Agilent Technologies 8166B, 8164A, 8163A, 8166A User Manual

Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, & Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System

Programming Guide

Agilent Technologies

Notices

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No part of this document may reproduced in (including electronic storage and retrieval or translation into a foreign language) without prior agreement and written consent from Agilent Technologies GmbH as governed by United States and international copyright laws.

Agilent Technologies Deutschland GmbH Herrenberger Str. 130 71034 Böblingen Germany

Manual Part Number

08164-90B64

Edition

Fifth edition, January 2005

Fourth edition, April 2003

Third edition, February 2002

Second edition, Oktober 2001

First edition, July 2001

Warranty

This Agilent Technologies instrument product is warranted against defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from date of shipment. During the warranty period, Agilent will, at its option, either repair or replace products that prove to be defective. For warranty service or repair, this product must be returned to a service facility designated by Agilent. Buyer shall prepay shipping charges to Agilent and Agilent shall pay shipping charges to return the product to Buyer. However, Buyer shall pay all shipping charges, duties, and taxes for products returned to Agilent from another country.

Agilent warrants that its software and firmware designated by Agilent for use with an instrument will execute its programming instructions when properly installed on that instrument. Agilent does not warrant that the operation of the instrument, software, or firmware will be uninterrupted or error free.

Limitation of Warranty

The foregoing warranty shall not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance by Buyer, Buyer-supplied software or interfacing, unauthorized modification or misuse, operation outside of the environmental specifications for the product, or improper site preparation or maintenance. No other warranty is expressed or implied. Agilent Technologies specifically disclaims the implied warranties of Merchantability and Fitness for a Particular Purpose.

Exclusive Remedies

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Assistance

Product maintenance agreements and other customer assistance agreements are available for Agilent Technologies products. For any assistance contact your nearest Agilent Technologies Sales and Service Office.

Certification

Agilent Technologies Inc. certifies that this product met its published specifications at the time of shipment from the factory. Agilent Technologies further certifies

that its calibration measurements are traceable to the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST (formerly the United States National Bureau of Standards, NBS) to the extent allowed by the Institutes’s

calibration facility, and to the calibration facilities of other International Standards Organization members.

ISO 9001 Certification

Produced to ISO 9001 international quality system standard as part of our objective of continually increasing customer satisfaction through improved process control.

Safety Notices

CAUTION

A CAUTION notice denotes a hazard. It calls attention to an operating procedure, practice, or the like that, if not correctly per formed or adhered to, could result in damage to the product or loss of important data. Do not proceed beyond a CAUTION notice until the indicated conditions are fully understood and met.

WARNING

A WARNING notice denotes a hazard. It calls attention to an operating procedure, practice, or the like that, if not correctly per formed or adhered to, could result in personal injury or death. Do not proceed beyond a WARNING notice until the indicated conditions are fully understood and met.

Warnings and Notices

WARNING

To avoid the possibility of injury or death, you must observe the following precautions before switching on the instrument. Insert the power cable plug only into a socket outlet provided with a protective earth contact. Do not negate this protective action by the using an extension cord without a protective conductor.

WARNING

Never look directly into the end of a fiber or a connector, unless you are absolutely certain that there is no signal in the fiber.

Agilent Technologies Sales and Service Offices

For more information about Agilent Technologies test and measurement products, applications, services, and for a current sales office listing, viesit our web site:

http://www.agilent.com/comms/lightwave

You can also contact one of the following centers and ask for a test and measurement sales representative.

United States: 1 800 829 4444

1 800 829 4433(FAX)

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(1888 900 8921(FAX)

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In this Manual

This manual contains information about SCPI commands which can be used to program the following instruments:

• Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter

• Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System

• Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System

The Structure of this Manual

This manual is divided into 5 parts:

• “Introduction to Programming” on page 15 gives a general introduction to SCPI programming with the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, the Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and the Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System.

• “Specific Commands” on page 43 lists all instrument specific commands.

• “Instrument Setup and Status” on page 55, “Measurement Operations

& Settings” on page 79, and “Mass Storage, Display, and Print Functions” on page 185 give fuller explanations of all instrument

specific commands.

