Rigol DS1000CA series Operating instructions

RIGOL
Programming Guide
DS1000CA Series Digital
Oscilloscope
DS1302CA, DS1202CA, DS1102CA, DS1602CA
Sept. 2010
RIGOL Technologies, Inc.

RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
I
Copyright
© 2009 RIGOL Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Trademark Information
RIGOL is registered trademark of RIGOL Technologies, Inc.
Notices
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RIGOL Technologies, Inc. reserves the right to modify or change parts of or all the
specifications and pricing policies at company‟s sole decision.
Information in this publication replaces all previously corresponding material.
RIGOL shall not be liable for losses caused by either incidental or consequential in
connection with the furnishing, use or performance of this manual as well as any
information contained.
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prior written approval of RIGOL.

RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
II
Contents
Chapter 1 Programming Introduction................................................ 1-1
Communication Interfaces ......................................................................1-2
Command Introduction...........................................................................1-3
Command Syntax.....................................................................................1-3
Symbol Instruction....................................................................................1-4
Command Abbreviation............................................................................1-5
Parameter Type........................................................................................1-6
Chapter 2 Command Systems ............................................................ 2-1
General Commands ................................................................................2-2
SYSTem Commands................................................................................2-4
ACQuire Commands ...............................................................................2-6
DISPlay Commands ................................................................................2-9
TIMebase Commonds ...........................................................................2-14
TRIGger Commands ............................................................................. 2-18
Trigger Control........................................................................................2-20
EDGE Trigger .........................................................................................2-24
PULSe Trigger........................................................................................2-25
VIDEO Trigger ........................................................................................2-27
SLOPe Trigger........................................................................................2-30
ALTernation Trigger.................................................................................2-34
STORage Commands............................................................................2-43
MATH Commands................................................................................. 2-45
CHANnel Commands ............................................................................2-48
MEASure Commands ............................................................................ 2-54
WAVeform Commands ..........................................................................2-63
KEY Commands ...................................................................................2-66
CURSor Commands ..............................................................................2-78
Other Commands.................................................................................2-85
Chapter 3 Programming Example ...................................................... 3-1
Prepare for Programming........................................................................3-2
Program in Visual C++ 6.0......................................................................3-3
Program in Visual Basic 6.0 .....................................................................3-8

RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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Program in LabVIEW 8.6 .......................................................................3-10
Program in Visual C++ 6.0 via Serial Port ...............................................3-16
Command Quick Reference A-Z................................................................ 1

Programming Introduction RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
1-1
Chapter 1 Programming Introduction
This chapter provides the introduction about the interfces and commands so as to
control DS1000CA series digital oscilloscopes via remote commands.
The chapter contains following topics:
Communication Interfaces
Command Introduction
Command Syntax
Symbol Instruction
Command Abbreviation
Parameter Type

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
1-2
Communication Interfaces
Computers communicate with the oscilloscope by sending and receiving messages
over an I/O port such as an USB, RS-232 port or GPIB. Commands appear as ASCII
character strings embedded inside the output statements of a “host” language
available on your computer.
Basic operations that you can do with a computer and an oscilloscope include:
Set up the oscilloscope.
Make measurements.
Retrieve data (waveforms or measurements) from the oscilloscope.

Programming Introduction RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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Command Introduction
Command Syntax
The command system of DS1000CA series digital oscilloscopes presents a
multistate tree structure, each of the subsystem consists of a “Root”keyword and
one or multilayered keywords. Generally, a command line starts with “:”(except
for IEEE commands) and “:”is also used for separating different keywords,
meanwhile, parameters are permitted to follow the keywords; in addition, “?”after
a command line denotes to query its function and “space”is used to divide
command and parameter.
For example:
:TRIGger:EDGE:SLOPe {POSitive|NEGative}
:TRIGger:EDGE:SLOPe?
TRIGger is the root keyword of this command, EDGE and SLOPe are second and
third keyword respectively, all of these keywords are separated by “:”. Connects
enclosed in the “{}”denote the parameters permitted to be set by user; queries
are formed by adding a question mark (?) to the end of the commands and “space”
is used to divide the command :TRIGger:EDGE:SLOPe and the parameter.

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
1-4
Symbol Instruction
The following symbols are not “real”parts of the commands, but they are usually
used to assist to explain the parameters containd in a command line.
1. Braces { }
The parameters enclosed in a command line must be selected. When several
elements separated by a vertical line (|) are enclosed by braces { }, only one
element may be selected, for example:
:MEASure:TOTal {ON|OFF},
Thereinto, {ON|OFF} indicates that only ON or OFF may be selected, not
both.
2. Square Brackets [ ]
Items enclosed in square brackets [ ] are optional, for example:
:TIMebase[:DELayed]:OFFSet <offset>
Thereinto, [:DELayed] could be omitted.
3. Triangle Brackets < >
Items enclosed in < > should be replaced by an effective value, for example:
:DISPlay:BRIGhtness <ncount>
Thereinto, < ncount > must be a numerical value such as 25.

