Shortest SCPI introduction

SCPI (pronounced "skippy") is a set of instructions for controling instruments programmatically through a via LAN, RS-232, or USB connection. The instructions are designed to be human readable and they were somewhat standardized in the 1980's.

SCPI commands can either set something or query something.

Set commands look like this:

TRIGger:MODe NORMal

This sets the trigger mode to normal. Lower-case letters can be omitted, so the command is equivalent to

TRIG:MOD NORM

Commands are organized in a tree-like structure. For example, the colon in TRIGger:MODe means that MODe is a subcommand of TRIGger.

Arguments are given after a space. Here, NORMal is the argument of the TRIGger:MODe command.

Query commands always end in a question mark.

TRIG:MOD?

asks the instrument for its trigger mode.

There are standard commands that every SCPI-enable instrument supports. These always start with a *.

*IDN?

asks the instrument for its ID.