User Manual

Section 3: Remote operation Series 2200 Programmable DC Power Supplies Reference Manual
3-8 2200S-901-01 Rev. A/November 2011
Chaining commands and queries
You can chain several commands or queries together into a single message. To create a chained
message, first create a command or query, then add a semicolon (;), and finally add more commands
or queries and semicolons until you are done. If the command following a semicolon is a root node,
precede it with a colon (:). The following figure illustrates a chained message consisting of several
commands and queries. The chained message should end in a command or query, not a semicolon.
Responses to any queries in your message are separated by semicolons.
Figure 15: Example of chaining commands and queries
If a command or query has the same root and lower-level nodes as the previous command or query,
you can omit these nodes. In the following figure, the second command has the same root node
(STAT:QUES) as the first command, so these nodes can be omitted.
Figure 16: Example of omitting root and lower level nodes
General rules for using SCPI commands
The following are three general rules for using SCPI commands, queries, and parameters:
 You can use single (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) quotation marks for quoted strings, but you cannot use both
types of quotation marks for the same string.
correct
“This string uses quotation marks correctly.”
correct
‘This string also uses quotation marks correctly.’
incorrect
“This string does not use quotation marks correctly.’