations for programming t e

instrument over an GPIB interface.

Chapter 4 Programming over RS-232-C, discusses t e general considerations

for programming t e instrument over an RS-232-C interface.

Chapter 5 Programming and Documentation Conventions, describes t e

conventions used in representing t e syntax of commands t roug out t is book

and t e Programmer’s Reference, and gives an overview of t e oscilloscope

command set.

Chapter 6 Status Reporting, discusses t e oscilloscope status registers and

ow to use t em in your programs.

Chapter 7 Installing and Using t e Programmer’s Reference, tells ow to

install t e Programmer’s Reference online elp file in Microsoft Windows, and

explains elp file navigation.

Chapter 8 Programmer’s Quick Reference, lists all t e commands and queries

available for programming t e oscilloscope.

For information on oscilloscope operation, see t e User’s Guide. For

information on interface configuration, see t e documentation for t e

oscilloscope interface module and t e interface card used in your controller (for

example, t e Agilent 82350A interface for IBM PC-compatible computers).

Contents

Contents-1

1 Introduction to Programming

Talking to t e Instrument 1-3

Program Message Syntax 1-4

Combining Commands from t e Same Subsystem 1-7

Duplicate Mnemonics 1-8

Query Command 1-9

Program Header Options 1-10

Program Data Syntax Rules 1-11

Program Message Terminator 1-13

Selecting Multiple Subsystems 1-14

2 Programming Getting tarted

Initialization 2-3

Autoscale 2-4

Setting Up t e Instrument 2-5

Example Program 2-6

Using t e DIGitize Command 2-7

Receiving Information from t e Instrument 2-9

String Variables 2-10

Numeric Variables 2-11

Definite-Lengt Block Response Data 2-12

Multiple Queries 2-13

Instrument Status 2-13

3 Programming over GPIB

Interface Capabilities 3-3

Command and Data Concepts 3-3

Addressing 3-4

Communicating Over t e Bus 3-5

Lockout 3-6

Bus Commands 3-6

4 Programming over R -232-C

Interface Operation 4-3

Cables 4-3

Minimum T ree-Wire Interface wit Software Protocol 4-4

Extended Interface wit Hardware Hands ake 4-5

Configuring t e Interface 4-6

Interface Capabilities 4-7

Lockout Command 4-8

Contents

Contents-2

5 Programming and Documentation Conventions

Command Set Organization 5-3

T e Command Tree 5-6

Obsolete and Discontinued Commands 5-10

Truncation Rules 5-15

Infinity Representation 5-16

Sequential and Overlapped Commands 5-16

Response Generation 5-16

Notation Conventions and Definitions 5-17

Program Examples 5-18

6 tatus Reporting

Status Reporting Data Structures 6-5

Status Byte Register (SBR) 6-8

Service Request Enable Register (SRER) 6-10

Trigger Event Register (TRG) 6-10

Standard Event Status Register (SESR) 6-11

Standard Event Status Enable Register (SESER) 6-12

Operation Status Register (OPR) 6-13

Arm Event Register (ARM) 6-13

Error Queue 6-14

Output Queue 6-15

Message Queue 6-15

Clearing Registers and Queues 6-15

7 Installing and Using the Programmer’s Reference

To install t e elp file under Microsoft Windows 7-3

To get updated elp and program files via t e Internet 7-4

To start t e elp file 7-5

To navigate t roug t e elp file 7-5

8 Programmer’s Quick Reference

Conventions 8-3

Suffix Multipliers 8-3

Commands and Queries 8-4

Introduction to Programming

1-2

Introduction to Programming

C apters 1 and 2 introduce t e basics for remote programming of an

oscilloscope. T e programming instructions in t is manual conform to

t e IEEE488.2 Standard Digital Interface for Programmable

Instrumentation. T e programming instructions provide t e means of

remote control.

To program t e oscilloscope you must add eit er a GPIB (N2757A)

interface, or program over t e built-in RS-232-C interface on t e rear

panel.

You can perform t e following basic operations wit a controller and an

oscilloscope:

• Set up t e instrument.

• Make measurements.

• Acquire data (waveform, measurements, configuration) from t e

oscilloscope.

• Send information (pixel images, configurations) to t e oscilloscope.

Ot er tasks are accomplis ed by combining t ese basic functions.

Languages for Program Examples

The programming examples for individual commands in this manual are written in

HPBASIC 6.3 or C.

1-3

Introduction to Programming

Talking to the Instrument

Computers acting as controllers communicate wit t e instrument by sending

and receiving messages over a remote interface. Instructions for programming

normally appear as ASCII c aracter strings embedded inside t e output

statements of a ost language available on your controller. T e input statements

of t e ost language are used to read in responses from t e oscilloscope.

For example, HPBASIC uses t e OUTPUT statement for sending commands

and queries. After a query is sent, t e response is usually read in using t e

ENTER statement.

Messages are placed on t e bus using an output command and passing t e

device address, program message, and terminator. Passing t e device address

ensures t at t e program message is sent to t e correct interface and

instrument.

T e following HP BASIC statement sends a command w ic turns on label

display.

OUTPUT < device address > ;":CHANNEL1:BWLIMIT ON"<terminator>

T e < device address > represents t e address of t e device being programmed.

Eac of t e ot er parts of t e above statement are explained in t e following

pages.

1-4

Introduction to Programming

Program Message Syntax

Program Message yntax

To program t e instrument remotely, you must understand t e command

format and structure expected by t e instrument. T e IEEE 488.2 syntax rules

govern ow individual elements suc as eaders, separators, program data, and

terminators may be grouped toget er to form complete instructions. Syntax

definitions are also given to s ow ow query responses are formatted. T e

following figure s ows t e main syntactical parts of a typical program

statement.

Figure 1-1

Program Message Syntax

Output Command

T e output command is entirely dependent on t e programming language.

T roug out t is manual, HPBASIC is used in most examples of individual

commands. If you are using ot er languages, you will need to find t e

equivalents of HP BASIC commands like OUTPUT, ENTER, and CLEAR to

convert t e examples. T e instructions listed in t is manual are always s own

between quotation marks in t e example programs.

Device Address

T e location w ere t e device address must be specified is also dependent on

t e programming language you are using. In some languages, t is may be

specified outside t e output command. In HP BASIC, t is is always specified

after t e keyword OUTPUT. T e examples in t is manual assume t e

oscilloscope is at device address 707 . W en writing programs, t e address

varies according to ow t e bus is configured.

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