• “VISA Programming Examples” on page 189 gives some example programs showing how the SCPI commands can be used with the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, the Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and the Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System.

• “The Agilent 816x VXIplug&play Instrument Driver” on page 213, “GPIB

Command Compatibility List” on page 245, and “Error Codes” on page 257 give information about the Agilent 816x VXIplug&play

Instrument Driver, compatibility issues, and error codes.

Conventions used in this Manual

• All commands and typed text is written in Courier font, for example

INIT[:IMM].

• SCPI commands are written in mixed case: text that you MUST print is written in capitals; text which is helpful but nor necessary is written in lower case.

So, the command INITiate[:IMMediate] can be entered either as init[:imm], or as initiate[:immediate]. It does not matter whether you enter text using capitals or lower-case letters.

• SCPI commands often contain extra arguments in square brackets. These arguments may be helpful, but they need not be entered.

So, the command INITiate[:IMMediate] can be entered as init or initiate:imm.

• A SCPI command which can be either a command or a query is appended with the text /?.

So, DISPlay:ENABle/? refers to both the command DISPlay:ENABle and the query DISPlay:ENABle?.

Related Manuals

You can find more information about the instruments covered by this manual in the following manuals:

NOTE

• Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, & Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System User’s Guide (Agilent Product Number 08164-90B14).

Please note that User Guides no longer contain programming information, and must now be used in conjunction with this manual.

Refer to the books listed on page 16 for additional information about the General Purpose Interface Bus, GPIB.

Table o f Co ntents

The Structure of this Manual 5 Conventions used in this Manual 5 Related Manuals 6

Introduction to Programming 15

GPIB Interface 16

Returning the Instrument to Local Control 18

Message Queues 19

How the Input Queue Works 20

Clearing the Input Queue 20

The Output Queue 21 The Error Queue 22

Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions 23

Short Form and Long Form 24 Command and Query Syntax 25

Units 25 Data Types 26 Slot and Channel Numbers 26 Laser Selection Numbers 27

Common Commands 29

Common Command Summary 30 Common Status Information 31

The Status Model 33

Status Registers 33 Status System for 8163A/B & 8164A/B 35 Status System for 8166A/B 36 Annotations 37

Status Byte Register 37 Standard Event Status Register 37 Operation/Questionable Status Summary 37 Operation/Questionable Status Summary Register 38 Operation/Questionable Slot Status 38 Operation Slot Status Register 38 Questionable Slot Status Register 38

Status Command Summary 40 Other Commands 41

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B, & 8166A/B Programming Guide, Fourth Edition 7

Specific Commands 43

Specific Command Summary 44

Instrument Setup and Status 55

IEEE-Common Commands 56 Status Reporting – The STATus Subsystem 64 Interface/Instrument Behaviour Settings – The SYSTem

Subsystem

Measurement Operations & Settings 79

Root Layer Command 80 Measurement Functions – The SENSe Subsystem 85

Agilent 81635A and Agilent 81619A- Master and Slave Channels 85

Signal Generation – The SOURce Subsystem 113 Signal Conditioning 148

The INPut and OUTput commands 148 The table of wavelength-dependent offsets 159 Compatibility of the 81560A/1A/6A/7A modular

attenuator family to the 8156A attenuator 165

Slot Numbers 165 Command Semantic 166 Display and System Commands 167 IEEE Commands 167 Status Commands 168 User Calibration Data 168

Signal Routing 169 Triggering - The TRIGger Subsystem 171

Extended Trigger Configuration 179

Extended Trigger Configuration Example 182

Mass Storage, Display, and Print Functions 185

Display Operations – The DISPlay Subsystem 186

8 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B, & 8166A/B Programming Guide, Fourth Edition

VISA Programming Examples 189

How to Use VISA Calls 190 How to Set up a Fixed Laser Source 192 How to Measure Power using FETCh and READ 195 How to Co-ordinate Two Modules 199 How Power Varies with Wavelength 203 How to Log Results 207

