Command Reference

The controller implements the standard commands prefixed with two plus (++) character sequence to indicate that the following sequence is an interface command. Commands, with the exception of the ++savecfg command, should be fully compatible with the Prologix GPIB-USB controller. However, the interface also implements a number of additional custom commands.

Prologix-compatible commands

++addr

This is used to set or query the GPIB address. At present, only primary addresses are supported. In controller mode, the address refers to the GPIB address of the instrument that the operator desires to communicate with. The address of the controller is 0. In device mode, the address represents the address of the interface which is now acting as a device.

When issued without a parameter, the command will return the current GPIB address.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++addr [1-29] where 1-29 is a decimal number representing the primary GPIB address of the device.

++auto

Configure the instrument to automatically send data back to the controller. When auto is enabled, the user does not have to issue ++read commands repeatedly. This command has additional options when compared with the Prologix version.

When set to zero, auto is disabled.

When set to 1, auto is designed to emulate the Prologix setting. The controller will automatically attempt to read a response from the instrument after any instrument command or, in fact, any character sequence that is not a controller command beginning with ++, has been sent.

When set to 2, auto is set to “on-query” mode. The controller will automatically attempt to read the response from the instrument after a character sequence that is not a controller command beginning with ++ is sent to the instrument, but only if that sequence ends in a ? character, i.e. it is a query command such as *IDN?.

When set to 3, auto is set to “continuous” mode. The controller will execute continuous read operations after the first ++read command is issued, returning a continuous stream of data from the instrument. The command can be terminated by turning off auto with ++auto 0 or performing a reset with ++rst.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++auto [0|1|2|3] where 0 disables and 1 enables automatically sending data to the controller

Note: Some instruments generate a “Query unterminated or “-420” error if they are addressed after sending an instrument command that does not generate a response. This simply means that the instrument has no information to send and this error may be ignored. Alternatively, auto can be turned off (++auto 0) and a ++read command issued following the instrument command to read the instrument response.

++clr

This command sends a Selected Device Clear (SDC) to the currently addressed instrument. Details of how the instrument should respond may be found in the instrument manual.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++clr

++eoi

This command enables or disables the assertion of the EOI signal. When a data message is sent in binary format, the CR/LF terminators cannot be differentiated from the binary data bytes. In this circumstance, the EOI signal can be used as a message terminator. When ATN is not asserted and EOI is enabled, the EOI signal will be briefly asserted to indicate the last character sent in a multi- byte sequence. Some instruments require their command strings to be terminated with an EOI signal in order to properly detect the command.

The EOI line is also used in conjunction with ATN to initiate a parallel poll, however, this command has no bearing on that activity.

When issued without a parameter, the command will return the current configuration.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++eoi [0|1] where 0 disables and 1 enables asserting EOI to signal the last character sent

++eos

Specifies the GPIB termination character. When data from the host (e.g. a command sequence) is received over USB, all non-escaped LF, CR or Esc characters are removed and replaced by the GPIB termination character, which is appended to the data sent to the instrument. This command does not affect data being received from the instrument.

When issued without a parameter, the command will return the current configuration.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++eos [0|1|2|3] where 0=CR+LF, 1=CR, 2=LF, 3=none

++eot_enable

This command enables or disables the appending of a user specified character to the USB output from the interface to the host whenever EOI is detected while reading data from the GPIB port. The character to send is specified using the ++eot_char command.

When issued without a parameter, the command will return the current configuration.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++eot_enable [0|1] where 0 disables and 1 enables sending the EOT character to the USB output.

++eot_char

This command specifies the character to be appended to the USB output from the interface to the host whenever an EOI signal is detected while reading data from the GPIB bus. The character is a decimal ASCII character value that is less than 256.

When issued without a parameter, the command will return a decimal number corresponding to the ASCII character code of the current character.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++eot_char [<char>] where <char> is a decimal number that is less than 256.

++help

Not currently supported.

++ifc

Assert the GPIB IFC signal for 150 microseconds, making the AR488 the Controller-in-Charge on the GPIB bus.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++ifc

++llo

Disable front panel operation on the currently addressed instrument. In the original HPIB specification, sending the LLO signal to the GPIB bus would lock the LOCAL control on ALL instruments on the bus. In the Prologix specification, this command disables front panel operation of the addressed instrument only, in effect taking control of that instrument. The AR488 follows the Prologix specification, but adds a parameter to allow the simultaneous assertion of remote control over all instruments on the GPIB bus as per the HPIB specification.

This command requires the Remote Enable (REN) line to be asserted otherwise it will be ignored. In controller mode, the REN signal is asserted by default unless its status is changed by the ++ren command.

