Send Commands to an Instrument

Use the Send Command field in Instruments view (Connection Strings section) to send commands (such as *IDN) to the connected instrument. Type into this field, or to select from a list of commonly used commands, click the drop-down arrow next to the Send Command field.

Then click Send & Read. This sends what you have entered to the instrument and reads the response. (Alternately, to only send or only read, you can click the arrow next to Send & Read, and select either Send Command or Read Response instead.)

Available commands

Descriptions of the command shortcuts available in the Send Command drop-down menu are listed below.

• *IDN?—The Identification query returns manufacturer, model, serial number, and firmware level or equivalent.
• *CLS—The Clear Status command clears status data structures, and forces the device to the Operation Complete query idle state.
• *OPC?—The Operation Complete query places an ASCII character “1” into the device’s Output Queue when all pending selected device operations have been finished.
• *RCL— The Recall command restores the current settings of a device from a copy stored in local memory.
• *RST—The Reset command performs a device reset, which sets the device-specific functions to a known state that is independent of the past-use history of the device.
• *SAV —The Save command stores the current settings of the device in local memory.
• *STB?—The Read Status Byte query allows the programmer to read the status byte and master Summary Status bit.
• *TRG—The Trigger command signals the transition of the Device Trigger (DT) function to the Device Trigger Active State (DTAS).
• *TST?—The Self-test query returns zero to indicate the test completed with no errors. A return value not equal to zero indicates the test is not completed or completed with errors.