The Agilent 816x VXIplug&play Instrument Driver 213

Installing the Agilent 816x Instrument Driver 214 Using Visual Programming Environments 218

Getting Started with Agilent VEE 218

GPIB Interfacing in Agilent VEE 218

Getting Started with LabView 221 Getting Started with LabWindows 224

Features of the Agilent 816x Instrument Driver 225 Directory Structure 226 Opening an Instrument Session 227 Closing an Instrument Session 228 VISA Data Types and Selected Constant Definitions 229 Error Handling 230 Introduction to Programming 232

Example Programs 232 VISA-Specific Information 232

Instrument Addresses 232 Callbacks 232

Development Environments 232

Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 (or higher) and Borland C++ 4.5 (or higher) 232

Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 (or higher) 233 Agilent VEE 5.01 (or higher) 233 LabWindows CVI/ (R) 4.0 (or higher) 233

Online Information 234 Lambda Scan Applications 235

Equally Spaced Datapoints 236

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B, & 8166A/B Programming Guide, Fourth Edition 9

How to Perform a Lambda Scan Application 237

The Prepare Lambda Scan Function 237 The Get Lambda Scan Parameters Function 238 The Execute Lambda Scan Function 238

How to Perform a Multi-Frame Lambda Scan Application 239

The Equally Spaced Datapoints Function 240 The Register Mainframe Function 240 The Unregister Mainframe Function 240 The Prepare Multi Frame Lambda Scan Function 241 The Get MF Lambda Scan Parameters Function 242 The Execute Multi Frame Lambda Scan Function 242 The Get Lambda Scan Result Function 242 The Get Number of PWM Channels Function 243 The Get Channel Location Function 243

GPIB Command Compatibility List 245

Compatibility Issues 246

GPIB Bus Compatibility 246

Status Model 247 Preset Defaults 248 Removed Command 249 Obsolete Commands 250 Changed Parameter Syntax and Semantics 251 Changed Query Result Values 252 Timing Behavior 253 Error Handling 254 Command Order 255 Instrument Status Settings 256

Error Codes 257

GPIB Error Strings 258

Index 271

10 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B, & 8166A/B Programming Guide, Fourth Edition

List of Figures

Figure 1 Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Figure 2 The Event Status Bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Figure 3 The Registers and Filters for a Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Figure 4 The Operational/Questionable Status System for

8163A/B & 8164A/B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Figure 5 The Operational/Questionable Status System for 8166A/B . . . . . . . 36

Figure 6 Extrapolation and interpolation of attenuator module λ offset

table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Figure 7 Extended Trigger Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Figure 8 Setup for Extended Trigger Configuration Example . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Figure 9 Non-Administrator Installation Pop-Up Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

Figure 10 Welcome Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

Figure 11 Customizing Your Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Figure 12 Program Folder Item Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Figure 13 Device Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219

Figure 14 Advanced Device Configuration - Plug&play Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . .219

Figure 15 Search for GPIB Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221

Figure 16 FP Conversion Options Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222

Figure 17 Windows 95 and Windows NT VXIPNP Directory Structure . . . . . .226

Figure 18 Equally Spaced Datapoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Figure 19 Lambda Scan Operation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Figure 20 Multi Frame Lambda Scan Operation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition 11

12 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition

List of Tables

Table 1 GPIB Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Table 2 Units and allowed Mnemonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Table 3 Common Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Table 4 Specific Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Table 5 Commands that can only be configured using the master channel .85 Table 6 Commands that are independent for both master and slave

channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Table 7 Comparison of command semantics beween 8156A attenuator

and 8156xA modular attenuator family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Table 8 Triggering and Power Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Table 9 Generating Output Triggers from Power Measurements . . . . . . . . .172

Table 10 Incompatible GPIB Bus Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

Table 11 Removed Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Table 12 Obsolete Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250

Table 13 Commands with Different Parameters or Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251

Table 14 Queries with Different Result Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Table 15 Timing Behavior Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253

Table 16 Error Handling Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Table 17 Specific Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254

Table 18 Overview for Supported Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Table 19 Overview for Unsupported Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition 13

14 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition

Introduction to Programming

This chapter gives general information on how to control your instrument remotely.

