: | 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 parameters. |
{} | Braces enclose one or more parameters that may be included one or more times. |
| | A vertical bar 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>. |
Space(s), referred to as whitespace, must be used to separate keywords from their associated data parameters. It must not be used between keywords, or inside keywords. |
<arg> | ::= a generic command argument consisting of one or more of the other data types. |
<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. |
<integer> | ::= an unsigned integer without a decimal point (implied radix point). |
<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 and exponent (e.g., floating point number). |
<NRf> | ::= <NR1>|<NR2>|<NR3>. |
<nv> | ::= SCPI numeric value: <NRf>|MIN|MAX|UP|DOWN|DEF|NAN|INF|NINF or other types. |
<char> | ::= <CHARACTER PROGRAM DATA> Examples: CW, FIXed, UP, and DOWN. |
<string> | ::= <STRING PROGRAM DATA> ASCII characters surrounded by double quotes, example: “OFF”. |
<block> | ::= IEEE-488.2 block data format. |
<NA> | ::= Not Applicable. |