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Indeterminate string from instrument?

Question asked by VRFuser on Oct 31, 1996

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From: Johannes Mulder
Re:     VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

> From:          Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com>
> Date:          Thu, 31 Oct 1996 09:04:00 -0800 (PST)
> To:            hpvxd_xc%hpislsup.lvld.hp.com@hplb.hpl.hp.com
> Subject:       VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>

I wanted to do the same with my PM3382 scope. It works perfect, as
follows:

Using DIO with READ TEXT x STR (default num chars) (scalar)
DIO configured with ReadTerminator = "
"

Hope this helps you
With kind regards,
Johannes Mulder
Philips Electron Optics            tel +31 40 2766947
Building AAE-room 21               fax +31 40 2766820
P.O.B. 218
5600 MD ACHT, the Netherlands

Date: Fri, 01 Nov 96 08:44:11 EDT
From: "Ian Dalton" <daltoni@macom.com>
To: hpvxd_xc@hpislsup.lvld.hp.com, Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com>
Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

          Hi Stan

          I had the same problem in trying to read a HPGL plot output from
          a network analyser, The following works well for me with no error
          trapping involved.

          WRITE TEXT "OUTPLOT" EOL
          READ BINARY x STR


          OUTPLOT in this case is the command I use to get the HPGL data.
          The second line is the format you could try.

          Regards

          Ian Dalton   M/A-Com Eurotec

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?
Author: Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com> at corp
Date:    31/10/96 12:14

Very simple problem:

I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
"from file" there is no

READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

I can think of two ugly workarounds

(1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
    with full handshaking with every character.

(2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
above but very clumsy.

I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
way to do this!

Someone please set me straight

thanks

Stan Bischof
stanb@sr.hp.com


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

No one else has this question

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VRFuser Oct 31, 1996 9:04 AM

Very simple problem:

I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
"from file" there is no

READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

I can think of two ugly workarounds

(1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
    with full handshaking with every character.

(2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
above but very clumsy.

I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
way to do this!

Someone please set me straight

thanks

Stan Bischof
stanb@sr.hp.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

from: Greg Goebel / HP-MXD
      gvg@lvld.hp.com / 970-679-3030 / FAX 970-679-5971
to:   VRF-Stan Bischof
date: Thursday, 31 October 1996 1025 MST

> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

Do you want to read a single string or an array of them? What is the input
data format in general?

> I can think of two ugly workarounds
>
> (1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
>     with full handshaking with every character.

If you don't have a specific termination character at the end of the string
you can trap on, this is about all you can do. Unfortunately, VEE doesn't
know how to terminate on EOI (presuming that you use that).

> (2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
> let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
> have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
> in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
> above but very clumsy.
>
> I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
> way to do this!
>
> Someone please set me straight
>
> thanks
>
> Stan Bischof
> stanb@sr.hp.com
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

[<>] regards -- gvg

Actions

VRFuser Oct 31, 1996 4:44 PM

Hi Stan

          I had the same problem in trying to read a HPGL plot output from
          a network analyser, The following works well for me with no error
          trapping involved.

          WRITE TEXT "OUTPLOT" EOL
          READ BINARY x STR


          OUTPLOT in this case is the command I use to get the HPGL data.
          The second line is the format you could try.

          Regards

          Ian Dalton   M/A-Com Eurotec

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?
Author: Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com> at corp
Date:    31/10/96 12:14

Very simple problem:

I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
"from file" there is no

READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

I can think of two ugly workarounds

(1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
    with full handshaking with every character.

(2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
above but very clumsy.

I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
way to do this!

Someone please set me straight

thanks

Stan Bischof
stanb@sr.hp.com


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Actions

VRFuser Oct 31, 1996 5:59 PM

>To:stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com (Stan Bischof)
>From: Jaap Schuurmans
>Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

Stan,

We at PHILIPS had this problem some time ago.

>
> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>
> I can think of two ugly workarounds
>
> (1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
>     with full handshaking with every character.

That's almost what we to today. When you change the read char transaction to a

   READ BINARY x STR

VEE will keep on reading until the end of the HPGL string. And more
importantly, You can get rid of the loop.Or at least. This transaction
reads until it encounters a NULL in the string, so actually its a way
to detect the end. Some intruments send NULL strings inside the HP-GL
string, so in that case you will have to embed the transaction into to
a loop. This is also the situation you will have to intercept the time
out which will occur after the intrument sent all the data.