Descriptions for the actual commands for the instruments are given in the following chapters. The information in these chapters is specific to the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System and assumes that you are already familiar with programming the GPIB.

GPIB Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Setting the GPIB Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Returning the Instrument to Local Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Message Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

How the Input Queue Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Output Queue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Error Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions. . . . . . . 23

Short Form and Long Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Command and Query Syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Common Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Common Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Common Status Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The Status Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Status Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Status System for 8163A/B & 8164A/B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Status System for 8166A/B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Annotations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Status Command Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Other Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 15

Introduction to Programming GPIB Interface

GPIB Interface

The interface used by your instrument is the GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus).

GPIB is the interface used for communication between a controller and an external device, such as the tunable laser source. The GPIB conforms to IEEE standard 488-1978, ANSI standard MC 1.1 and IEC recommendation 625-1.

If you are not familiar with the GPIB, then refer to the following books:

• The International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE

Standard 488.1-1987, IEEE Standard Digital Interface for Programmable Instrumentation. New York, NY, 1987

• The International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE Standard 488.2-1987, IEEE Standard Codes, Formats, Protocols and Common Commands For Use with ANSI/IEEE Std 488.1-1987. New York,

NY, 1987

To obtain a copy of either of these last two documents, write to: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

345 East 47th Street New York, NY 10017 USA.

In addition, the commands not from the IEEE-488.2 standard, are defined according to the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI).

For information about SCPI, and SCPI programming techniques, please refer to:

• The SCPI Consortium: Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments. To obtain a copy of this manual, contact the following address:

SCPI Consortium Office Bode Enterprise 2515 Camino del Rio South, Suite 340 San Diego, CA, 92108 USA

Web: http://www.scpiconsortium.org

16 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

GPIB Interface Introduction to Programming

The interface of the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System to the GPIB is defined by the IEEE Standards 488.1 and 488.2.

Table 1 shows the interface functional subset that the instruments implement.

Table 1 GPIB Capabilities

Mnemonic Function

SH1 Complete source handshake capability

AH1 Complete acceptor handshake capability

T6 Basic talker; serial poll; no talk only mode; unaddressed to talk

if addressed to listen

L4 Basic listener; no listen only mode; unaddressed to listen if ad

dressed to talk

NOTE

SR0 No service request capability

RL1 Complete remote/local capability

PP0 No parallel poll capability

DC1 Complete device clear capability

DT0 No device trigger capability

C0 No controller capability.

Setting the GPIB Address There are two ways to set the GPIB address:

• You can set the GPIB address by using the command

“:SYSTem:COMMunicate:GPIB[:SELF]:ADDRess” on page 78.

• You can set the GPIB address from the front panel. See your instrument’s User’s Guide for more information.

The default GPIB address is 20.

GPIB address 21 is often applied to the GPIB controller. If so, 21 cannot be used as an instrument address.

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 17

Introduction to Programming GPIB Interface

Returning the Instrument to Local Control

If the instrument is in remote control, a screen resembling Figure 1 will appear. Press [Local] if you wish to return the instrument to local control.

NOTE

Figure 1 Remote Control

If your Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B or 8166A/B is in local lockout mode (refer to DISPlay:LOCKout on page 142) the Local softkey is not available.

18 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

Message Queues Introduction to Programming

Message Queues

The instrument exchanges messages using an input and an output queue. Error messages are kept in a separate error queue.

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 19

Introduction to Programming Message Queues

How the Input Queue Works

The input queue is a FIFO queue (first-in first-out). Incoming bytes are stored in the input queue as follows:

1 Receiving a byte:

• Clears the output queue.

• Clears Bit 7 (MSB).

2 No modification is made inside strings or binary blocks. Outside strings

and binary blocks, the following modifications are made:

• Lower-case characters are converted to upper-case.

• The characters 00 (2016).

• Two or more blanks are truncated to one.

3 An EOI (End Or Identify) sent with any character is put into the input

queue as the character followed by a line feed (LF, 0A with a LF, only one LF is put into the input queue.

