HP 8163A Series Operating instructions

HP 8163A Lightwave
Multimeter &
HP 8164A Lightwave
Measurement System
Programming Guide

Hewlett-Packard GmbH
Herrenberger Str. 130
71034 Böblingen
Germany
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08164-91016 E0599
First Edition:
E0599: May 1999
Firmware Revision:
1.0

HP 8163A Lightwave Multimeter &
HP 8164A Lightwave Measurement System
Programming Guide

4
Front Matter
In this Manual
This manual contains information about SCPI commands which
can be used to program the following instruments:
• HP 8163A Lightwave Multimeter
• HP 8164A Lightwave Measurement System
The Structure of this Manual
This manual is divided into 5 parts:
• Chapter 1 gives a general introduction to SCPI programming
with the HP 8163A Lightwave Multimeter and the HP 8164A
Lightwave Measurement System.
• Chapter 2 lists all instrument specific commands.
• Chapters 3 to 5 give fuller explanations of all instrument specific
commands.
• Chapter 6 gives some example programs showing how the SCPI
commands can be used with the HP 8163A Lightwave
Multimeter and the HP 8164A Lightwave Measurement System.
• The appendixes give information about the HP 816x
VXIplug&play Instrument Driver, compatibility issues, and
error codes.

5
Front Matter
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
printiswrittenincapitals;textwhichishelpfulbutnornecessary
is written in lower case.
So, the command INITiate[:IMMediate] can be entered
either as init[:imm],orasinitiate[: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?.

6
Front Matter
Related Manuals
You can find more information about the instruments covered by
this manual in the following manuals:
• HP 8163A Lightwave Multimeter & HP 8164A Lightwave
Measurement System User’s Guide (HP Product Number 08164-
91011).
NOTE Please note that User Guides no longer contain programming
information, and must now be used in conjunction with this manual.
If you are not familiar with the HP-IB, then refer to the following
books:
• HP publication 5952-0156, Tutorial Description of HP-IB.
• ANSI/IEEE-488.1-1978, IEEE Standard Digital Interface for
Programmable Instrumentation, and ANSI/IEEE-488.2-1987,
IEEE Standard Codes, Formats, and Common Commands,
published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
In addition, the commands not from the IEEE 488.2 standard are
defined according to the Standard Commands for Programmable
Instruments (SCPI). For an introduction to SCPI and SCPI
programming techniques, refer to the following documents:
• Hewlett-Packard Press (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
Inc.): A Beginners Guide to SCPI by Barry Eppler.
• The SCPI Consortium: Standard Commands for Programmable
Instruments, published periodically by various publishers. To
obtain a copy of this manual, contact your Hewlett-Packard
representative.

7
Table of Contents
In this Manual ..................................................................... 4
The Structure of this Manual .............................................. 4
Conventions used in this Manual ........................................ 5
Related Manuals ................................................................. 6
1 Introduction to Programming
1.1 HP-IB Interface .......................................................17
Setting the HP-IB Address ................................................. 18
Returning the Instrument to Local Control ......................... 19
1.2 Message Queues ......................................................20
How the Input Queue Works .............................................. 20
The Output Queue .............................................................. 21
The Error Queue ................................................................. 21
1.3 Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions 21
Short Form and Long Form ................................................ 22
Command and Query Syntax .............................................. 22
1.4 Common Commands ..............................................25
Common Command Summary ........................................... 25
Common Status Information .............................................. 26
1.5 The Status Model ....................................................27
Annotations ......................................................................... 31
Status Command Summary ................................................ 34
Other Commands ................................................................ 34
2 Specific Commands

8
Table of Contents
2.1 Specific Command Summary ............................... 37
3 Instrument Setup and Status
3.1 IEEE-Common Commands .................................. 47
3.2 Status Reporting – The STATus Subsystem ....... 56
3.3 Interface/Instrument Behaviour Settings – The SYS-
Tem Subsystem ............................................................. 65
4 Measurement Operations & Settings
4.1 Root Layer Command ........................................... 71
4.2 Measurement Functions – The SENSe Subsystem 74
4.3 Signal Generation – The SOURce Subsystem ..... 93
4.4 Triggering - The TRIGger Subsystem ................. 122
Extended Trigger Configuration .........................................129
5 Mass Storage, Display, and Print Functions
5.1 Display Operations – The DISPlay Subsystem ... 137

9
Table of Contents
6 Programming Examples
6.1 How to Use VISA Calls ...........................................141
1.2 How to Set up a Fixed Laser Source .....................144
1.3 How to Measure Power using FETCH and READ 147
1.4 How to Co-ordinate Two Modules ........................152
1.5 How Power Varies with Wavelength .....................157
1.6 How to Log Results .................................................162
A The HP 816x VXIplug&play Instrument
Driver
A.1 Installing the HP 816x Instrument Driver ...........169
A.2 Using Visual Programming Environments ..........173
Getting Started with HP VEE ............................................. 173
Getting Started with LabView ............................................ 176
Getting Started with LabWindows ..................................... 177
A.3 Features of the HP 816x Instrument Driver ........178
A.4 Directory Structure ................................................179
A.5 Opening an Instrument Session ............................180
A.6 Closing an Instrument Session ..............................181
A.7 VISA Data Types and Selected Constant Definitions
181
A.8 Error Handling .......................................................182
A.9 Introduction to Programming ...............................184

