Tektronix AFG3000 User Manual

Syntax and Commands

AFG3000 Series Arbitrary/Function Generators Reference Manual

SCPI commands are created by stringing together the nodes of a subsystem hier-
archy and separating each node by a colon.

In Figure 3-2, TRIGger is the root node and SEQuence, SLOPe, SOURce, and TIMer 
are lower level nodes. To create an SCPI command, start with the root node 
TRIGger and move down the tree structure adding nodes until you reach the end of 
a branch. Most commands and some queries have parameters; you must include a 
value for these parameters. The command descriptions, which begin on page 3-15, 
list the valid values for all parameters.

For example, TRIGger:SEQuence:SOURce EXTernal is a valid SCPI command 
created from the hierarchy tree in Figure 3-2.

Parameters are indicated by angle brackets, such as <file_name>. There are several 
different types of parameters, as listed in Table 3-4. The parameter type is listed 
after the parameter. Some parameter types are defined specifically for 

the 

arbi-

trary/function generator

 command set and some are defined by SCPI.

arbitrary block

A block of data bytes

#512234xxxxx...
where 5 indicates that the follow-
ing 5 digits (12234) specify the 
length of the data in bytes;
xxxxx... indicates the data

or 

#0xxxxx...<LF><&EOI>

boolean

Boolean numbers or values

ON or 

≠ 0

OFF or 0

discrete

A list of specific values

MIN, MAX

binary

Binary numbers

#B0110

octal

Octal numbers

#Q75, #Q3

hexadecimal

Hexadecimal numbers (0-9, A-F) #HAA, #H1

NR1 numeric

Integers

0, 1, 15, -1

NR2 numeric

Decimal numbers

1.2, 3.141516, -6.5

NR3 numeric

Floating point numbers

3.1415E-9, -16.1E5

NRf numeric

Flexible decimal number that 
may be type NR1, NR2, or NR3

See NR1, NR2, NR3 examples 
in this table

string

Alphanumeric characters (must 
be within quotation marks)

“Testing 1, 2, 3”