4 The parser starts if the LF character is received or if the input queue is

full.

to 0916 and 0B16 to 1F16 are converted to spaces

). If EOI is sent

Clearing the Input Queue

Switching the power off, or sending a Device Interface Clear signal, causes commands that are in the input queue, but have not been executed to be lost.

20 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

Message Queues Introduction to Programming

The Output Queue

The output queue contains responses to query messages. The instrument transmits any data from the output queue when a controller addresses the instrument as a talker.

Each response message ends with a carriage return (CR, 0D

), with EOI=TRUE. If no query is received, or if the query has an error,

(0A

the output queue remains empty. The Message Available bit (MAV, bit 4) is set in the Status Byte register

whenever there is data in the output queue.

) and a LF

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 21

Introduction to Programming Message Queues

The Error Queue

The error queue is 30 errors long. It is a FIFO queue (first-in first-out). That is, the first error read is the oldest error to have occurred. For example:

1 If no error has occurred, the error queue contains:

+ 0, "No error"

After a command such as wav:pow, the error queue now contains: + 0, "No error"

-113, "Undefined header"

If the command is immediately repeated, the error queue now contains: + 0, "No error"

-113, "Undefined header"

If more than 29 errors are put into the queue, the message:

-350, "Queue overflow"

is placed as the last message in the queue.

22 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions Introduction to Programming

Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions

A program message is a message containing commands or queries that you send to the instruments. The following are a few points about program messages:

• You can use either upper-case or lower-case characters.

• You can send several commands in a single message. Each command must be separated from the next one by a semicolon (

• A command message is ended by a line feed character (LF) or

<CR><LF>.

• You can use any valid number/unit combination.

;).

In other words, If you do not specify a unit, then the default unit is assumed. The default

unit for the commands are given with command description in the next chapter.

1500NM,1.5UM and 1.5E-6M are all equivalent.

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 23

Introduction to Programming Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions

Short Form and Long Form

The instrument accepts messages in short or long forms. For example, the message

:STATUS:OPERATION:ENABLE 768

is in long form. The short form of this message is

STAT:OPER:ENAB 768

In this manual, the messages are written in a combination of upper and lower case. Upper case characters are used for the short form of the message.

For example, the above command would be written

STATus:OPERation:ENABle

The first colon can be left out for the first command or query in your message. That is, the example given above could also be sent as

STAT:OPER:ENAB 768

24 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions Introduction to Programming

Command and Query Syntax

All characters not between angled brackets must be sent exactly as shown.

The characters between angled brackets (

<...>) indicate the kind of data

that you should send, or that you get in a response. You do not type the angled brackets in the actual message.

Descriptions of these items follow the syntax description. The following types of data are most commonly used:

string is ascii data. A string is contained between double quotes ("...") or

single quotes (‘...’).

value is numeric data in integer (12), decimal (34.5) or exponential format

(67.8E-9).

wsp is a white space.

Other kinds of data are described as required. The characters between square brackets (

[...]) show optional information

that you can include with the message. The bar (

|) shows an either-or choice of data, for example, a|b means

either a or b, but not both simultaneously. Extra spaces are ignored, so spaces can be inserted to improve readability.

Units

Where units are given with a command, usually only the base units are specified. The full sets of units are given in the table below.

Table 2 Units and allowed Mnemonics

Unit Default Allowed Mnemonics

meters M PM, NM, UM, MM, M

decibel DB MDB, DB

second S NS, US, MS, S

decibel/1mW DBM MDBM, DBM

Hertz HZ HZ, KHZ, MHZ, GHZ, THZ

Watt Watt PW, NW, UW, MW, Watt

meters per second M/S NM/S, UM/S, MM/S, M/S

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 25

Introduction to Programming Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions

Data Types

With the commands you give parameters to the instrument and receive response values from the instrument. Unless explicitly specified these data are given in ASCII format. The following types of data are used:

• Boolean data may only have the values 0 or 1.

• Integer range is given for each individual command.