When the ++llo command is issued without a parameter, it behaves the same as it does on the Prologix controller. The LLO signal is sent to the currently addressed instrument and this locks out the LOCAL key on the instrument control panel. Because the instrument has been addressed and REN is already asserted, the command automatically takes remote control of the instrument. Most instruments will display REM on their display or control panel to indicate that remote control is active and front/rear panel controls will be disabled.

If the ++llo command is issued with the all parameter, this will send the LLO signal to the bus, putting every instrument into remote control mode simultaneously. At this point, instruments will not yet show the REM indicator and it may still be possible to operate the front panel controls. On some instruments the LOCAL key may be locked out. However, as soon as an instrument has been addressed and sent a command (assuming that a LOC signal has not been sent yet first), the controller will automatically lock in remote control of that instrument , the REM indicator will be displayed and front/rear panel controls will be disabled.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++llo [all]

++loc

Relinquish remote control and re-enable front panel operation of the currently addressed instrument. This command relinquishes remote control of the instrument by de-asserting REN and sending the GTL signal.

The Remote Enable (REN) line must be asserted and the instrument must already be under remote control otherwise the command has no effect.

In the original HPIB specification, this command would place all instuments back into local mode, re-enabling the LOCAL key and panel controls on ALL instruments currently connected to the GPIB bus. In the Prologix specification, this command relinquishes remote control of the currently addressed instrument only. The AR488 follows the Prologix specification, but adds a parameter to allow the simultaneous release of remote control over all instruments currently addressed as listeners on the GPIB bus as per the HPIB specification.

If the command is issued without a parameter, it will re-enable the LOCAL key on the control panel on the currently addressed instrument and relinquish remote control of the instrument. If issued with the all parameter, it puts all devices on the GPIB bus in local control state. The REM indicator should no longer be visible when the instrument has returned to local control state.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++loc [all]

++lon

The ++lon command configures the controller to listen only to traffic on the GPIB bus. In this mode the interface does require to have a GPIB address assigned so the assigned GPIB address is ignored. Traffic is received irrespective of the currently set GPIB address. The interface can receive but not send, so effectively becomes a “listen-only” device. When issued without a parameter, the command returns the current state of lon mode.

Modes

device

Syntax

++lon [0|1] where 0=disabled; 1=enabled

++mode

This command configures the AR488 to serve as a controller or a device.

In controller mode the AR488 acts as the Controller-in-Charge (CIC) on the GPIB bus, receiving commands terminated with CRLF over USB and sending them to the currently addressed instrument via the GPIB bus. The controller then passes the received data back over USB to the host.

In device mode, the AR488 can act as another device on the GPIB bus. In this mode, the AR488 can act as a GPIB talker or listener and expects to receive commands from another controller (CIC). All data received by the AR488 is passed to the host via USB without buffering. All data from the host via USB is buffered until the AR488 is addressed by the controller to talk. At this point the AR488 sends the buffered data to the controller. Since the memory on the controller is limited, the AR488 can buffer only 120 characters at a time.

When sending data followed by a command, the buffer must first be read by the controller before a subsequent command can be accepted, otherwise the command will be treated as characters to be appended to the existing data in the buffer. Once the buffer has been read, it is automatically cleared and the parser can then detect the ++ command prefix on the next line. Therefore sufficient delay must be allowed for the buffer to be read before sending a subsequent command.

If the command is issued without a parameter, the current mode is returned.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++mode [0|1] where 0=device, 1=controller

++read

This command can be used to read data from the currently addressed instrument. Data is read until:

  • the EOI signal is detected

  • a specified character is read

  • timeout expires

Timeout is set using the read_tmo_ms command and is the maximum permitted delay for a single character to be read. It is not related to the time taken to read all of the data. For details see the description of the read_tmo_ms command.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++read [eoi|<char>] where <char> is a decimal number corresponding to the ASCII character to be used as a terminator and must be less than 256.

++read_tmo_ms

This specifies the timeout value, in milliseconds, that is used by the ++read (and ++spoll) commands to wait for a character to be transmitted while reading data from the GPIB bus. The timeout value may be set between 0 and 32,000 milliseconds (32 seconds).

Modes

controller

Syntax

++read_tmo_ms <time> where <time> is a decimal number between 0 and 32000 representing milliseconds.

++rst

Perform a reset of the controller.

Please note that the reset may fail and hang the board under certain circumstances. These include:

  • the board has an older bootloader. The older bootloader had an problem with not clearing the MCUSR register which triggers another reset while the bootloader is being executed, which causes a perpetual restart cycle. The solution here is to update the bootloader. The newer Optiboot bootloader does not have this problem.

