User Manual

Series 2200 Programmable DC Power Supplies Reference Manual Section 3: Remote operation
2200S-901-01 Rev. A/November 2011 3-5
Commands
Commands cause the power supply to perform a specific function or change one of its settings.
Commands have the structure:
[:]<Header>[<Space><Argument>[<Comma><Argument>]...]
A command header is made up of one or more mnemonics arranged in a hierarchical or tree
structure. The first mnemonic is the base or root of the tree and each subsequent mnemonic is a level
or branch off of the previous one. Commands at a higher level in the tree may affect those at a lower
level. The leading colon (:) always returns you to the base of the command tree.
Queries
Queries cause the power supply to return information about its status or settings. Queries have the
structure:
[:]<Header>
[:]<Header>[<Space><Argument>[<Comma><Argument>]...]
You can specify a query command at any level within the command tree unless otherwise noted.
These branch queries return information about all the mnemonics below the specified branch or level.
Query responses
When a query is sent to the power supply, only the values are returned. When the returned value is a
mnemonic, it is noted in abbreviated format, as shown in the following table.
Query response examples
Query
Response
MEASure:VOLTage:DC?
5.0011
SOURce:FUNCtion:MODE?
LIST
Command entry
Follow these general rules when entering commands:
 Enter commands in upper or lower case.
 You can precede any command with white space characters. White space characters include any
combination of the ASCII control characters 00 through 09 and 0B through 20 hexadecimal (0
through 9 and 11 through 32 decimal).
 The power supply ignores commands that consists of just a combination of white space
characters and line feeds.