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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Command Abbreviation
All the commands of DS1000CA series are case-sensitive, so you can use any kind
of them. As some commands are too long to memory and spell, we set the
abbreviation for the commands in order to reduce your work and memory difficulty.
Note that if use abbreviation, the capital letters specified in commands must be
written completely.
For example:
:TRIGger:EDGE:SLOPe
can be entered as:
:TRIG:EDGE:SLOP

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
1-6
Parameter Type
The commands contains 5 kinds of parameters, different parameters has different
setting methods.
1. Boolean
The parameter should be “OFF”or “ON”, for example:
:MEASure:TOTal {ON|OFF}
Thereinto, “ON”denotes to trun on (enable) this function and “OFF”denoets
to turn off (disable).
2. Consecutive Integer
The parameter should be a consecutive integer, for example:
:DISPlay:BRIGhtness <ncount>
Thereinto,<ncount> could be an integer between 0 and 32 (including 0 and
32).
3. Consecutive Real Number
The parameters could be any value within effective range and precision
permiting, for example:
:TRIGger:EDGE:SENSitivity <count>
Thereinto, <count> could be a real number between 0.1 and 1(including 0.1
and 1).
4. Discrete
The parameters can only be the cited value, for example:
:ACQuire:AVERages <count>
Thereinto, <count> could be 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256.
5. ASCII Character String
The parameter should a combination of ASCII character string, for example:
:TRIGger:MODE <mod>
Thereinto, <mod> could be “EDGE”, ”PULSe”, ”VIDEO”, ”SLOPe”or
“ALTernation”.

Programming Introduction RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
2-1
Chapter 2 Command Systems
This chapter gives detailed information on each command supported by DS1000CA
series oscilloscopes, including command format, function explanation, using
methods and considerations.
DS1000CA series include the following commands:
General Commands
SYSTem Commands
ACQuire Commands
DISPlay Commands
TIMebase Commonds
TRIGger Commands
Trigger Control
EDGE Trigger
PULSe Trigger
VIDEO Trigger
SLOPe Trigger
ALTernation Trigger
STORage Commands
MATH Commands
CHANnel Commands
MEASure Commands
WAVeform Commands
KEY Commands
CURSor Commands
Other Commands

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
2-2
General Commands
IEEE standard defineds common commands for querying or executing some basic
information about instrument, which usually begins with “*” and holds 3-character
long command keyword.
DS1000CA series digital oscilloscopes support the following general commands:
*IDN?
*RST
The detailed information of each command are given as follows:

Programming Introduction RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
2-3
1. *IDN?
Command Format:
*IDN?
Function Explanation:
This command is used to query the manufacturer, model, sequence number and
the version number composed of numbers and separated by “.”.
Returned Format:
RIGOL TECHNOLOGIES,<model>,<sequence_number>,<rev_number>
Example:
RIGOL TECHNOLOGIES,DS1302CA,DS1AA093200284,03.08.01
2. *RST
Command Format：
*RST
Function Explanation：
This command is used to reset the system parameters.

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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SYSTem Commands
SYSTem Commands are the fundamental commands for the operation of an
oscilloscope. They can either be used for operational control or screen data
interception and more.
System Commands include:
:RUN
:STOP
:AUTO
:HARDcopy
The detailed information of each command are given as follows:

Programming Introduction RIGOL
Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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1. :RUN
Command Format:
:RUN
Function Explanation:
This command initiates the oscilloscope to acquire waveform data. To stop
acquisition, please execute :STOP command.
2. :STOP
Command Format:
:STOP
Function Explanation:
This command controls the oscilloscope to stop acquiring data. To restart the
acquisition, please execute :RUN command.
3. :AUTO
Command Format:
:AUTO
Function Explanation:
This command is used to control the oscilloscope to evaluate all waveform
characteristics and set the optimum conditions to display the waveforms,
4. :HARDcopy
Command Format:
:HARDcopy
Function Explanation:
This command is to extract the current information on the screen, and then
copy the bitmap into the U disc in the form of “HardCopyxxx.bmp”. (Note:This
command is unavailable in file systems).

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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ACQuire Commands
ACQuire Commands are used to adjust the acquisition modes of the oscilloscope.
ACQuire Commands include:
:ACQuire:TYPE
:ACQuire:MODE
:ACQuire:AVERages
:ACQuire:SAMPlingrate?
The detailed information of each command are given as follows:

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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1. :ACQuire:TYPE
Command Format:
:ACQuire:TYPE <type>
:ACQuire:TYPE?
Function Explanation:
The commands are used to set and query the current acquisition type. The
options of <type> are: “NORMal”, “AVERage” and “PEAKdetec”.
Returned Format:
Query returns “NORMAL”, “AVERAGE” or “PEAKDETECT”.
Example:
:ACQ:TYPE AVER Set the acquisition type as “AVERage”
:ACQ:TYPE? Query returns “AVERAGE”
2. :ACQuire:MODE
Command Format:
:ACQuire:MODE <mode>
:ACQuire:MODE?
Function Explanation:
The commands are used to set and query the current acquisition mode. The
options of <mode> are “RTIMe” and “ETIMe”.
Returned Format:
Query returns “REAL_TIME” or “EQUAL_TIME”.
Example:
:ACQ:MODE ETIM Set the acquisition mode as “ETIMe”
:ACQ:MODE? Query returns “EQUAL_TIME”
3. :ACQuire:AVERages
Command Format:

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Programming Guide for DS1000CA Series
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:ACQuire:AVERages <count>
:ACQuire:AVERages?
Function Explanation:
The commands are used to set and query the average acquisition time. The
range of <count> is form 2 to 256 at 2 times the power of N.
Returned Format:
Query returns 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256.
Example:
:ACQ:AVER 16 Set average acquisition time as 16
:ACQ:AVER? Query returns 16
4. :ACQuire:SAMPlingrate?
Query Format:
:ACQuire:SAMPlingrate? CHANnel<n>
Function Explanation:
The commands are used to query the sampling rate of the current channel.
<n> could be 1 or 2 which means channel 1 or channel 2.
Returned Format:
Query returns the value of the sampling rate.
Example:
:ACQ:SAMP? CHAN2 Query the smpling rate of channel2
1.250e+08 Query returns 125Msa/s