  • using a 32u4 board (Micro, Leonardo) programmed with an AVR programmer with no bootloader. There is at present no solution to this problem. When programming with an AVR programmer, use a recent IDE version to export the binaries and upload the version with the bootloader to the board.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++rst

++savecfg

This command saves the current interface configuration. On the Prologix interface setting this to 1 would enable the saving of specific parameters whenever they are changed, including addr, auto, eoi, eos, eot_enable, eot_char, mode and read_tmo_ms.

Frequent updates wear out the EEPROM and the Arduino EEPROM has a nominal lifetime of 100,000 writes. In order to minimize writes and preserve the longevity of the EEPROM memory, the AR488 does not, at any time, write configuration parameters “on the fly” every time they are changed. Instead, issuing the ++savecfg command will update the complete current configuration once. Only values that have changed since the last write will be written.

The configuration written to EEPROM will be automatically re-loaded on power-up. The configuration can be reset to default using the ++default command and a new configuration can be saved using the ++savecfg command.

Most, if not all Arduino AVR boards support EEPROM memory, however boards from other vendors may not provide this support. If the command is run on a board that does not support EEPROM, then the following will be returned: EEPROM not supported.

The ++savecfg command will save the following current parameter values: addr, auto, eoi, eos, eot_enable, eot_char, mode, read_tmo_ms and verstr.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++savecfg

++spoll

Performs a serial poll. If no parameters are specified, the command will perform a serial poll of the currently addressed instrument. If a GPIB address is specified, then a serial poll of the instrument at the specified address is performed. The command returns a single 8-bit decimal number representing the status byte of the instrument.

The command can also be used to serial poll multiple instruments. Up to 15 addresses can be specified. If the all parameter is specified (or the command ++allspoll is used), then a serial poll of all 30 primary instrument addresses is performed.

When polling multiple addresses, the ++spoll command will return the address and status byte of the first instrument it encounters that has the RQS bit set in its status byte, indicating that it has requested service. The format of the response is SRQ:addr,status, for example: SRQ:3,88 where 3 is the GPIB address of the instrument and 88 is the status byte. The response provides a means to poll a number of instruments and to identify which instrument raised the service request, all in one command. If SRQ was not asserted then no response will be returned.

When ++srqauto is set to 1 (for details see the ++srqauto custom command), the interface will automatically conduct a serial poll of all devices on the GPIB bus whenever it detects that SRQ has been asserted and the details of the instrument that raised the request are automatically returned in the format above.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++spoll [<PAD>|all|<PAD1> <PAD2> <PAD3>...] where <PAD> and <PADx> are primary GPIB address and all specifies that all instruments should be polled.

++srq

This command returns the present status of the SRQ signal line. It returns 0 if SRQ is not asserted and 1 if SRQ is asserted.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++srq

++status

Set or display the status byte that will be sent in response to the serial poll command. When bit 6 of the status byte is set, the SRQ signal will be asserted indicating Request For Service (RQS). The table below shows the values assigned to individual bits as well as some example meanings that can be associated with them. Although the meaning of each bit will vary depending on the instrument and the manufacturer, bit 6 is always reserved as the RQS bit. Other bits can be assigned as required.

Bit

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Msg

Always 0

RQS

Calibration enabled or Error

Output Avail. Front/ Rear

Remote control

Auto-zero

Auto-range enabled. Front/ Rear sw.

Operational error

The values of the bits to be set can be added together to arrive at the desired status byte value. For example, to assert SRQ, a value of 0x40 (64) would be sufficient. However if we wanted to use bit 1 to indicate an operational error, then a value of 0x41 (65) might be used in the event of the error occurring.

Modes

device

Syntax

++status [byte] where byte is a decimal number between 0 and 255.

++trg

Sends a Group Execute Trigger to selected devices. Up to 15 addresses may be specified and must be separated by spaces. If no address is specified, then the command is sent to the currently addressed instrument. The instrument needs to be set to single trigger mode and remotely controlled by the GPIB controller. Using ++trg, the instrument can be manually triggered and the result read with ++read.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++trg [pad1 pad15]

++ver

Display the controller firmware version. If the version string has been changed with ++setvstr, then ++ver will display the new version string. Issuing the command with the parameter real will always display the original AR488 version string.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++ver [real]

Custom commands

++allspoll

Alias equivalent to ++spoll all. See ++spoll for further details.

++dcl

Send Device Clear (DCL) to all devices on the GPIB bus.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++dcl

++default

This command resets the AR488 to its default configuration.