Hope this helps. If you want, I can send you my example. I have one for the
HP859x and an HP8753.

bye,

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jaap Schuurmans                      |       Philips Semiconductors B.V.   |
| E-mail:                              |       Systems Laboratory            |
| Jaap.Schuurmans@ehv.sc.philips.com   |       Building BE445               |
| Seri: schuurmn@nlsce1                |       P.O. BOX 218                  |
| Phone: +31-40-27 22058               |       5600 MD Eindhoven             |
| fax : +31-40-27 22764               |       The Netherlands               |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

>To:stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com (Stan Bischof)
>From: Jaap Schuurmans
>Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

Stan,

We at PHILIPS had this problem some time ago.

>
> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>
> I can think of two ugly workarounds
>
> (1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
>     with full handshaking with every character.

That's almost what we to today. When you change the read char transaction to a

   READ BINARY x STR

VEE will keep on reading until the end of the HPGL string. And more
importantly, You can get rid of the loop.Or at least. This transaction
reads until it encounters a NULL in the string, so actually its a way
to detect the end. Some intruments send NULL strings inside the HP-GL
string, so in that case you will have to embed the transaction into to
a loop. This is also the situation you will have to intercept the time
out which will occur after the intrument sent all the data.

Hope this helps. If you want, I can send you my example. I have one for the
HP859x and an HP8753.

bye,

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jaap Schuurmans                      |       Philips Semiconductors B.V.   |
| E-mail:                              |       Systems Laboratory            |
| Jaap.Schuurmans@ehv.sc.philips.com   |       Building BE445               |
| Seri: schuurmn@nlsce1                |       P.O. BOX 218                  |
| Phone: +31-40-27 22058               |       5600 MD Eindhoven             |
| fax : +31-40-27 22764               |       The Netherlands               |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

From: "Johannes Mulder" <jcm@eo.ie.philips.nl>
To: Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 10:07:56 GMT+0100
Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

From: Johannes Mulder
Re:     VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

> From:          Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com>
> Date:          Thu, 31 Oct 1996 09:04:00 -0800 (PST)
> To:            hpvxd_xc%hpislsup.lvld.hp.com@hplb.hpl.hp.com
> Subject:       VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>

I wanted to do the same with my PM3382 scope. It works perfect, as
follows:

Using DIO with READ TEXT x STR (default num chars) (scalar)
DIO configured with ReadTerminator = "
"

Hope this helps you
With kind regards,
Johannes Mulder
Philips Electron Optics            tel +31 40 2766947
Building AAE-room 21               fax +31 40 2766820
P.O.B. 218
5600 MD ACHT, the Netherlands

Actions

3 Replies

VRFuser Oct 31, 1996 9:04 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Very simple problem:

I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
"from file" there is no

READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

I can think of two ugly workarounds

(1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
    with full handshaking with every character.

(2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
above but very clumsy.

I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
way to do this!

Someone please set me straight

thanks

Stan Bischof
stanb@sr.hp.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

from: Greg Goebel / HP-MXD
      gvg@lvld.hp.com / 970-679-3030 / FAX 970-679-5971
to:   VRF-Stan Bischof
date: Thursday, 31 October 1996 1025 MST

> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

Do you want to read a single string or an array of them? What is the input
data format in general?

> I can think of two ugly workarounds
>
> (1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
>     with full handshaking with every character.

If you don't have a specific termination character at the end of the string
you can trap on, this is about all you can do. Unfortunately, VEE doesn't
know how to terminate on EOI (presuming that you use that).

> (2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
> let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
> have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
> in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
> above but very clumsy.
>
> I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
> way to do this!
>
> Someone please set me straight
>
> thanks
>
> Stan Bischof
> stanb@sr.hp.com
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

[<>] regards -- gvg
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VRFuser Oct 31, 1996 4:44 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Hi Stan

          I had the same problem in trying to read a HPGL plot output from
          a network analyser, The following works well for me with no error
          trapping involved.

          WRITE TEXT "OUTPLOT" EOL
          READ BINARY x STR


          OUTPLOT in this case is the command I use to get the HPGL data.
          The second line is the format you could try.

          Regards

          Ian Dalton   M/A-Com Eurotec

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?
Author: Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com> at corp
Date:    31/10/96 12:14

Very simple problem:

I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
"from file" there is no

READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.

