ZTEC Instruments - Test and Measurement Blog

One of the strengths of using modular instruments is the ability to write programs to perform an automated set of tasks. Generally this is done though a programming environment and a standard programming language like ANSI-C or COM. Though this may be the norm; there are also other ways to communicate and even quickly program using the standard SCPI string interface.

Using ZTEC's ZFind command interface, it is easy to type in simple commands and queries:

Figure 1: ID Query

Some more efficiency can be gained using “Tree-Walking” this lets you send multiple commands/queries on the same line:

Figure 2: Tree Walking

Since the interface saves the command history, it is simple to change between a few commands using the up/down arrows on your keyboard. However, this starts to be less efficient with more than a few commands.

The command history can also be saved in its entirety. With the Save History option, you can save all of the commands that have been sent to a simple .txt file.

Figure 3: Command History

More advanced functionality is available through the command scripting. This allows the upload of a set of commands in a text file. This can either replay a previously saved command history, or can run though a manually generated list of commands.

Figure 4: Command Scripting

Figure 5: Command Scripting Results

Now the instrument can have complex programs run against it, using only a text file instead of compiling a program. The commands are standard SCPI, are provided in the instrument manual, are not case sensitive, and either the full or abbreviated command can be used.