When powered up, the interface will start with default settings in controller mode. However, if the configuration has been saved to EEPROM using the savecfg command, the controller will start with the previously saved settings. This command can be used to reset the controller back to its default configuration.

The interface is set to controller mode with the following parameters:

auto

0

eoi

0 (disabled)

eor

0 (CR+LF)

eos

0 (CR+LF)

eot_enable

0 (disabled)

eot_char

0

GPIB

address - controller 0

GPIB

address - primary 1

GPIB

address - secondary 0

mode

controller

read_tmo_ms

1200

status

byte 0

version

string default version string

Note

Unless the ++savecfg command is used to overwrite the previously saved configuration, the previous configuration will be re-loaded from non-volatile memory the next time that the interface is powered up. To ensure that settings are saved, after using the ++default command, configure the interface as required and then use ++savecfg to save the settings to EEPROM*. The interface can be returned to its default state by using ++default followed by ++savecfg without making any further configuration changes.

  • this assumes that the board being used supports saving to EEPROM.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++default

++eor

End of receive. While ++eos (end of send) selects the terminator to add to commands and data being sent to the instrument, the ++eor command selects the expected termination sequence when receiving data from the instrument.

The following termination sequences are supported:

Option   Sequence        Hex
0        CR + LF         0D 0A
1        CR              0D
2        LF              0A
3        None            N/A
4        LF + CR         0A 0D
5        ETX             03
6        CR + LF + ETX   0D 0A 03
7        EOI signal      N/A

The default termination sequence is CR + LF. If the command is specified with one of the above numeric options, then the corresponding termination sequence will be used to detect the end of the data being transmitted from the instrument. If the command is specified without a parameter, then it will return the current setting. If option 7 (EOI) is selected, then ++read eoi is implied for all ++read instructions as well as any data being retuned by the instrument in response to direct instrument commands. An EOI is expected to be signalled by the instrument with the last character of any transmission sent. All characters sent over the GPIB bus are passed to the serial port for onward transmission to the host computer.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++eor[0-9]

++id

This command sets the identification parameters for the interface. Here you can set the instrument name and optional serial number. This command also sets the information that can be used by the interface to respond to a SCPI *idn? which may be useful where the instrument itself cannot provide such a response. For further information also see the ++idn command. The command has one of three invocations and an optional parameter:

++id name

This sets a short name for the interface. The name can be up to 15 characters long and should not include spaces. If the command is specified without a parameter, it will return the current name of the interface. By default, the name is not set and the command will not return a value.

++id serial

This sets an optional serial number for the interface. In the event that there are multiple instances of identical instruments on the bus, each instrument can be given a unique serial number up to 9 digits long. When specified without a parameter, the command returns the currently configured serial number. By default the serial number is not set and the command will return 000000000.

++id verstr

Sets the version string that the controller responds with on boot-up and in response to the ++ver command. This may be helpful where software on the computer is expecting a specific string from a known controller, for example ‘GPIB-USB’. When no parameter is given, the command returns the current version string.

Examples:

++id name HP3478A
++id serial 347800001
++id verstr GPIB-USB
++id verstr
Modes

controller

Syntax

++id name [name] ++id serial [serialnum] ++id verstr [version string]

++idn

This command is used to enable the facility for the interface to respond to a SCPI *idn? Command. Some older instruments do no respond to a SCPI ID request but this feature will allow the interface to respond on behalf of the instrument using parameters set with the ++id command. When set to zero, response to the SCPI *idn? command is disabled and the request is passed to the instrument. When set to 1, the interface responds with the name set using the ++idn name command. When set to 2, the instrument also appends the serial number using the format name-99999999.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++idn[0-2]

++macro

Instrument control usually requires a sequence of commands to be sent to the instrument to set it up or to perform a particular task. Where such a sequence of commands is performed regularly and repeatedly, it is beneficial to have a means to pre-program the sequence and to be able to run it with a single command.

The AR488 allows up to 9 sequences to be programmed into the Arduino sketch that can be run using the ++macro command. When no parameters have been specified, the macro command will return a list of numbers indicating which macros have been defined and are available to use.

When called with a single number between 1 and 9 as a parameter, the command will run the specified macro.

Programming macros is beyond the scope of this manual and will be specific to each instrument or implemented programming language or protocol.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++macro [1-9]

++ppoll

When many devices are involved, Parallel Poll is faster than Serial Poll but is not widely used. With a Parallel Poll, the controller can query up to eight devices quite efficiently using the DIO lines. Since there are 8 DIO lines, up to 8 devices can be queried at once. In order to get an unambiguous response, each device should ideally assign to a separate data line. Devices assigned to the same line are simply OR’ed. Devices respond to the parallel poll by asserting the DIO line they have been assigned.