10
Table of Contents
Example Programs ..............................................................184
VISA-Specific Information .................................................184
Development Environments ................................................184
A.10 Online Information ............................................. 186
2 HP-IB Command Compatibility List
B.1 Compatibility Issues .............................................. 189
HP-IB Bus Compatibility ....................................................189
Status Model ........................................................................189
Preset Defaults .....................................................................189
Removed Command ............................................................189
Obsolete Commands ...........................................................190
Changed Parameter Syntax and Semantics .........................191
Changed Query Result Values ............................................192
Timing Behavior .................................................................193
Error Handling .....................................................................193
Command Order ..................................................................194
Instrument Status Settings ...................................................194
C Error Codes
C.1 HP-IB Error Strings ............................................. 197

11
List of Figures
Figure 1-1 Remote Control......................................................................................... 19
Figure 1-2 The Event Status Bit ................................................................................. 26
Figure 1-3 The Registers and Filters for a Node......................................................... 28
Figure 1-4 The Operational Status System................................................................. 29
Figure 1-5 The Questionable Status System............................................................... 29
Figure 1-5 The Questionable Status System............................................................... 30
Figure 4-1 Extended Trigger Configuration............................................................... 131
Figure 4-2 Setup for Extended Trigger Configuration Example................................ 133
Figure A-1 Non-Administrator Installation Pop-Up Box........................................... 169
Figure A-2 Message Screen........................................................................................ 170
Figure A-3 Customizing Your Setup.......................................................................... 171
Figure A-4 Program Folder Item Options................................................................... 172
Figure A-5 Device Configuration............................................................................... 174
Figure A-6 Advanced Device Configuration - Plug&play Driver.............................. 175
Figure A-7 FP Conversion Options Box..................................................................... 176
Figure A-8 Windows 95 and Windows NT VXIPNP Directory Structure................. 179

12
List of Figures

13
List of Tables
Table 1-1 HP-IB Capabilities...................................................................................... 18
Table 1-2 Units and allowed Mnemonics................................................................... 24
Table 1-3 Common Command Summary................................................................... 25
Table 2-1 Specific Command Summary .................................................................... 37
Table B-1 Incompatible HP-IB Bus Commands ........................................................ 189
Table B-2 Removed Commands................................................................................. 190
Table B-3 Obsolete Commands.................................................................................. 191
Table B-4 Commands with Different Parameters or Syntax...................................... 191
Table B-5 Queries with Different Result Values........................................................ 192
Table B-6 Timing Behavior Changes......................................................................... 193
Table B-7 Error Handling Changes ............................................................................ 194
Table B-8 Specific Errors ........................................................................................... 194
Table C-1 Overview for Supported Strings................................................................ 197
Table C-2 Overview for Unsupported Strings............................................................ 201

14
List of Tables

1
1Introduction to
Programming

16
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 HP 8163A Lightwave Multimeter & HP 8164A
Lightwave Measurement System, and assumes that you are already
familiar with programming the HP-IB.

17
Introduction to Programming
HP-IB Interface
1.1 HP-IB Interface
The interface used by your instrument is the HP-IB (Hewlett-
Packard Interface Bus).
HP-IB is the interface used for communication between a controller
and an external device, such as the tunable laser source. The HP-IB
conforms to IEEE standard 488-1978, ANSI standard MC 1.1 and
IEC recommendation 625-1.
If you are not familiar with the HP-IB, then refer to the following
books:
• Hewlett-Packard Company. Tutorial Description of Hewlett-
Packard Interface Bus, 1987.
• 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 an introduction to SCPI, and SCPI programming techniques,
please refer to the following documents:
• Hewlett-Packard Press (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
Inc.). A Beginners Guide to SCPI. Barry Eppler. 1991.

18
Introduction to Programming
HP-IB Interface
• The SCPI Consortium. Standard Commands for Programmable
Instruments. Published periodically by various publishers.
To obtain a copy of this manual, contact your Hewlett-Packard
representative.
The interface of the HP 8163A Lightwave Multimeter and of the
HP 8164A Lightwave Measurement System to the HP-IB is defined
by the IEEE Standards 488.1 and 488.2.
Table 1-1 shows the interface functional subset that the instruments
implement.
Setting the HP-IB Address
There are two ways to set the HP-IB address:
Mnemonic Function
SH1 Complete source handshake capability
AH1 Complete acceptor handshake capability
T6 Basic talker; serial poll; unaddressed to talk if addressed
to listen
L4 Basic listener; unaddressed to listen if addressed to talk;
no listen only
SR1 Complete service request capability
RL1 Complete remote/local capability
PP0 No parallel poll capability
DC1 Device clear capability
DT0 No device trigger capability
C0 No controller capability (Controller capability to be
implemented)
Table 1-1 HP-IB Capabilities

19
Introduction to Programming
HP-IB Interface
• You can set the HP-IB address by using the command
“:SYSTem:COMMunicate:GPIB[:SELF]:ADDRess” on
page 68.
• You can set the HP-IB address from the front panel. See your
instrument’s User’s Guide for more information.
The default HP-IB address is 20.
Returning the Instrument to Local Control
If the instrument is in remote control, a screen resembling
Figure 1-1 will appear. Press [Local] if you wish to return the
instrument to local control.
Figure 1-1 Remote Control

20
Introduction to Programming
Message Queues
1.2 Message Queues
The instrument exchanges messages using an input and an output
queue. Error messages are kept in a separate error queue.
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:
1Receiving a byte:
• Clears the output queue.
• Clears Bit 7 (MSB).
2No 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 0016 to 0916 and 0B16 to 1F16 are converted to
spaces (2016).
• Two or more blanks are truncated to one.
3An EOI (End Or Identify) sent with any character is put into the
input queue as the character followed by a line feed (LF, 0A16).
If EOI is sent with a LF, only one LF is put into the input queue.
4The parser starts if the LF character is received or if the input
queue is full.
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.