I can think of two ugly workarounds

(1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
    with full handshaking with every character.

(2) ask for a humongous array size- larger than I'd ever expect and
let the DIO error out, trapping and ignoring the error. At the same time
have the IO Moniotr active and logging it's output to a file. Read
in the file and sort out the returned string from it. Maybe faster than
above but very clumsy.

I'm assuming that my mind just isn;t working this AM and there's a simple
way to do this!

Someone please set me straight

thanks

Stan Bischof
stanb@sr.hp.com


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stan Bischof   Hewlett Packard Company   707-577-3994 stanb@sr.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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VRFuser Oct 31, 1996 5:59 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
>To:stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com (Stan Bischof)
>From: Jaap Schuurmans
>Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

Stan,

We at PHILIPS had this problem some time ago.

>
> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>
> I can think of two ugly workarounds
>
> (1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
>     with full handshaking with every character.

That's almost what we to today. When you change the read char transaction to a

   READ BINARY x STR

VEE will keep on reading until the end of the HPGL string. And more
importantly, You can get rid of the loop.Or at least. This transaction
reads until it encounters a NULL in the string, so actually its a way
to detect the end. Some intruments send NULL strings inside the HP-GL
string, so in that case you will have to embed the transaction into to
a loop. This is also the situation you will have to intercept the time
out which will occur after the intrument sent all the data.

Hope this helps. If you want, I can send you my example. I have one for the
HP859x and an HP8753.

bye,

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jaap Schuurmans                      |       Philips Semiconductors B.V.   |
| E-mail:                              |       Systems Laboratory            |
| Jaap.Schuurmans@ehv.sc.philips.com   |       Building BE445               |
| Seri: schuurmn@nlsce1                |       P.O. BOX 218                  |
| Phone: +31-40-27 22058               |       5600 MD Eindhoven             |
| fax : +31-40-27 22764               |       The Netherlands               |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

>To:stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com (Stan Bischof)
>From: Jaap Schuurmans
>Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

Stan,

We at PHILIPS had this problem some time ago.

>
> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>
> I can think of two ugly workarounds
>
> (1) read a character at a time until an error occurs. Extremely slow
>     with full handshaking with every character.

That's almost what we to today. When you change the read char transaction to a

   READ BINARY x STR

VEE will keep on reading until the end of the HPGL string. And more
importantly, You can get rid of the loop.Or at least. This transaction
reads until it encounters a NULL in the string, so actually its a way
to detect the end. Some intruments send NULL strings inside the HP-GL
string, so in that case you will have to embed the transaction into to
a loop. This is also the situation you will have to intercept the time
out which will occur after the intrument sent all the data.

Hope this helps. If you want, I can send you my example. I have one for the
HP859x and an HP8753.

bye,

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jaap Schuurmans                      |       Philips Semiconductors B.V.   |
| E-mail:                              |       Systems Laboratory            |
| Jaap.Schuurmans@ehv.sc.philips.com   |       Building BE445               |
| Seri: schuurmn@nlsce1                |       P.O. BOX 218                  |
| Phone: +31-40-27 22058               |       5600 MD Eindhoven             |
| fax : +31-40-27 22764               |       The Netherlands               |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

From: "Johannes Mulder" <jcm@eo.ie.philips.nl>
To: Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 10:07:56 GMT+0100
Subject: Re: VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

From: Johannes Mulder
Re:     VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

> From:          Stan Bischof <stanb@hpnmrsb2.sr.hp.com>
> Date:          Thu, 31 Oct 1996 09:04:00 -0800 (PST)
> To:            hpvxd_xc%hpislsup.lvld.hp.com@hplb.hpl.hp.com
> Subject:       VRF: Indeterminate string from instrument?

> Very simple problem:
>
> I want to read in a character stream from an instrument but have
> no way of knowing up front how long the stream is (is an HPGL output
> in this case). Am using DIO, but unlike "from string" or
> "from file" there is no
>
>   READ TEXT x STR ARRAY:* (read till end of array) option available.
>

I wanted to do the same with my PM3382 scope. It works perfect, as
follows:

Using DIO with READ TEXT x STR (default num chars) (scalar)
DIO configured with ReadTerminator = "
"

Hope this helps you
With kind regards,
Johannes Mulder
Philips Electron Optics            tel +31 40 2766947
Building AAE-room 21               fax +31 40 2766820
P.O.B. 218
5600 MD ACHT, the Netherlands
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