• Float variables may be given in decimal or exponential writing (0.123 or

123E-3). All Float values conform to the 32 bit IEEE Standard, that is, all Float values are returned as 32-bit real values.

•A string is contained between double quotes (

(‘...’). When the instrument returns a string, it is always included in " " and terminated by

•When a register value is given or returned (for example *ESE), the decimal values for the single bits are added. For example, a value of nine means that bit 0 and bit 3 are set.

• Larger blocks of data are given as Binary Blocks, preceded by “#<H><Len><Block>”, terminated by <END>; <H> represents the number of digits, <Len> represents the number of bytes, and <Block> is the data block. For example, for a Binary Block with 1 digit and 6 bytes this is: #16TRACES<END>.

<END>.

"...") or single quotes

Slot and Channel Numbers

Each module is identified by a slot number and a channel number. For commands that require you to specify a channel, the slot number is represented by [n] in a command and the channel number is represented by [m].

The slot number represents the module’s position in the mainframe. These are:

• from one to two for the Agilent 8163A/B,

• from zero to four for the Agilent 8164A/B, and

• from one to seventeen for the Agilent 8166A/B.

These numbers are displayed on the front panel beside each module slot.

26 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions Introduction to Programming

NOTE

The Agilent 8164A/B slot for a back-loadable tunable laser module is numbered zero.

Channel numbers apply to modules that have two inputs/outputs, for example, the Agilent 81635A Dual Power Sensor.

Modules with two channels, for example, the Agilent 81635A Dual Power Sensor, use the channel number to distinguish between these channels.

The channel number of single channel modules is always one.

For example, if you want to query slot 1, channel 2 with the command, “:SENSe[n]:[CHANnel[m]]:POWer:WAVelength?” on page 109, you should send the command:

•:sens1:chan2:pow:wav?

If you do not specify a slot or channel number, the lowest possible number is used as the default value. This means:

• Slot 1 for the Agilent 8163A/B and Agilent 8166A/B mainframes.

• Slot 0 for the Agilent 8164A/B mainframe.

• Channel 1 for all channels.

Laser Selection Numbers

The laser selection number, [l], identifies the upper or lower wavelength laser source for dual wavelength Laser Source modules and Return Loss modules with two internal laser sources. The lower wavelength source is denoted by 1. The upper wavelength source is denoted by 2.

Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 27

Introduction to Programming Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions

NOTE

For Return Loss modules, 0 denotes the use of an external laser source as the input to your Return Loss module for the following commands:

• “:SENSe[n]:[CHANnel[m]]:RETurnloss:CORRection:FPDelta[l]” on

page 111,

• “:SENSe[n]:[CHANnel[m]]:RETurnloss:CORRection:FPDelta[l]?” on

page 111,

• “:SENSe[n]:[CHANnel[m]]:RETurnloss:CORRection:REFLectance[l]” on

page 112, and

• “:SENSe[n]:[CHANnel[m]]:RETurnloss:CORRection:FPDelta[l]” on

page 111.

28 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

Common Commands Introduction to Programming

Common Commands

The IEEE 488.2 standard has a list of reserved commands, called common commands. Some of these commands must be implemented by any instrument using the standard, others are optional.

Your instrument implements all the necessary commands, and some optional ones. This section describes the implemented commands.

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Introduction to Programming Common Commands

Common Command Summary

Table 3 gives a summary of the common commands.

Table 3 Common Command Summary

Command Parameter Function Page

*CLS Clear Status Command page 57

*ESE Standard Event Status Enable Command page 57

*ESE? Standard Event Status Enable Query page 58

*ESR? Standard Event Status Register Query page 58

*IDN? Identification Query page 59

*OPC Operation Complete Command page 59

*OPC? Operation Complete Query page 60

*OPT? Options Query page 60

NOTE

*RST Reset Command page 61

*STB? Read Status Byte Query page 61

*TST? Self Test Query page 62

*WAI Wait Command page 63

These commands are described in more detail in “IEEE-Common Commands” on page 56.

30 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition

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