: | A colon links command keywords together to form commands. The colon is not an actual part of the keyword, but is a signal to the SCPI interface parser. A colon must precede a root keyword immediately following a semicolon (see Notational Examples). |
; | A semicolon separates commands if multiple commands are placed on a single program line (see Notational Examples). |
[ ] | Square brackets enclose one or more optional keywords. |
{ } | Braces enclose one or more keyword parameters that may be included one or more times. |
| | A vertical bar (also called a “pipe”) indicates “or” and is used to separate alternative parameter options. For Example: ON | OFF is the same as ON or OFF. |
< > | Angle brackets enclose parameter descriptions. |
::= | Means “is defined as” For example: <a>::=<b><c> indicates that <b><c> can replace <a>. |
Parameter | Definition |
<ASCII> | A non-delimited 7-bit ASCII text. The end of the text must be terminated with the 0A character (decimal 10) and concurrent setting (^) of the GPIB End of Transmission State (EOI). <ASCII> (also called <Arbitrary ASCII>) text is transmitted only at the end of a program or response message. |
<block> | IEEE-488.2 block data format. Can be in ASCII, XML, or other format. |
<bNR1> | Boolean values in <NR1> format; numeric 1 or 0 |
<boolean> | ON | OFF. Can also be represented as 1 or 0, where 1 means ON and 0 means OFF Boolean parameters are always returned as 1 or 0 in <NR1> format by query commands |
<char> | <CHARACTER PROGRAM DATA> Examples: CW, FIXed, UP, and DOWN |
<INF> | Positive Infinity. Positive infinity is represented as 9.9E37. The numeric value for positive infinity fits into a 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point number. |
<integer> | An unsigned integer without a decimal point (implied radix point) |
<NA> | Not Applicable |
<NAN> | Not A Number. Not a number is represented as 9.91E37 and is defined in IEEE 754. Typically used where applications are dividing zero by zero or subtracting infinity from infinity. NAN is also used to represent missing data such as a trace that has not been yet acquired. |
<NINF> | Negative Infinity. Negative infinity is represented as -9.9E37. The numeric value for negative infinity fits into a 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point number. |
<NR1> | A signed integer without a decimal point (implied radix point) |
<NR2> | A signed number with an explicit radix point |
<NR3> | A scaled explicit decimal point numeric value with an exponent (e.g., floating point number) |
<NRf> | Values in NR1, NR2, or NR3 formats are accepted. Logically, <NR1> | <NR2> | <NR3> |
<numeric_value> | Also <nv> or SCPI numeric value as: <NRf> | MINimum | MAXimum | DEFault | UP | DOWN | NAN or NotANumber | INF or INFinity | NINF or NegativeINFinity or other types |
<nv> | <numeric_value> or SCPI numeric value as: <NRf> | MINimum | MAXimum | DEFault | UP | DOWN | NAN or NotANumber | INF or INFinity | NINF or NegativeINFinity or other types |
<string> | <STRING PROGRAM DATA> ASCII characters surrounded by double quotes For example: “C:\Anritsu\VectorStar\filename.s2p” |
MPND | Numeric Limit. Maximum Positive/Negative Double Precision Number. +/– 1.792 693 134 860 E+308 |
MPNF | Numeric Limit. Maximum Positive/Negative Float Number +/- 3.402 819 E+38 |
MPNI | Numeric Limit. Maximum Positive/Negative Integer - 2 147 483 648 to +2 147 483 647 |