Response to a Parallel Poll is a data byte corresponding to the status of the DIO lines when the Parallel Poll request is raised. The state of each individual bit of the 8-bit byte corresponds to the state of each individual DIO line. In this way it is possible to determine which instrument raised the request.

Because a single bit can only be 0 or 1, the response to a parallel poll is binary, simply indicating whether or not an instrument has raised the request. In order to get further status information, a Serial Poll needs to be conducted on the instrument in question.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++ppoll

++ren

In controller mode, this command turns the REN signal on and off. When REN is asserted, the controller can remote-control any device on the BUS. With the REN signal turned off, the controller can no longer remote-control devices, but can still communicate with them. This is used primarily for diagnostics.

When set to 0, REN is un-asserted. When set to 1, REN is asserted. By default, in controller mode, REN will be asserted.

When REN is used to control the SN75161 GPIB transceiver integrated-circuit, this command is unavailable and will simply return Unavailable (see the Configuration and the Building an AR488 GPIB Interface sections for more information). When issued without a parameter, the command returns the current status of the REN signal.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++ren [0|1]

++repeat

Provides a way of repeating the same command multiple times, for example, to request multiple measurements from the instrument.

Between 2 and 255 repetitions can be requested. It is also possible to request a delay between 0 to 10,000 milliseconds (or 10 seconds) between each repetition. The parameter buffer has a maximum capacity of 64 characters, so the command string plus any parameters cannot exceed 64 characters in total. Once started, there is no mechanism to stop the repeat loop once it has begun.

The command will run the number of iterations requested and stop only when the request is complete.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++repeat count delay cmdstring where: count is the number of repetitions from 2 to 255 delay is the time to wait between repetitions from 0 to 10,000 milliseconds cmdstring is the command to execute

++setvstr

This command is DEPRECATED and will be removed in future versions. Please refer to the notes for the ++id verstr command instead. It sets the version string that the controller responds with on boot-up and in response to the ++ver command. This may be helpful where software on the computer is expecting a specific string from a known controller, for example “GPIB-USB”.

The ++ver command can be used to confirm that the string has been set correctly.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++verstr [string] where [string] is the new version string

++srqauto

When conducting a serial poll using a Prologix controller, the procedure requires that the status of the SRQ signal be checked with the ++srq command. If the response is a 1, indicating that SRQ is asserted, then an ++spoll command can be issued to determine the status byte of the currently addressed instrument or optionally an instrument at a specific GPIB address.

When polling multiple devices, the AR488 will provide a custom response that includes the address and status byte of the first instrument encountered that has the RQS bit set. Usually, the ++spoll command has to be issued manually to obtain this information.

When ++srqauto is set to 0 (default), in order to obtain the status byte when SRQ is asserted, a serial poll has to be conducted manually using the ++spoll command.

When ++srqauto is set to 1, the interface will automatically detect when the SRQ signal has been asserted by an instrument and will automatically conduct a serial poll, returning the address and status byte of the first instrument encountered that has the RQS bit set in its status byte. If multiple instruments have asserted SRQ, then another subsequent serial poll will be conducted to determine the next instrument that has requested service. The process continues until all instruments that have requested service have had their status byte read and the SRQ signal has been cleared.

Without parameters, this command returns the present status of the SRQauto. It returns 0 if a serial poll is not automatically executed (default) and 1 if a serial poll is automatically executed.

Modes

controller

Syntax

++srqauto [0|1] where 0=disabled, 1=enabled

++tmbus

The GPIB bus protocol is designed to allow the bus to synchronise to the speed of the slowest device. However, under some circumstances it may be desirable to slow down the bus. The tmbus parameter introduces a periodic delay of between 0 to 30,000 microseconds between certain operations on the bus and so slows down the operation of the GPIB bus. The greater the delay, the slower the bus will operate. Under normal running conditions this parameter should be set to zero, which is the default setting.

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++tmbus [value] where [value] is between 0 and 30,000 microseconds

++ton

The ++ton command configures the controller to send data only on the GPIB bus. When in this mode, the interface does not require to have a GPIB address assigned and the address that is set will be ignored. Data is placed on the GPIB bus as soon as it is received via USB. Only one sender can exist on the bus, but multiple receivers can listen to and accept the transmitted data. The interface can send, but not receive, so effectively becomes a “talk-only” device. When issued without a parameter, the command returns the current state of “ton” mode.

Modes

device

Syntax

++ton [0|1] where 0=disabled; 1=enabled

++verbose

Toggle verbose mode ON and OFF

Modes

controller, device

Syntax

++verbose