7: TSP command reference Series 2600B System SourceMeter® Instrument
7-94 2600BS-901-01 Rev. B / May 2013
format.data
This attribute sets the data format for data that is printed using the printnumber() and printbuffer()
functions.
Type TSP-Link accessible Affected by Where saved Default value
Instrument reset
Recall setup
Usage
value = format.data
format.data = value
The format to use for data, set to one of the following values:
• ASCII format: 1 or format.ASCII
• Single-precision IEEE Std 754 binary format: 2, format.SREAL, or format.REAL32
• Double-precision IEEE Std 754 binary format: 3, format.REAL, format.REAL64, or
Details
The precision of numeric values can be controlled with the format.asciiprecision attribute. The byte order
of format.SREAL, format.REAL, format.REAL32, and format.REAL64 can be selected with the
format.byteorder attribute.
REAL32 and SREAL select the same single precision format. REAL and REAL64 select the same double
precision format. They are alternative identifiers. Selecting which to use is a matter of preference.
The IEEE Std 754 binary formats use four bytes for single-precision values and eight bytes for double-precision
values.
When data is written with any of the binary formats, the response message starts with “#0” and ends with a new
line. When data is written with the ASCII format, elements are separated with a comma and space.
Binary formats are not intended to be interpreted by humans.
Example
format.asciiprecision = 10
x = 3.14159265
format.data = format.ASCII
printnumber(x)
format.data = format.REAL64
printnumber(x)
Output a number represented by x in ASCII
using a precision of 10, then output the
same number in binary using double
precision format.
Output:
3.141592650e+00
Also see
format.asciiprecision (on page 7-92)
format.byteorder (on page 7-93)
printbuffer() (on page 7-153)
printnumber() (on page 7-156)